This is the reason why we talk about George Bernard Shaw; he dared to say WHY NOT?
How many times in our lives did we say WHY and the main reason was our concern for the opinion of others?
How many times we did not dare SAY THE THING or DO THE THING because of fear or timidity?
Benjamin Franklin used to say ; “Do something worth writing about or write something worth reading if you don’t want to be forgotten an hour after your death.”
How about living each day like if it was the last one?
What about looking for new and exciting experiences?
Oh, I hear you say…am I being too selfish and hedonistic?
Fair enough!
How about giving your time to help someone in need?
What about sacrificing some time or personal pleasures for someone else?
If you are measuring your quality of life according to other people’s expectations,
I think that you are heading for disapointment…
In contrast…
The people of the remote Himalayan country of Bhutan were recently rated as having the poorest quality of life of all but one other country in the world.
After all, their average annual per capita income is only $500. Ironically, however, when you have the privilege to visit the country, there are no beggars, only beautiful, snow-capped peaks, virgin forests, and clean air.
The crime rate is extremely low, no one is in a hurry, and there is a strong sense of community. You might almost think that instead of depending on their belongings to entertain them, they’ve learned to enhance their lives by building relationships with each other.
Be careful to avoid the trap of, “the more you buy, the more you need.” Because oftentimes then the more we think we need, the more unhappy we are with what we have. So, before buying those new golf clubs, stop and think. Will that $2000 bring you more happiness through a bag of irons, compared to a few days off with your family, or as a donation to someone who might need it, or a person who is trying to make a difference?
If you dream of becoming an artist; a painter, a writer, a musician, an actor or an actress; what prevents you from using your free time to get started?
All of us have some free time. I know most of us will tell others how very busy we are. The truth is that we are very good at making excuses.
I’m too tired…I don’t have money… I’m too old… I’m too young…My spouse won’t let me… It’s too expensive to take lessons… fill in the blank here ________________with your own excuse…
How can some of us spend so much time watching TV, complain about our problems or gossip about others?
Why is it that some people seem to find the time to do things that they really care about for themselves or for others?
Each one of us have spare time to pursue our dream.
The main reason we feel this way sometimes is because we live according to other people’s expectations.
We forget ourselves when we try to match society’s standards of what is right, what is success, what we should be doing…instead of remembering our childhood dreams and fantasies.
But, when we make a conscious effort to focus on some of our dreams and spend less time living according to our society’s standards, I believe we can drastically improve our quality of life.
It is however a conscious choice and a daily discipline to live this way.
Here is a lesson in leadership from a crazy dancer…
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be more content when they are.
After that we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with, we will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D Souza.
He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin -real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way, so, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time… and remember that time waits for no one.
So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy… Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
Good news, bad news, good mood, bad mood, joy, disappointments, new and exciting projects, boring routine, sunny day, rainy day, entertainment, lazy sunday afternoon…
This is what life is made of and each one of us must make the best of it.
One of the most interesting lines I have ever read is from Anthony Di Mello who said: I AM NOT my depression.
He meant that we all have bad days but we can choose to watch our bad mood as a spectator would watch a movie, we don’t have to identify with it, we can simply become the observer of our mood.
Remember that it is not what happens to us but how we react to what happens to us that matters.
Do you spend too much time worrying about your mood swings?
Do you accept that you can have a bad day and just witness yourself having a bad day?
Every day, I witness too many people who are complaining. (myself included)
If only we would realize how short life really is, we would stop complaining and stop wasting precious time.
Since our time is so limited, doesn’t it make sense to figure out what we really enjoy and try to spend as much time as possible doing what we like?
We all have responsibilities, but we also have spare time, and it is in that spare time that we can improve our quality of life.
One of the ways I found to minimize my own complaining is to count my blessings every day. When I focus my attention on what goes well in my life, I notice that there is much more good than bad. If you have time today, take a piece of paper, make two columns, one for the good stuff and the other for the bad things.
Chances are that you will write much more on the side of “good stuff”.
Good health, good friends, healthy family members, good food everyday, living in a safe country, able to give money to charity, easy credit to buy the dream house, the big screen TV or the new car.
And the bad things…
Since I have started doing this exercise many years ago, it has helped me realize that there is more good than bad for most of us, most of the time…if we choose to look at things this way.
It is an exercise that has to be repeated every day when possible, or as often as possible. When we neglect counting our blessings, there is a chance that people around us will notice it in our attitude. I could compare it to taking a shower, if we skip it for too long, someone somewhere will notice…
Do you find yourself complaining too much?
Don’t you think it’s a waste of time and energy?
Will you try to write down a list of the good things in your life?
“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.”
This is risky business! But when we are convinced that our ideas are the right ones, we must fight for them. Just think of Galileo, Martin Luther, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King…
In July 2009, Lee Lipsenthal was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. As he and his wife, Kathy, navigated his diagnosis, illness, and treatment, he discovered that he did not fear death, and that even as he was facing his own mortality, he felt more fully alive than ever before. Hear his story in his own words.
How do you feel about asking other people for help?
I’ve noticed that many of us get uncomfortable about requesting support. While we’re all different and we each have our own unique perspective and talents, it seems that this can be quite a challlenge for most of us to ask for help.
When I feel stressed out, when I try to do everything myself, either because I feel insecure about asking for help or because I think that I’m the only one who can do it the “right” way. At other times, I can be quite pushy with my “demands” for help.
I’ve also experienced personally and seen in others many times throughout my life, that there is a middle way between going it all alone and demanding help from others. So many times in the past, I tried to do it all, read it all, check it all and not sleep at all. I had to learn how to stop doing “the one-man-show”.
The irony of this whole thing is that most of us like to help others, while many of us find it difficult asking others for help ourselves.
Asking for help can make us feel vulnerable. We usually think that we should be able to do everything ourselves or that by admitting we need help, we are somehow being weak. In addition, many of us are sensitive about being told NO and by asking others to help us we put ourselves out there and risk being rejected.
What if we had more freedom to ask for what we wanted and for specific help from other people? What if we could make requests in a confident and humble way? What if we remembered that we are worthy of other people’s help and that our ability to both ask for and receive it not only supports us, but also gives them an opportunity to contribute. It always surprises that most people really want to help.
It can be a little scary, we may get our feelings hurt from time to time, and on occasion people may have some opinions or reactions to what we ask for or how we do so. But, when we give ourselves permission and remind ourselves that it’s not only okay, but essential for us to ask for help, we can create a true sense of support in our lives.
Alone it seems to go faster, together we go further!
Apparently, Socrates never wrote anything , the knowledge of the man, his life, and his philosophy are based on writings by his students, one of which was Plato who was amongst the most popular. Plato himself was the teacher of Aristotle, and Aristotle later on became the teacher of Alexander the Great.
We can see how an original thinker (Socrates) had influence on the poet & dreamer (Plato) who in turn had influence on the man of Logic (Aristotle) who finally influenced the man of action (Alexander the Great). The teachings of Socrates still resonate with us directly and indirectly 24 centuries later.
We can see with the previous succession of great people the importance of teaching.
Some of the greatest teachers often work in relative obscurity, it is their own personal passion that helps to shape some of the greatest individuals of the future.
36525 days to live 