When in the company of friends and alcohol, you know you’re having a good time when the only thing in focus is the lip of your glass. But don’t tempt the hangover gods.
Tag Archives: happiness
Voice of Appreciation
A while back, I stumbled onto an inspirational video. It’s an oldie, but a goodie, about an “experiment” that studied a particular method of spreading happiness and joy. I won’t spoil all of it, but it begins with participants writing thank you letters to loved ones and ends up with happiness and joy all around.
It’s difficult to put aside ego and dignity and express appreciation for the ones we appreciate. Maybe this video is just what we need to pick up that phone or draft a new e-mail. If not, then allow me to provide the two to my one-two punch: it’s a website called See Your Folks. It estimates how many more times you will see your parents before the pass away. It’s a stark eye-opener that you don’t realize until you see an actual number in front of you.
Life is short, but happiness goes a long way.
Pale Blue Dot
February 14th marked the 25th anniversary of the Pale Blue Dot, one of history’s most iconic photos. It was taken by NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe approximately 6 billion kilometers away from Earth. The probe had completed its primary mission. It was exiting our solar system when Carl Sagan requested that NASA turn its camera around and take one more series of photos. Thus, the “Pale Blue Dot” came to be, one of the last photos ever taken by the Voyager 1. That bright speck, that white pixel in the sunbeam at the top of the photo, that is our home, our Earth.
Getaway
Sometimes you just want to get away to a deserted island beach and relax in the warm tropical sun. Alone and hidden away from all of life’s worries…
The Great Passage
Life is a journey that takes us down many paths, each step a step toward the destination. And when we arrive, we see that happiness is not the end of a journey, but the journey itself.
Focus not on the destination; you might miss everything. Focus instead on the path.
It is with this realization that we must sometimes stop…and enjoy.
Communication & the Internet
We value communication in every industry and every job. We practice it daily, but rarely master it. When we awkwardly talk with strangers, we find ourselves sweating profusely. Our neurons rapidly fire, choosing the right words to say in the right order, tailoring on the go. Communication isn’t easy, and when we add controversy, anonymity, and the internet into the mix, communication becomes a nice, juicy flustercuck.
Online debates are often bubbling, boiling pots of irrationality, anger, and hatred. Differing perspectives are met with preset skepticism and condescension. Interweb citizens are wrong until proven right. And if you just so happen to misspell a word or use improper grammar? Heaven forbid! All notion of a sensible argument is lost, as the ravenous commenters feast on your mistakes. You lowly piece of turd, how could you have missed the ‘m’ in “whom”?! Do you speak English, you America-hating troll nugget? Alas, you have failed as a human being…
The Mission Objective
It’s the ultimate goal in life: happiness. We all want to be happy. The caveat is that we all define it differently.
I’ve heard people say that happiness is as simple as being loved and respected, but I disagree. Our idea of happiness changes many times throughout our lives and even throughout our days. It changes as we grow and mature. It changes with our mood.
It could be friendship when we’re lonely, food when we’re hungry, or laughter when we’re sad. It could be selfless. It could be selfish. It could include the suffering of others. It’s never one set thing, but a dynamic, ever-fluctuating combination of factors that contribute to one single result: “I am happy”.
For more, here are some recent related items that I found interesting:
The Scientific Power of Meditation
Ditching Your Commute is the Happiness Equivalent of a $40,000 Raise
Friendly Cat
Last year, I met an awesome cat who came in from the street. He didn’t have a tag, but because he was so friendly, we named him Mr. Friendly. Super creative. Unfortunately, the name stuck before I was told that he was female. Haha oops! My bad, Mr. Friendly.
He loved coming over nightly for snacks and pets, and for some odd reason loved exploring the house. He’d inspect every nook and cranny, seeing all the sights and smelling all the smells. As soon as he got his fill of petting and snacks, he would bolt into the house in an attempt to explore the unexplored rooms. This happened on multiple occasions, to the point where we had to close all the doors in the house. Why, Mr. Friendly?! Perhaps he was a trained cat spy on some sort of reconnaissance…
One day while I was doing yard work, he stopped by and decided to take a catnap in a box of old clothes we were going to donate. Here’s his friendly, sleepy face.
After about a month, he stopped coming by. I did once see him getting harassed by a neighbor’s cat. Maybe he was ousted by that other jerk cat. I hope he’s not dead.
Take care, Mr. Friendly. May your camaraderie and goodwill inspire other cats around the world.
Workation
A friend of mine shared with me a great article about the American notion of vacationing. In a gist, Americans have it all wrong! 41% of us with paid time off don’t use it, and those who do use it, use it for workation — overly aggressive travel that leaves us battered and exhausted…
izrofel 