happiness Archives - Page 2 of 2 - I Take off the MASK!

100 Things To Be Thankful For

1.The gift of life
2.My job
3.My opportunity to look for another job
4.A roof over my head
5.A bread to eat
6.A few dollar bills to catch a ride back home
7.A few more bills to visit a dear dear friend
8.A song that inspires me
9.A good book to read

10.My ability to adapt to change
11.My courage to face whatever life brings me
12.A family to love
13.My coffee brewing in the kitchen
14.A bench to rest and watch people walk by
15.A courteous fellow I met this morning
16.My laptop to connect with the world
17.My laptop to play my favorite games with
18.A funny joke reminding me I could still laugh
19.A clean sheet of paper to start writing my novel
20.My favorite jeans

21.Sun shining through my window
22.A rose blooming in my garden
23.A new recipe I’ve learned to cook
24.My badminton match with my sister
25.A cozy library
26.Candles sending my prayers to heaven
27.Church music bringing heaven down here on earth
28.Laughter
29.Tears that release my heartache
30.Jogging around the corner
31.My favorite mushroom soup
32.Fried chicken
33.An old photo album
34.Watching funny home videos
35.Exercising and feeling good using my treadmill
36.Singing my heart out via karaoke or videoke
37.Seeing my favorite actor in person
38.Gathering around a bonfire and listening to ghost stories
39.My faith in God
40.My belief in the immortality of the soul
41.Experiences that give me wisdom
42.A cute teddy bear I hug at night

43.Being able to help other people
44.Dreaming
45.Waking up to another brand new day
46.Seeing fireflies for the first time
47.Riding an airplane for the first time
48.Watching my favorite theatre play
49.Having lunch with a friend
50.Walking
51.Being able to walk
52.Being able to see a rainbow
53.Seeing a rainbow early in the morning
54.Watching birds build a nest for their young

55.Planting a seed
56.Bowling
57.Thinking of a good business venture
58.Receiving earnings from my business
59.Reading previous entries from my diary
60.Being able to reach my age
61.The hope of living many more years
62.Quirky people I’ve met
63.Wisdom gained from teachers and parents
64.Time to do what I want to do
65.Hands to reach out to other people
66.Freedom
67.The blue sky ( glad it wasn’t bright red!)
68.The sound of crashing waves
69.Gravity (it keeps things organized down here)
70.The smell of my favorite perfume
71.A worn out shirt I’ve always liked wearing
72.Being able to repair an old gadget
73.Camping
74.Getting lost, and then finding my way again
75.Powdery sand beneath my feet
76.Halloween costumes
77.Shopping
78.Acoustic music
79.Watching old couples still loving each other
80.Seeing a newborn baby
81.Pimples. (Because at least I know I have skin and I don’t look like a living skeleton!)
82.That humans know how to talk and how to express what they truly feel
83.Being able to dance
84.The ability to think positive despite all the negative things around.
85.The ability to IMAGINE.
86.The ability to learn and to rise from my mistakes.
87.Uncertainties. It makes life more exciting.
88.Risks. Overcoming them gives us a feeling of victory.
89.That humans only have one pair of feet. Imagine how two pairs of shoes could cost these days?

90.That there are no gigantic dinosaurs roaming the earth right now.
91.That humans can swim even though we have no fins.
92.That humans can fly up a rocket ship even though we have no wings.
93.That we don’t have to command everything our body should do. Imagine what would happen if we forget to breathe!
94.That wounds heal naturally, and that we grow without being repaired like robots.
95.Being human.
96.Consisting of both body and soul.
97.That we get hurt, because getting hurt alerts us from dangers that could harm us more.
98.That we remember.
99.That we can love.
100.That we exist in the very moment that we are who we are.

“Passion is not only a fire

That burns within the heart,

It is a flame that consumes

Both heart and mind,

Both spirit and soul

Such that one is able to do

What one has never done before!”

People who practice their passion are happy. They do not have to wait before the whole world acknowledges their art. They only want the world to know of it so that the world may also share the happiness they already have.

Do you know your passion? For people who do, the answer is instantaneous —

“Running is my passion.”

“Cooking is my passion!”

“Teaching my students is my passion.”

“Composing great music is my life passion!”

You know it’s your passion when you can’t wait another day doing it. Even when someone tells you to have a vacation, you’re reluctant to leave your passion behind. There is no retirement from it. There is no giving up. Even when you don’t earn money from it, you still do it. You do it for the pure joy of doing it!

Passionate people excel in what they do. It’s like they have some kind of magical powers that allow them to do things ordinary people cannot do. The truth is that the PASSION itself is their magic. They don’t need to pursue anything else other than their great love for what they do. They hardly notice the time spent with their passion because their whole being is engrossed in the moment of being one with their soul’s desire. They also hardly notice any difficulties because everything else becomes insignificant as compared to their one great inspiration.

For a man who has found his true passion, there is no task that is too difficult. Such a man does not flee with the slightest inconvenience or discomfort.

He endures. He overcomes. He rises triumphant and with a big smile on his face no matter how difficult his struggles had been.

People who have passion have an infectious enthusiasm about them. You can feel their great energy even before they say anything at all. You can see it in the gleam of their eyes, in the spring of their movement.

Everybody wants to be with them, willing to be of help without being asked. This is because people with passion give out hope and energy to others around them. They inspire others to find their own passion.

In order to find your own passion, you must look into your own heart and not mind what others say. You must not consider what would look great or more honorable. You must not consider which seems to earn more money. Instead, consider that which will bring you the most happiness. Let joy lead you to your passion, and your passion will be your greatest joy!

HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO IN LIFE?

After all the hard work studying, you’ve finally graduated from school. After all the hard work applying for a job, you’ve finally landed a job that pays you. And after all the hard work finding other jobs, you’ve finally landed a job that pays you well. Happy? Why not? Isn’t this what you really wanted to do all along? What seems to be missing? Why do you feel as though you’re starting from the very beginning? Worse, you feel you don’t even know where to start. For the first time in a long time you ask yourself, “What do I really want to do in life?”

I’ve asked myself the same questions, and of all the questions I’ve ever asked myself, this is one of the hardest indeed. But there is a way. And we must believe that all those who seek earnestly find the answer that they seek.

Following are some of the things that helped me realize what it is that I really wanted to do, what it is that would make my life worthwhile and meaningful. It’s certainly not an easy journey, and it’s easier said than done. It may take even years for some, but take heart, and believe that it is never too late to find the answer you’re looking for.

1. Remember you childhood dreams

We weren’t always the grow-ups we are today. Once upon a time we were just kids learning to walk, talk and find our way in this world. Once upon a time we had the imagination to dream and to feel in our hearts what we really wanted to do. But something happened along the way. The necessities imposed upon us and the prejudices society taught us made us think differently. We lost touch of the child within us, the child who knew how to dream and to believe in that dream.

Get in touch with that child again. Hear his voice. Pretend you’re not afraid of the many difficulties that lie ahead. Pretend you haven’t heard of what the many other grownups around you say a responsible person should be doing. Think everything is possible, as when the time you believed in magic and fairytales. Think God can grant you your heart’s desires. What do you want? What would you ask for? What have you asked for when you were once a child? Did you want to be a doctor then and heal people? Did you want to be a teacher and feed the mind of young ones with knowledge and wisdom? Did you want to be an artist and paint the world with colors? Set yourself free. Oftentimes, what we really wanted to do, we already knew since when we were but children when our hearts were yet pure and our minds unbridled by the many rules the world has taught us later when we grew up.

2. Explore

Now that you already have the means to support yourself, you can finally do things you’ve only dreamed of before! On my part, I was able to go to places I’ve never been to; I was able to attend seminars like 3D animation, scriptwriting, and playing the guitar; I was able to buy a digital camera and experiment on taking pictures; I was able to buy an oven and the ingredients needed to bake and cook; I was able to play computer games as much as I wanted and design my blog for hours using the computer I bought myself; I was able to buy the books I’ve always wanted to read.

I have the means now to finally explore the things that delight me and interest me. I can finally nourish the dreams the child in me used to dream only with her heart and with her head.

Explore. Don’t think you need only to do the things where you can get outright monetary returns. Just set yourself free, now as an adult who knows how to enjoy yourself. Do what you want. It will lead you to those things you would want to be doing all your life.

3. Make a survey

The people around us usually have clues about our strengths, talents and skills, and the things that we enjoy doing. Ask these people. They may even tell you things you haven’t realized yet, like a good singing voice you’ve always kept to yourself before! Or you may discover that you’re a good leader, and that you inspire the people you work with. You may discover how many people count on your wisdom and insights and thus, seek your counsel for important decisions in their life. Make a survey, and let it guide you in your discovery.

4. Fear not your own beauty and strength

In your journey of discovery, you may sometimes get a vision of yourself, your best self, the one you’ve been searching for all along. But oftentimes too, we immediately disregard this vision, for we cannot believe it to be true. It overwhelms us to think we can be that beautiful and talented and strong. We regard it as an illusion we can never reach, and we settle for the next best thin that comes to our mind. Don’t do that. For God did not intend us to settle for something lesser than His greatest plan for us. God made us to be the best and most beautiful we can be so that other people may best be blessed as well through us. Don’t belittle yourself. And do not be afraid to see yourself for who you really are, and for who you were truly destined to become. Shine forth your light and fear not your own beauty.

5. Accept your gift

Once you have faced the vision of your destiny, learn to accept it with all your heart and spirit and mind and soul. Deny not your gifts, and deny not the accountabilities those gifts carry with them. If you have the gift of entrepreneurship, accept it. Accept that you have the power to lead many people. Accept that these people will count on you. And fear not that you may fail them in the end. Instead, fear that you may not even begin and give them the chance therefore to have a leader as good and strong as you are.

6. Do something you won’t ever get tired of doing

Once you have explored your many interests, learn to discern which of these things will delight you only for a time, and which of these things will give you joy forever. As for me, I once enjoyed my guitar lessons. But then I soon got tired of practicing and playing the same music again and again so I can master it. I didn’t want to hear the song that way. It made me lose interest in the song. But I found out I could compose songs, and that I do not tire of composing them.

Realize that when you choose something, your passion in doing it must be that great so as not to tire of doing it all your life. Can you imagine painting everyday of your life? Can you imagine practicing golf for hours for all the days of your life? What is it that you won’t ever get tired of doing? What is it that even if others attempt to stop you, you would still be doing just for the sake of doing it? Something you could never stop yourself from doing, because stopping yourself would mean stopping the very flow of life in you?

7. Do what enriches you and blesses others at the same time

I’ve realized that when I write from the heart and from the very depths of my soul, the words I have written do not only help other people, but those very words inspire me first of all. Such is when I know that I have practiced my passion, when I feel enriched instead of feeling exhausted, when I feel that I have received and I have been blessed instead of feeling deprived and spent. I noticed too that when I write from the heart, other people are blessed, they are moved, and in one blessed moment, our souls touch, and our souls are both blessed by the God that gives us all good things.

It is thus that you know you have truly found your gift: when the thing you do both enriches you and blesses many others along the way.

8. Set aside what others deem as right, beneficial and noble

Although I’ve suggested to you previously to make a survey of what others think of you and your gifts, you should also be careful that you don’t listen to everything people tell you. Try to sense if they are sincere, and if they’re truly speaking from the wisdom of their hearts. Other people merely repeat what others say without reflecting on it. Other people would dictate upon you what worked for them, and what may not work for you.

Most of all, when you have already discovered what you really wanted to be doing, set aside the prejudices of the world and trust the God who entrusted to you this mission and these gifts. Do not let the opinion of others belittle you or tell you that there are other tasks far nobler or greater than the one you’d like to be doing.

9. Do what really makes you happy and complete

God has implanted upon your own heart the desires that would truly make you happy. These are the thing that will guide you in your journey. These are the things that will shed its light in your path where there were only shadows and uncertainties before. Discover the deepest desires of your heart. For it is such desires that if fulfilled can really make you happy and complete.

10. Pray

Above all these things my friend, pray. Seek for the counsel of God’s Spirit and God will guide you all the way. Pray for enlightenment. Pray for perseverance. And then pray for the courage to use your gifts. It is such that you will know God has a great plan for you, and it is God Himself who will help you to make your dreams come true.