Session 2

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

Happiness may be defined as a "set of positive attitudes in the midst of challenging situations." It is a disposition rather than a condition of the circumstances which all of us face. Put it simply, even when tragedy strikes, disappointments come, and when you are going through difficult situations, you can still be happy and experienced equanimity (a sense of serenity).   

How to cultivate the habit of happiness? Many suggestions have been given.  They include: 

• Accept And Be Yourself "We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemy "( Roderick Thorp)

• Do The Things You Are Good At "The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) 

• Count Your Blessings What you have and not what you don't have."We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as  result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have" (Fried Koenig)

• Know Your Passion. "Follow your passion,  and success will follow you"( Terri Guillemets)

• Learn To Be Optimistic "Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open ( John Barrymore).  Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you deal with it is what makes the difference. Virginia Satir

• Don't give up. Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent ( Marilyn vos Savant).  "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid. In the past, whenever I had fallen short in almost any undertaking, it was seldom because I had tried and failed. It was because I had let fear of failure stop me from trying at all. Arthur Gordon

• Persevere. "Success in life is not a matter so much of talent or opportunity but of concentration and perseverance " (C. W. Wendte)

• Focus On What Is Good "Every day may not be good; but there's something good in everyday" (author unknown)

• Be Prepared To Change Your Mind-Set "Your assumptions are your  windows on the world. Scrub them off everyone once in a while, or the light won't come in" (Alan Alda)  " Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become" (Anonymous). A wise man changes his mind but a fool doesn't.

• Be Contented "Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you" (Lao Tzu) 

• Concentrate  On Doing One Thing Well "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious , awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself" (Henry Miller)

• Accept Things You Cannot Change. People's reaction,  Life is not always fair and into each life some rain must fall

• Learn from your past (treat failure as your friend not enemy). The life of everyman is a diary in which he means to write one   story and writes another. James Mathew Barrie.

• Start afresh. Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Unknown

• Walk The Second Mile. The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be. . . The surest way to doom yourself to mediocrity is to perform only the work for which you are paid " (Og Mandino)

• Find A Balance Between Purpose And Pleasure. Life can be pleasurable and meaningful depending the deliberate choices we choose. Purpose and pleasure are basic constituents of happiness ( Paul Dolan).

• Discover Your Destiny I  believe everyone is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive. Benjamin E. Mays

• Give Your Best In Everything You Do. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. Joe Lewis

• Make Each Day Your Masterpiece

Life is about choices. You choose how to react to the situation. You can choose how people will affect your moods. You can choose to be in a good or bad mood. You can choose to live or die. In the words, what you tell yourself each day will either lift you up or  drag you down. "A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song " (Chinese Proverb).

How you begin your day can either make or break your day. Your attitude and actions have a strong effect on your whole day. Begin with a smile, a  calmness of mind and a heart filled with gratitude. A positive mindset that is going to be  a wonderful day.  

Everyone in the world regardless of culture, race, language, gender  or religion seeks to be happy.

In this book, I would like to share 3 practical, powerful and proven principles that  will lead you to the "Highway of Happiness" if you put  them practice.

Three Principles For Travelling The Highway To Happiness

# Principle 1    Let the Go the Past

# Principle 2    Live in the Present

# Principle 3   Look to the Future

What This Podcast Will Do For You?

• Instruct, inform and inspire you in your pursuit of happiness
• Enrich your life by using stories, illustrations, anecdotes, poems, quotable quotes to illustrate.
• Caution you how not to step on landmines.   

• Lay foundation for happier and confident living
• Give you timely/timeless truths for turbulent times
• Change your life giving you new purpose, new direction, new meaning, new hope
• Share a recipe for courage, happiness, faith, confidence, fear, self-discipline, family, peace of mind and the future.
• Provide practical  concrete steps  on achieving happiness.
• Assist you grow through life and not simply go through life?
• Encourage you to live life to the fullest.

Are You Ready?

If you listen carefully and reflectively, it will  change your life Are you ready?  Buckle your seat belt. We are going to travel on the highway to happiness. We will stop along the way. It is not going to be a smooth sailing. That is not normal. There might be speed bumps along the way.