I can’t speak for everyone but I think  ”what makes me happy?” could be quite a common question amongst middle aged and beyond people. And it’s fairly easy to understand this given we have media and advertising denoting how we should think and feel. Think about all the luxury vehicle advertisements, with open roads, lush green scenery and the ability go anywhere. What do these advertisements represent? Freedom. Now what about advertisements for make-up and skin cleansers, with model-like women. What do these advertisements represent? Insecurities about one’s image. But do you ever see advertisements on how to look deeply within yourself and find out what makes you happy without some sort of product or service? Of course not, there is no direct monetary gain in long-term happiness and fulfilment, only short-term bursts of artificial happiness, so you keep buying the newest and latest car, the most new “natural” make-up or swanky televisions.

So how does one find happiness and smile with joy every day? It’s certainly not easy and will take time but the rewards are great, more significant than any 55″ flat screen television or luxurious sports car will give you. Kate Kendall has done two graphs depicting the effects of both short-term and long-term happiness:

Short Term Happiness

Long Term Happiness

I think both of these graphs are fantastic examples of why it’s important to focus on happiness in the long-term as opposed to the short-term. If you’re finding your life to be up and down regularly, then maybe a look at your happiness is in order!

If you’re finding that happiness is what you’re seeking, I doubt that there is one magical recipe to finding it but I do know it starts and ends with you. So perhaps start quietly questioning your daily activities and ask, “do I enjoy this?”. If so, really think why as you may be able to find a commonality in other, new activities. If not, I suggest you firstly work out why and then possibly move towards ceasing it. The more activities, gestures and thoughts that increase your happiness will not only make you a better person but appreciate life as it truly is.

For me, I’ve only recently begun walking the path of happiness. Seeking it has been difficult I won’t lie but I know it’s what I need to do in order to be truly at peace with myself.

Keep searching, keep sharing and send love to everywhere because you’ll only be rewarded even more in time.

I’m not sure if there is a thing called luck due to everything being a variable and variables constantly change (even though I define myself as unlucky) however, both of those things are my perception and in order to grow from negatives, I need to acknowledge what has happened, why its happened and how I can prevent or improve next time.

I walked into the Treasury Casino in Brisbane at 6:30PM with $70 and left an hour later minus that. At one particular point, I was winning in blackjack, up $20, however I played on with the belief I was there to spend that either way. This is quite interesting due to the fact on how your has this perception of you “may” win and that the exciting part, though your mind also thinks on the side, call it your “sensible” side – “If I lose, how will it affect me?” These I believe are vital points in winning and losing.

We should always celebrate winning (especially winning in blackjack!) and losing, rather than degrading ourselves. The more we understand why we lost, the better we can remedy it.

The more we learn from the past, the more we will create from the past which in turn will make us live in the past. If we progressed our minds into the future, somehow allowing ourselves to be immersed into a new dimension, new possibilities, could we create new ideas and methodologies based on nothing ever before? Of course we can. We are the lucky race, the race who have minds which can turn a planet into a habitat to provide for millions of people, create machines to move things and build giant towers but it all comes down to a methodology and if we continue with the same old ways, we will keep going in the same old direction — now that’s in our history!

We need to stop imagining all the time and create new revolutionary solutions that will help us become better and more productive human beings. If we continue to be creative all the time, I doubt we would actually move in any direction.

Now taking into consideration of the above, at the end of the day, it’s only my opinion, whether you choose to take it on board and further yourself in a better way is your choice, your decision…because we are all human beings and we are all opinionated and ultimately, we will do what we want…won’t we?

I’m wanting to do a Credit Card Interest Calculation, to see how much interest I will pay on just under $500. Yes, we can do the math now though I’m very intrigued to see what Westpac works it out to be. I probably should’ve gone with the Westpac Ignite Credit Card, it has a lower interest rate and have 55 days interest free — too bad I’m not a Virgin customer!

Hopefully I can visualise my pain and never fall into this trap again and remember, always do your own Credit Card Interest Calculation and match it with the banks, because they can be wrong too, they just won’t tell you.

Friends are being made, lovers falling apart, houses developing and the stock market crashing. But really, no matter what’s happening, you are still you — nothing has actually changed. Every day I get up knowing I will work towards finding out who I am, getting closer to my true destiny and to find the right path, nothing can stop me, not even me…

Photo by Jude Griebel

Growing up I perceived love was simply mind over matter, seeing people who could switch between one person to the next without feeling pain looked like a skill that you could develop. However, the more I learnt and felt, the more I began to realise that is was far from mind over matter, in fact you couldn’t control it what so ever,  it’s the most strongest force in the universe, a force that will lift you so high but could bring you down just as fast.

The more I thought about it, the more I started to become open to it, allowing it to run through my veins like a new drug to my system, anxiously waiting to experience the effects. I felt my first hit during my high school years, to a beautiful girl. Being young and inexperienced to this new feeling which was constantly being injected through my body, I was careless and made decisions which would ultimately help me later on, but in no way would help me at the present. That was a short term price I paid but you can never tell what decision will be more beneficial as you make decisions based on what you know at the time.

I’m still very young and I believe love can always be found and vice versa, it’s something that is always with you all the time, it’s a matter of various variables like timing, personal development and your mindset at that point in time. I’m a person who values self-worth, respect, dedication, trust and loyalty and with our current world, those traits are becoming more scarce and sometimes can be even harder to find when you’re looking. Being single and focusing on personally developing myself in the past 3 years, I haven’t been seeking a partner though recently I’ve met someone with traits that I’m looking for in a person. We both share commonalities like when we want to have children and how we perceive life and when she shows her smile to me, I long to hold her so tightly, wanting to feel the warmth of her body.

I hear many state that love is so hard to find and once you have it, you should hold onto it and not let it go but as everything in life, abundant thinking is key and love is no different. It’s our beliefs and experiences which determine the next step of your life, i.e. a new relationship. Think it can happen, believe it can happen, make it happen…because you control your life and your life is influential to others.

A person by the name of Fr. Jerome Cummings said; “Love is shown in your deeds, not in your words.” Actions will always speak louder than words and to show true love, you must present it from the depth of your heart and soul, not from your mouth.

Love all but most importantly, love yourself.

As we go through life, we are always learning, gaining new knowledge and experimenting with new experiences, though unfortunately some don’t realise or understand the potential of our minds. Many curse their lives because they are dull, non-stimulative and always wonder why they can’t get that promotion or attractive partner – well, I can only sum it down to two important words:
Personal Development

Successful people always regard personal development (PD for short) in high regard, yet we still disregard it, why? Well that’s pretty simple to answer. We grow up in a society that has such a strong emphasis on education, we forget that we’ve learnt from ourselves for many, many thousands of years previously, and that’s where the true knowledge and power lies, within ourselves – we don’t get taught this, only ‘what they want us to learn’. The more we experience, the more we absorb and hopefully the more we learn; you can learn anything, it’s a matter of using it to YOUR advantage, not someone else’s.

There are many books on personal development and how it can help you grow your mind, think clearer and produce more innovative ideas, however until you have the urge to experiment with your mind and allow it to develop into something much more, I’m not sure if you’d go ahead and read a book or two.

As our actions come from thoughts and them from deep inner feelings, we need to have the urgency inside ourselves in order to make a action. If you’re in financial trouble and I said to you, “You can become wealthier just by reading a few books” – would you be interested? Of course, because money can bring a lot of new and exciting feelings, not to mention safety and necessitates like food and shelter. But until we have a wiliness to change, be open to new things, we will still work that job 9-5, pay our bills on time and feed the animals at 5pm every night.

However I could ramble on for hours discussing the importance of personal development but I would assume once you leave my website, this will be already lost into your sub-conscience until it’s required for a particular moment in your life, and it will be that day, you’ll realise you’ve been given a chance to succeed.

“Our moral responsibility is not to stop the future, but to shape it… to channel our destiny in humane directions and to try to ease the trauma of transition.”
- Alvin Toffler
(courtesy of squarewheels.com – http://www.squarewheels.com/content/persgrowthquotes.html)