InspirEmail

InspirEmail No 301 - March 2016 - Happiness is a choice
'Inspirational messages to refresh the spirit and boost the emotional bank account'

Happiness is a choice

In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy asks Charlie Brown, 'Why do you think we were put on earth?'

Charlie answers, 'To make others happy.'

Lucy replies, 'I don't think I'm making anyone happy,' and then adds, 'but nobody's making me very happy either. Somebody's not doing his job!'

People like Lucy are so sure happiness is a matter of getting something that they ask not what they can do for others but what others can and should do for them. They usually feel shortchanged or cheated. They become so preoccupied with what they don't have that they can't enjoy what they do have.

What's more, they don't realize one of the best ways to be happy is to experience the joy and self-worth of making others happy.

In his book Happiness Is a Serious Problem, Dennis Prager argues that it's human nature to want and feel we need more. The problem is, the quest for more is endless because we can always add more to whatever we have. As a result, the Lucys of the world often live in an 'if only' world that keeps them one step away from happiness: 'If only I get this raise, make this sale, pay off my debts, or win this game, I'll be happy.'

Abraham Lincoln understood that happiness is essentially a way of looking at one's life. 'Folks are generally as happy as they make up their minds to be,' he said.

Thus, we're more likely to experience happiness if we realize it's not just getting what we want. It's learning to want what we get.

Written by Michael Josephson


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Giving and Taking

Whatever you seek to acquire, the most reliable way to get it is by giving, rather than by taking. To obtain wealth, give value.

To be happy, make other people happy. To truly learn, teach others. To be loved, give love. To be respected, act with respect toward others.

When you attempt to take what you want, you'll be met with suspicion, barbed wire and guard dogs. By contrast, when you give of yourself, you encounter little or no resistance.

Sincerely seek to give, to provide value, to make a difference, and people will line up to support you. Every person alive, no matter how sincerely selfless and altruistic they may be, is concerned in some way with their own self interest - if they weren't they would stop breathing and die.

You can be sure that anyone with whom you come in contact is influenced to some degree by their own self interest. However, you cannot be sure that they are the least bit interested in you. That being the case, you're considerably more likely to achieve your own success when you champion the self interest of others.

It's as close as you can get to a sure thing.

Written by Ralph S. Marston, Jr
Source - Living the Wonder of It All and to buy a copy of the book please visit . . . Great Day >>>


- Inspirational Quote -

We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other.
If you are always there for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you
Jeff Warner

View more Inspirational Quotes >>>

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A monthly positive inspirational story and quote to refresh your spirit and boost the emotional bank account. InspirEmail was first published in November 2005 and each issue can be viewed in the Archived InspirEmail Directory located below the latest issue of InspirEmail


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