Posts Tagged Happiness

How to Live a Happy Life

On July 1, 2021 / Effectiveness, Stress Management

What is the secret to living a happy life? Is happiness something that results from an action or state of being? Or is happiness a choice you can make regardless of the situation? I believe, in more cases than not, that happiness is definitely a choice.

Success does not bring happiness. In fact, if we equate happiness with success, we will never achieve the amount of success necessary to make us happy. There is always more success than we can achieve. However, as long as what we do is JOYFUL and MEANINGFUL, happiness will ensue.

Money is not the root of happiness. Some unhappy poor people have the illusion that money will make them happy. Have you ever noticed how … >>>

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Focus on Self-Acceptance

On April 22, 2021 / Effectiveness

Many people are searching for acceptance outside of themselves when they haven’t yet learned to accept themselves. Self-acceptance means being okay with WHO you are and WHERE you are. It means being kind to yourself even when you make mistakes, fail, or do really stupid things. Self-acceptance is a close relative to self-esteem. It is difficult to have one without the other, and, if you have one, you will tend to have the other.

There are many reasons why people have low self-acceptance, but most fall into one or more the following areas:

A perceived desire to be perfect
A focus on imperfections rather than on blessings
The desire for approval and to be liked
A strong desire to please

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The Truth about Happiness

On January 23, 2020 / Stress Management

For many people, happiness seems like something elusive and unattainable. But if you look around at your family, friends, and co-workers, you will see that the happiest people are the ones who don’t pretend to know what’s right for others. They also don’t try to control anyone but themselves.

You will further see that the people who are most miserable are those who are always trying to control others. Even if they have considerable power, the constant resistance in some form by the people they are trying to control promotes stress, hinders optimum relationships, and greatly diminishes the happiness of everyone involved.

If you try to control others, you will be met with constant challenges. If you try to control … >>>

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Develop the Happiness Generation

On May 30, 2019 / Stress Management

Most people are on a quest for happiness. We want to be happy, and we want our children to be happy. As a result, to hopefully ensure the happiness of their children, many parents give them things. Before I go any further, let me clearly state that the following point is NOT to stop giving items to our children; it is to point out how HAPPINESS is EARNED, not GIVEN.

Unfortunately, many young people today are learning to have an “entitlement” mentality rather than a happiness mentality. For example, many teachers give kindergarten and early grade students stickers or other items for doing what the teacher requests. Parents also bribe youngsters by saying something like, “If you do this, then … >>>

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The Art of Happiness

On May 23, 2018 / Stress Management

Image of a child drawing a big happy face on a wall.

Most people strive for a state of happiness, but the fact is that staying unhappy is all too easy. It even comes naturally to some people. Here is a tip that is sure to turn your frown upside-down and invite happiness into your life.

If you are in a funk, it is natural to be unhappy. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

But when you are in this state and do nothing about it, you are taking the easy way out. Is this in your own best interest? Of course not. When you’re unhappy or feeling sad, it is a shame to take the easy way out.

You can take … >>>

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Remaining unhappy

On May 15, 2016 / Reduce Stress, Stress Management, Weekly Tips

The image displays the words “Without Stress Tips” in white against a blue background along a gold lotus blossom.

Remaining unhappy is very easy. It even comes naturally. If you are in a funk, it is natural to be unhappy. But when you are in this state and do nothing about it, you are taking the easy way out. Is this in your own best interest?

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” When unhappy or feeling sad, it is a shame to take the easy way out.

You can take the easy approach and remain in a funk, or you can choose to put forth effort. All you need to do to change your feelings is to redirect your thinking. The emotion (feelings) always follows thinking (cognition).

Never attempt … >>>

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Satisfaction vs. Happiness

On August 20, 2015 / Effectiveness

Many people think that satisfaction brings happiness in life. In reality, it’s the positive people, not the satisfied people, who are happy people. Happy people are pleasant to be around. Being around people you enjoy improves your own disposition and desire to put forth effort.

Being positive should not be confused with satisfaction. Telling someone to be satisfied makes little sense to me.

For example, after a presentation I ask myself, “What did I do that was good?” and “What can I improve?” Asking something like, “Am I satisfied with my effort?” would be of little value.

We always have the opportunity to learn and grow. If we were satisfied, we would never grow. It is the feelings that emanate … >>>

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The Discipline of Happiness

On October 9, 2014 / Effectiveness

Have you noticed that many parents, teachers, and students these days seem unhappy? Have you also noticed a rise in classroom discipline? Does unhappiness cause students to act out and adults to respond with traditional and ineffective discipline techniques?

Well, I assert that we all have a moral responsibility to be happy.

We owe it to our spouse or partner, our fellow workers, our children, our students, our friends—indeed to anyone who comes into our lives. If for no other reason, people act more decently when they are happy. Students act out less, and adults are less stressed.

So how do we achieve happiness? Well, if we equate happiness with success, we will never achieve the amount of success necessary … >>>

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Make the School Year Happy, not Stressful

On August 12, 2014 / Effectiveness

Teaching consistently ranks as one of the top 20 most stressful professions. And too much stress in anyone’s life makes happiness hard to maintain.

But the fact is that as a teacher, you have a responsibility to yourself to think and participate in those activities that bring you a fulfilled life—one that brings you happiness. Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish-American writer wrote, “There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.”

Here are a few thoughts that may assist in this most important endeavor.

What is important is how FREQUENTLY, not how intensely, you are happy. The thrills of winning in Las Vegas, an intense joy of a personal encounter, or having a peak of … >>>

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Discipline Is a Liberating Word

On August 4, 2012 / Articles

A happy life is a disciplined life.

Most people misunderstand the term “discipline.” A university professor once told me this term is so negative that he never uses it. Instead, he uses the phrase “classroom management.” As with so many educators, the professor mistakenly used these two terms as if they were synonymous. On the contrary, classroom management is about making instruction and learning efficient. This is the teacher’s responsibility. Discipline is about behavior and is the student’s responsibility.

The key to classroom management is to teach a procedure for everything you want your students to do. A major mistake many teachers make is assuming that students know what the teacher wants-without the teacher’s first modeling, then teaching, and then … >>>

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