How can you be happy (a bit off topic – or, maybe not)?

by: Maria Monday, November 9th, 2009

I guess this is what it’s all about, how we can be happy. When we’re striving for our goals, our money, our new house, our perfect partner, our adventurous world trips, we have an idea that by having or doing these things, we will be able to have more happiness in our lives. But, in the end, it’s not in the things or the doing anyway. It’s in ourselves. As some like to point out: “Happiness is a decision”. It’s actually up to you in every situation to choose if you want to focus on your feeling of happiness or on something else. This might not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but just knowing that I can choose how I’d like to relate to the world around me, has at least helped me a lot towards a happier life.

Kava ceremony in Fiji. It really both looks and tastes like muddy water

I remember listening to a tape (yes, it was a while ago) with Anthony Robbins (for you who don’t know about him, you can get acquainted here, but be prepared, he’s pretty intense). He was talking about one of the first times he visited Fiji, where he now has his own center (which I’d love to visit some day). Anyway, he talks about when he was sitting with all these Fijian men, having a Kava ceremony and singing and clapping and he then asks them what the meaning of life is. They all look at him as if he just arrived to this world and doesn’t know anything, and all say with one voice “to be happy of course”!

When we visited Fiji, we really got the feeling that happiness was part of the Fijian spirit. People were always singing and playing ukulele, sitting together in the evenings singing more, no stress, just being happy. Of course I realize, there are difficulties and hard times there as well, but I’m talking about a general attitude.

Nowadays, I’ve heard many different teachers of wisdom pointing out that “the meaning of life is to be happy” and I think it’s an interesting idea.

Anyway, I found this video with super coach Michael Neill where he talks about this subject, how we can be happy. I thought it was rather good. And even here they talk about “taking time out” and “go away and have a bit of fun”, but for a shorter time. Just imagine doing it for a longer period!

So watch it and Be Happy!

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4 Responses to “How can you be happy (a bit off topic – or, maybe not)?”

dave from van vault Said:

Ive always been a sceptic when it comes to these so called life coaches and ‘gurus’…whats going to make one person happy isnt going to work for another.

Its up to the individual to discover themself, discover what they enjoy and why – then do it.

Comment made on November 10th, 2009 at 11:51 am

Maria Said:

I totally agree with you Dave!
It is individual, our way to finding more happiness (or whatever we want to focus on).
Also, I don’t believe anyone else can find the way for us or do the job for us.
What I do believe though, is that other people, it may be gurus, life coaches, our mother, our child, our neigbour or our boss, can inspire us to start reflecting upon things like this.
I also believe, as I write in the post, that to a very big extent, we choose how we want to percieve things. Choosing to believe that the purpose of life is to be happy, is, for me, more of a basic attitude to life. Like “do you see the glass as half empty or as half full”..
I’m a person who usually sees it as half full.
Thank you Dave for your comment!

Comment made on November 10th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Gabi Said:

Yes, I totally agree! Being happy is most important.
For some it is travelling, some might have more fun staying home.
For us it was interesting to see how different cultures have a different attitude to life. What we found out was, that the British are very relaxed. I didn’t really expect that. Because people normally talk about the British being reserved and so on. But, although there’s lots of people living there, I found they didn’t talk so much about problems (that’s something Germans seem to like a lot), they like telling jokes and are fun to be around. So we enjoyed ourselvss a lot there.
So, travelling can help you find happiness, because normally, while on the road, your open much more.

Thanks for that great post. It would be nice to meet in Fiji one day:-)

Greetings, Gabi

Comment made on November 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

Maria Said:

Yes, absoultely, we all havce our different ways to happiness!
I think it’s interesting what you say about being more open when you’re traveling.
I recently read about this, that when we are in a new situation,like traveling, we are more aware of our surroundings and our senses are more open.
This is a natural survival thing of course, when we’re not familiar with things around us, we “need” to be more observant.
This is part of the reason that you take in new things so much more strongly when you travel. You are much more aware about what’s happening then when you’re on that same bus every morning on your way to the job you’ve been going to for many years and other familiar situations.
I found this very interesting.

Thanks Gabi for your comment!

Comment made on November 13th, 2009 at 8:15 pm