Happy? So be it!

As with many of us, the approach of a new year makes us look at life and analyse where we are, what we are doing and how we want things to happen in the future. This thinking is what forms goals and plans for the times ahead. However, no matter how great it is to have a plan for the future, it is also an amazing thing to be in the present, feel it and discover happiness in it.

The happiest people aren’t the ones with the most money, things, friends, power, attention, health or even love. Neither are they always the ones with the least. The happiest people  are the ones who practice gratitude and focus on loving life consistently (and ok, having goals and trying your best to achieve them helps too!).

So in this post, I would like to take the opportunity to list a few reasons to be grateful and HAPPY about this crazy little maze that we call life.

1. Nature: who doesn’t love the sunset? It’s my favourite part of the day. I like all the colours turning into one, the sun going smaller, smaller and smaller until it disappears into the ocean or behind the hills. It makes me feel calm. And it’s free, with access to anyone who cares to open their eyes to appreciate it.

2. Random kindness: a chat with the neighbour, some unexpected help when you need it, a smile when you don’t expect it. These little surprises make life what it is, a little magic trick waiting to happen.

3. Art: it’s everywhere, even you make it, I bet! Again, it’s a case of opening your eyes to the new, to the crazy, to the inspiring and let your newly found perspective broaden your mind. Seeing it, reading it, listening to it, watching it will only enhance your life.

4. Nice food, especially if cooked in good company. Chop, chop, chop, chat, chat, chat (drink, drink, drink). The greatest recipe I’ve ever known.

5. Great people around you. Happy people are infectious, so the more ‘happies’ you have around you, the more are the chances of you being happy too. Surround yourself with positive people and your mood will reflect their joyful spirit.

6. Great working environment. Working with people that inspire you, understand you and value your work makes the 9-5 part of your life a pleasure, not a chore. If you love what you do, even better! Just don’t forget to count your blessing here, as many people work for the weekend.

7. A great network. A big family that likes to interfere in everyone’s business (like mine), great close friends and a partner that ‘has got your back’ is all you need anytime: when you are down, to pick you up; when you are happy, to celebrate with you.

8. Fun times. Appreciate having fun when you can. Our crazy daily lives don’t always allow specific times to have fun, but you can make the time for it. Have a laugh with your colleague at work, make a joke when you can, do an impromptu little dance, laugh with others. And always remember to find the funny side of things. There is always one.

9. Good health. Be grateful for being healthy and enjoy looking after yourself.

10. Live in the present and savour every moment as if it was your last.

So there you go: these are my reasons to be happy and grateful. Would you care to share yours?

It’s in the air

Have you ever felt something change in the room when a person comes in but can’t really tell what’s changed? Have you ever felt down/strange/agitated after spending time with certain people? And have you ever felt your mood improve after you meet someone? I started noticing this whenever I am near some people and then decided to investigate further. And the answer to all this is one and one only: energy.

We use the concept of energy to help us describe how and why things behave the way they do. There is solar energy, nuclear energy, electrical energy, chemical energy, etc. If you apply a force to an object, you may change its energy.  Energy is not something you can hold or touch. It is just another means of helping us to understand the world around us.

Each and every one of us brings energy to the people in our lives, be it your mum, colleague or person behind you in a queue. Our energy can be felt and can affect others massively.

There are types of people that bring different kinds of energy to us and I’m sure you’ll recognise some of the below. Here they are:

The complainers

What they’re like: This person makes sure to tell everyone about all of the problems, personal and public, in the world today. Everything has a negative side that needs to be explained in painful detail.

How to get rid of them: Music is the best protection. Raise the volume just a bit whenever this person comes into the room. It doesn’t matter what type of music, just about any combination of rhythm and melody help dissipate negative energy.

The fearful

What they’re like: Be it the economy, illness, germs, or a host of other possible afflictions, fear is one of the most negative type of energy out there.

How to get rid of them: Consider the comforting quote of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the perfect antidote to being needlessly afraid: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Fear is actually a concept, not a material reality. To hold off the negative energy of an idea, a quartz crystal carried in your pocket or around your neck will be able to absorb the negative energy of fear before it pierces your aura and can do damage.

The underminers

What they’re like: Just as you are making progress, things start to fall apart. Look around and the underminer may have been hard at work to ensure you did not get ahead.

How to get rid of them: What the underminer hates is the light of being exposed, so be sure to have a small candle burning somewhere safe.

The joykillers

What they’re like: No matter how great an accomplishment you or someone close to you has to share, a joykiller will make sure to minimize achievements at the very least and will work to try to make everyone feel rotten about having these successes.

How to get rid of them: By sudden interruption. As the joykiller starts a ramble of vile hate, politely interrupt with some news, any news. “I just remembered, everybody, there is a new bin liner in the bin, so you can throw things out now.” (haha, this has got to be the best interruption ever!). No matter what information you interrupt with, you have interrupted the joykiler and robbed them of the ability to spray their snake-ish venom.

The perpetual victims

What they’re like: “Oh poor me, men will never date me because I am far too short”; “I ate lunch by myself because no one called me to sit with them”. This person is always at the receiving end of a conspiracy and never succeeds because there are just too many people to blame.

How to get rid of them: You want this person’s attitude to slip away from you. Apply some holy oil behind your ears and you will not absorb this person’s hatred of the world, fear of success and self-loathing. The negative energy will slip away.

The guilt trippers

What they’re like: Whatever you are doing, it is bad and doing it this person’s way is the only way to be “good.” Guilt-trippers never allow people to enjoy anything.

How to get rid of them: Gold rings symbolize three things that a guilt-tripper despises: luxury, simplicity and the use of one’s own hands to reach out and affirm a destiny of self-creation. The hands are too powerful a symbol of personal freedom for the guilt-tripper to contend with. Gold is too luxurious an expenditure for the guilt-tripper to cope with. Asserting a simple ideology of personal freedom contrary to that of the guilt-tripper is too heretical for this person to stand next to. He or she will take their negative energy elsewhere when you flaunt your gold ring.

We live on a vibrational planet, and everything on the planet vibrates, including people. We either put out a high vibration or a low vibration. A high vibration results from feelings of happiness, love, respect, and so forth. A low vibration comes from the emotions of anger, depression, stress, and so on. When you go home to your family or go to work each day, recognize how your vibration affects and influences the degree of joy or sadness in other people’s lives. Step back and check yourself: What type of energy are you carrying from place to place, person to person? Is it going to enhance another’s well-being or deteriorate it?

If you radiate a positive, high vibration, and someone comes into contact with you who is radiating a rather negative, low vibration, you have a choice. The choice is either to 1) maintain your alignment with that positive vibration by politely excusing yourself from them or staying and deciding not to attach to their petty dramas, or 2) lower yourself to the other person’s negative vibration, letting their drama change your mood for the worse. For those times when you encounter particular individuals who, without fail, “push your buttons”, no matter how hard you try to remain centered, remember that when you start getting all worked up, those people are your “Peace Teachers.” They are teaching you how to find peace. They are testing you! You can “pass the test” by learning to be peaceful as an alternative to anger or frustration — accepting that they are who they are, and it is what it is — to keep you on the right track.

It is also a fact that similar people gravitate towards each other. Angry people do attract other angry people, and happy people do attract other happy people. Individuals who are on the same vibrational level are magnets to one another and if you look closely, you’ll see that you might be quite similar to many of your friends.

Therefore, be the type of person you would like to attract to yourself. Be the kind of person you’d like to have as a friend.

Now let’s look at “the big picture.” When we contribute to a shift in another person’s energy, either positively or negatively, it actually affects humanity on a much larger scale. It’s like throwing a rock into a lake and watching the ripples of water multiply and get bigger, traveling further and further out until they spread so far and wide that the ripples eventually become one with the body of water as a whole. When you “throw out” that one smile or helping hand to someone who needs it, you spark a “ripple effect.” Creating change in a person’s energy toward the positive raises their vibration. In turn, they will then affect whomever they come into contact with, and on and on and on…

Conversely, that one rude comment or little “meltdown” can spark the ripple effect in a very negative way… Who knows just how many people could end up shifting into a lower vibration because of something you said or did without even thinking about the consequences?

Everything we say and do does matter. We have a lot more power than we realise.

Source: http://www.keen.com