Project Happiness Articles — empowerment

If happiness is available to us at any moment through the power of our minds, why does it sometimes seem so hard to do? When our thoughts run amok, how do we choose better ones? We’ve all had those experiences (moments, hours, even days!) when finding a happier thought seemed nearly impossible. When endless loops of worry, frustration, overwhelm, etc. not only challenged our ability to find our happy place, they caused us to forget we even had the choice.

Do your parents, significant others, friends, or even colleagues have tons of quotes and positive sayings around the house? Mine do. Everywhere I went in my childhood home, there was always some form of inspiration. From the guest bathroom to my mom's home office, there was never a moment where I didn’t see something positive. 

“We want to reclaim the word ‘manic.’  The vagina monologues has done an incredible amount of work de-stigmatising female sexuality and we wanted to do the same thing with mental illness.”  Zack and Elisa started off soliciting stories from Facebook and Sanford communities and put together 15 stories of mental illness, from sad and heartbreaking, to hilarious, uplifting and, powerful.  Manic Monologues ran three sold out shows in May 2019 at Stanford and will run at UCLA in February 2020.

There's a lot to consider when we're passionate people feeling strongly about ten different things at once - motivation, resources, priorities, time management, etc. I know for me, I find it challenging to balance what's most important, what is calling me loudest and give it sufficient attention, without worrying about what's going to the wayside in the meantime. So lately, I've been thinking seriously about what exactly it is that I want to do. What is it that I want to be working on right now to be where I want to be.

Who are you without the details of life like your gender, sexual identity, role in the family, world citizenship of ethnicity or where you live, your religious or political affiliations, educational or professional achievements, or how much money you have?

There's a story of a student and a master. One day, the student asks his master the purpose of his life. She answers, "Only you can find that, but knowing of your purpose is not found in your mind, but rather in your heart.  "If you knew, right now, that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you most regret that you had not accomplished?"

Stress is a faithful friend. It doesn’t discriminate and it will never leave you. Its regular, intense presence will weigh down on you, instigate early onset aging, damage your immune system and lead to mental fragility. At the very heart of your responsiveness to stress lies the hormone Cortisol, which is simultaneously essential for self-preservation and the bane of your existence. But why is everyone so riled up about a meager hormone?

I have hit an extremely low point, after which I decided to turn my life around. I began to write, the one thing that I found freedom

I’ve thought a lot about how to write this. I’ve actually sat here, on this rainy Sunday in early September, and I’ve started it about fourteen different ways. So I’ve decided to just be honest. And write stream of consciousness— which is what I do— and see what comes out. What I want to do is tell you about Courage to Rise.   

Everyone wants to be happy. Behind our every action is our desire for happiness. However, unknowingly we have certain mindsets, I call those happiness stealers, which as the term suggests, keep us from being happy.