Project Happiness Articles — contemplation

I've discovered that some people love setting goals around this time of year and others hate it - like seriously despise it. Whatever category you fall into is fine by me, but I believe anyone can benefit from making a vision board. It's a physical, tangible reminder of what you want the coming months to reflect.

Am I the only one who sometimes feels like my mind is racing at 120 km p/h?! It’s a mad-house in there most of the time. It is very difficult for us to think clearly, let alone think about a topic as complex as “career direction” when we are completely absorbed in our inner dialogue, self-criticism and general chatter.

This isn’t to make one feel sorrow for people with less but to make one understand that often our happiness has already been achieved and that we are simply programmed to want more and more and more and more.

Choosing to insulate ourselves deeper and deeper in a cocoon of protection weakens our character, puts unnecessary restraints on our lives, and  limits our life experience to while we try to prevent experiencing pain. 

Sleep later! Right now you need to be awake to see this! In our day to day lives, so many people don't really see. They may go outside, but they don't see the beauty of the sky, the trees, the water, the stars. 

One of my very favourite cartoons is this one from Michael Leunig. It's been on my page a number of times - and to me encapsulates sometimes how life is - and how - when things are very tough - it is the small things that get you through.

Most people, at least once in their lives, go through a phase of mental and emotional fuzz where things don’t make sense and the daily actions that we do don’t point to an end goal that we wish to achieve.

Getting started is easy. All you need is a notebook or diary and something to write with. Spending just a few minutes each day writing about how you’re feeling is enough to get you on track.

Even with extensive training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, for over 30 years I wondered why I, and most people I know, struggle to be consistently happy.

A lot of us have never encountered educational curriculum when we were growing up regarding how to love ourselves. It's often challenging to know what loving ourselves looks like.