happiness
Happiness, defined; things that help you find happiness, keep it, and share it with others.
Justice Is Served
“Such dark and brooding good looks, I’d say!” exclaimed my Aunt Margaret Martin as she swooned over a loaf of gingerbread before slathering it with spiked marmalade. “It’s a pity that I decided to share it with our neighbor Mrs. Elton,” she continued, her voice adopting a more abrasive tone. “At least that means that there won’t be enough for you, Miss Elizabeth, so you’d better find some form of gainful employment.”
By Jessica A. Volz5 years ago in Motivation
The Little Black Book
Lost in a Dilemma Walking alongside a hill my gaze got fixed on the silhouette of a boy standing on the hilltop with a faraway look at the horizon beyond. Involuntarily I began climbing the cliff towards where the boy was standing. Walking, panting, walking, after a full ten minutes I reached to the spot. The figure in front of me was of a handsome young boy small built, dark black hair, skin tanned. He was wearing a yellow and black checkered shirt with denims. I approached to tap him he turned then, as though sensing my approach. His stare caught me unawares the eyes were stunning green with a dark depth to it I caught my breadth at his gaze. I asked "son would you mind if I shared this space with you?" He did not reply but turned his head away and continued looking to the horizon beyond.
By Reema Christian5 years ago in Motivation
Remembering Herself Home
Tears streamed down her cheeks as Maia said goodbye to her son, closed the door and walked to her car. The cotton candy skies with their Spring sunset couldn’t even lift her spirits. Birds sang an evening story and children played in the street, moving to let her car pass. She drove slowly, wiping the tears from her face. Saying goodbye to her son on the days he went with Dad was the hardest part of being a single mama.
By Tamara5 years ago in Motivation
Is the American dream a lie?
From the time we are born we are taught if we work hard you'll get ahead and be prosperous in life. But the higher you climb in your career financially, are you ever fully satisfied. Why is this you ask? Simply put, if your not doing what you love your just going through the motions. I came across a commercial for a game and though the game doesn't matter it's the message that does. The entire game is a puzzle where your the king trying to reclaim your treasure and willing to risk your life for it. Why do we think in this way? Money is a temporary solution to a long term problem. Is the grass greener on the other side of the fence? Very rarely it is, but we keep trying it our way doing the same thing over and over hoping for different results. Have you ever thought back and although you were great at something when you were young you gave up on your dream for wealth? Or made choices that ruined those dreams? Either way, why did you give up on your natural gifts that were awarded you at birth? Every single person is special, you just have to find it within you and let the world see it. Why do we enslave ourselves to the dollar bill? Like I said it's a temporary happiness that will eventually fade away. Everyone has heard the story of the immigrant grandfather that worked there butt off to make something for his family in America. His son will know the blood sweat and tears that went into it but will his grandkids or there kids? We have seen it again and again, the inspiration from the past is lost on the youth of today. In many cases 2-3 generations down line will destroy what the past created. They simply don't have the same motivation for they never had to work for it or know the value of it. But, is this how we should be thinking? Unfortunately in todays times we have to have money to survive, but at what cost? Watch TV during the afternoon during the week. I bet you'll see a commercial for something killing someone who worked for someone who didn't care about them. Why enslave yourself to a company who would replace you in a week if you died tomorrow. Our loyalty is mislead and misguided, we give too much to those we shouldn't and not enough to those we should.
By Josh McCarthy5 years ago in Motivation
Early Morning Mindfulness
February 4th, 2021 6:34 AM I guess this is the kind of thing that makes life worth being present for, and by being present, I don't just mean that in reference to simply time. I mean by simply being in the moment. Almost like reaching nirvana, if you will. I've been up since before 4:00 this morning and now I'm up moving about the house taking care of some simple chores and the weather is perfect (to me, anyway.) A light breeze blowing through, it's dark out still. People are just now waking up for the day, with hardly any traffic on the street. It's quiet. It's pristine, perfect. There's a pleasant smell in the air. Isn't it remarkable how if you smell something, it takes you through a time warp, to a certain point in your past that you wish you could relive and experience again, maybe wish you could do it better than you did before? I know this may seem a bit strange but as I turn up my nose to the wind and smell that crisp morning air, I suddenly find myself whisked back into when I used to play baseball back in junior high school. It wasn't the most pleasant time but it was the most humbling. I guess I could be getting soft, nostalgic, and maybe even at a point where some of you reading this would tilt your head to the side and think that something odd is happening but the point I'm trying to make here is that for the first time in a really long time, I'm feeling at peace within myself, emotionally, physically, spiritually, in my heart and in my soul. And I've missed this feeling.
By Dillan Taylor5 years ago in Motivation
A bedroom, the black hole
As the saying goes, “man plans, God laughs” and no year has laughed at our plans as much as 2020. It wasn’t even a kind chuckle, it was a belly laugh that will resonate well into 2021 and will leave us with repercussions for years to come.
By Marco Dias Roque5 years ago in Motivation
Connection lost
It is now the second month of 2021. Where are we now? It was around this time last year when the response to covid 19 started to become more serious. None of us thought we would still be here today. There was an immense amount of hope that after a few weeks, or maybe months, it would be behind us. I can't even begin to describe the pains people have experienced socially, economically, health wise... None of this is funny, or how we want things to be in the future. None of us, art first, thought it would last this long.
By N Lorren C5 years ago in Motivation
Reflections (my personal)
2020...The year that would change the world for all of us. It was one of the most difficult years of my life and the events could have well killed me if I hadn't been so stubborn in my will to survive. I had help from above and from those that I cherish, too. But I had some take-aways and they were character changing.
By Shirley Belk5 years ago in Motivation
hi, hello, I'm Liv and I still don't know what I am doing
Please bare with with me as I know this is far past due, but as one of my goals for the new year was to write more I figured a long-past due introduction post (#introductionpost) would be a wonderful idea. Since I have deleted facebook and twitter, due to something I like to call Depression Scrolling, I now only holding Instagram and snapchat, have since found myself reading more on this platform than I intended. That being said, hi, I'm Liv!
By Liv Atterson5 years ago in Motivation
And in this, we get lost in the whole damn point; the whole damn beauty of the human experience.
It’s incredible, the human experience. We humans often forget this. When Starbucks encapsulates “that first sip feeling” on the sides of their famous white cups, this is exactly what they’re hinting at! They’re pointing at it with neon flashing lights, in fact; the ticket to joy, the simplicity of that “first sip feeling”. It is smart marketing... yet how many of us completely miss it?
By Laura M.5 years ago in Motivation
Reset Refresh Renew
Many generations surviving 2020 can collectively agree on one thing; 2020 was an unprecedented year. Many seniors have proclaimed that they have never seen or had to undergo what we all went through, currently still going through. The past year 2020 which I've nicknamed doubletrouble has gone above and beyond living up to its name. I can recall complaining to a friend in February because I didn't get what I wanted for valentines. He then simply replied “everything will be better next month now that the holidays are over.” That statement provided hope for the following few weeks until what I believe no one could've predicted and what I still consider the unthinkable happened. In the beginningu I recall everyone jokingly in disbelief; and the few people I'd question on how long it would last would respond a month. One friend was certain on the conspiracy that covid is a part of some political ploy that the government releases every presidential electoral year. He even went as far as stating if I researched any other mass traumatizing event I would find that it was done during a presidential electoral year. If he was bold enough to state this I was sold on it without the research it was just totally convincing to me at that point. Fast forward three weeks; the same people jokingly saying it will blow ever in three weeks were now irrate on how long they've been in the house and felt as though their constitutional rights were being violated. All of a sudden these same people were no longer expressing the joke and humor at all. The friend that proclaimed it was a political ploy..was now posting videos of his warehouse stocked full of toilet paper and survival necessities for the wellbeing of his family. Along with guns and rifles to protect his family from the uncertainty that everyone was uncertain about but knew it was an unknown enemy that we should protect ourselves from that he advised everyone to do the same because now he was singing a different tunes that covid is real and serious. I can remember going shopping for toilet paper and the aisles were empty I honestly felt like I was in a dream it was so surreal and just as equally unreal. I remember seeing a couple on that aisle and saying to them “it feels like a nightmare but that would mean we're all having the same bad dream” I wasn't sure if I was stating or questioning at the time perhaps both. I felt lost as though everything was out of my control. I made so many plans for double trouble that never happened and slowly but surely a new way of life and interpersonal interactions soon became normal. I said often “after this I don't believe I will be the same person” no matt who I stated this to; the response was always “nobody will”. In May it felt like I prayed everyday for it to be over so that I wouldn't have to celebrate my birthday in quarantined in June. My birthday was quarantined for sure as I finally began to embrace the new norms and the reality of what I thought I was in control of was merely a fragment of my imagination. A hard pill to swallow let's just say a horse pill. The truth for me, wasn't new routines because I felt as though I was quarantined before quarantining by choice. By deciding that many people did not deserve my energy and did not appreciate it and more times than not would take advantage of me; not necessarily on purpose however simply because that's who they are and do not know how to be anything different. Knowing these facts suddenly gave me a change of heart I love to distance myself by choice but if someone tells me I can't to something then suddenly I want to so that exact thing. Quarantine changed all the dynamics of my life and my choices. Suddenly I wanted to go out and do everything prior to covid was not on my radar. If I knew I most likely would've went out everyday before quarantine when I was home by choice; during quarantine I felt like a free prisoner. Advised to stay but the door is unlocked. This reflection on doubletrouble and it's global impact has made me thankful and ready to live my best life despite of any restrictions or newly incorporated normalities. I believe as unique individual humans were being everything starts within us and this is the root that fuels our life. As much as 2020 drained and deprived us of it does not own us. It's our individual right to decided how we want to react and our responsibility on how we choose to respond going forward. The first step is to reset which is the easy part. Buddha said “ Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most” Every day we awake the reset button is hit for us there is nothing we have to do it is our daily gift. However many people carry baggage that they've held on too for months some even year's unaware of the damage it's actually causing. The vital element in the restart is to let go. Let go of the negativity, the hurt, the pain, anything that prevents you from fully resetting your day. You know what is holding you back simply because it happened in the past. If you are keeping baggage from the past let it go. The past is over it can only bother you if you allow it. Become aware of things held on to from your last acknowledge it, make the decision to let it go and make a vow to yourself to make a complete reset daily. Take it day by day and a daily reset can become natural like second nature. Refresh your life by doing the things that make you feel good and reinvigorated. How you feel plays a huge part on how you see the world whether in a positive or negative light. Your perspective is influenced by what you feel and your thought process. The better you feel the better your perception. Everything starts with you; you decide how to react and even feel. Happiness is an inside job, if you're unhappy its because you've made the choice to allow your expectation of someones actions or lack of to impact you negatively. It's often times easier said than done and a huge part of self awareness to know what you're feeling and how you decide to react to others. Once you become aware that you are in charge of your feelings no matter what life throws at you it is refreshing. Refresh your decisions and make the choice to be happy regardless of what happens is a breath of fresh air and a means to a refreshed reset daily. Renew is to resume after an interruption. It's safe to say our life has been interrupted and indeed in need of a renew; again which starts and has everything to do with you. You can have the past weigh you down and feel as though you can't go on. Or you can take control of your life and decide that since the universe does the easy part for you and resets your life daily you can do the foot work of renewal. No matter what you feel was taken from you in the last year you are still here. If you ask me you are more than enough reason to resume your life and renew it. Taking a daily approach to renew is simple just analyze the things that have a negative hold on you decide to let them go ask yourself why does it have this impact and make a list of different perspectives. Once aware of the possibilities you are now aware of the capability of precieving and accepting these as a reality. Though may not be your current reality doesn't mean that it will never occur. Renew your mind and thoughts daily make the choice to see things that happen in a positive light no matter the outcome. Believe in a renewed sense of we'll being and happiness. Taking day by day measures to reset, refresh and renew your life is a individual unique choice that is our right; as the individual human we’re being and know everything starts within us first and our perception on life is our choice. Promise yourself to Reset, Refresh, Renew within you first, before making any decisions and life will be rewarding.
By Elyce Israel5 years ago in Motivation
