happiness
Happiness, defined; things that help you find happiness, keep it, and share it with others.
Planting Seeds of Joy
Drained and wilted like a neglected flower, both my physical and mental health were showing signs of the abuse. The doctor warned that if I didn’t reduce the amount of stress in my life, I would definitely be checking out early. Whether self-inflicted or bestowed, I became entwined in a labyrinth of responsibility that was incarcerating. Years of caring for an aging parent with a myriad of health issues and medications; raising and helping to educate a child with special needs from his premature birth; and running a business with a husband was just too much for me to handle. At the end of the day, all I could do was plop myself into an easy chair in front of the tv and drown out my worries with a few glasses of discounted wine while unconsciously munching on salty chips or pretzels. Flipping through the news channels only added to the stress as the top stories exposed the harsh reality of our world where corruption, greed, and violence rule. This volatile combination started deteriorating my health by elevating my blood pressure and making me swell up like a balloon. I was worn out. Without “Joie de Vivre”, why go on? I just didn’t care anymore.
By Maureen De Long5 years ago in Motivation
Fishkeeping and Herpetoculture as Meditation
I’ve lived parallel lives. Or maybe it’s that I constantly sense the alternate reality that runs parallel to ours. To mine. Until my last year of high school, I thought that I would be join the sciences. I thought that I would earn my own neon orange beanie and join the likes of Jacques Cousteau in oceanic expeditions. My sense for interior design revolved around National Geographic cut-outs plastered along my bedroom walls. I went to sleep to cassettes playing whale songs or wolf calls. But I also knew, even then, that the dream of becoming a legendary biologist or conservationist would be a hard one to achieve. As I matured, I turned my sights to going to veterinary school with the hopes of eventually working at a zoo. For half of my senior year, I was an intern at a veterinary practice that worked with both cats and dogs as well as farm animals. It was a dream come to life in a lot of ways. I enjoyed the hustle and bustle, the problem-solving. My first day I worked with a 150lbs sulcata tortoise with deep and infected lacerations in its neck from a fight for dominance with yet a larger tortoise. My second day was mostly spent assisting in the euthanasia of a family pet. Between what seemed to be hourly rituals of spaying and neutering dogs and cats, there were plenty of little dramas at play that kept my interest. Complications would arise. A rare disease would pop up. A traumatic break, a difficult surgery. Strange and exotic animals would come to be seen. Wild animals like raccoons and opossums would routinely turn up, but working with something like a wallaby or a spider monkey was always a fun surprise. All these years later, I still remember Slinky, a 15ft Burmese Python that was as sweet as could be even though he had come to us with a bit of a tummy ache. Even still, I began to get bored. As much as I loved the work I was doing, it felt that most of the job relied on rote memorization. A set of symptoms got a specific treatment and that was it. This sort of disillusionment coincided with my writing and research projects built into the internship. As I was writing papers about the nature of the veterinary profession as well as reflections of my own experiences, I came to realize that I really enjoyed that process more. The critical thinking involved became more rewarding than helping to perform up to 8 neuterings a day.
By Amanda Ogea5 years ago in Motivation
Triangle. Top Story - June 2021.
I never planned on becoming a textile designer—even graphic design wasn’t on my radar—but I knew from the time I could hold a crayon that I was going to be an artist in some form or another. Sure, my childhood plan actually included being an art-making professional soccer player who also wrote books, but drawing and painting were always on the forefront of my mind. I didn’t realize until I grew up how much the textile prints of my childhood influenced my vision and color sensibilities, and more to the point, my outlook on the world, even.
By Kim Sillen5 years ago in Motivation
Provoking Realizations to Make You Feel Better About Life
It’s easy to get caught up in our own lives and forget what makes life so good in the first place. Isn't that true? I know for myself, I end up living a life through autopilot, lacking positive thinking until I get out of it and remind myself that life is great.
By Sulav kandel5 years ago in Motivation
A BulletProof Message
The year 2020 was tough for all of us throughout the world. Being placed in lock down was a major let down. Although, in some ways it was also good. It gave us all a lot of time to rethink our lives, and re-imagine what we could do to fulfill the deficit that could help us cope with the pandemic and continue to grow and move forward. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, I was an avid cook at home and my main job outside of the home was a restaurant cook. I really miss being able to do that. I felt that something else was missing from my daily life. My hobbies were writing poetry and drawing. I also loved going to the shooting range. I would always save all the spent bullet shells, and still do.
By Jay DAlessio5 years ago in Motivation
