 Posted: Fri 3:52, 25 Mar 2011 Post subject: http://www.skymbt.com/mbt-kisumu Finding Yourself |
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| What are you going to do with the rest of your life?
Be the person you might never have become. There’s still time left YOUR UNFINISHED LIFE Kindness As A Strength Students in Dr. Seligman’s classes wondered if happiness came more readily by showing a kindness or by having fun. They were asked to engage in one pleasurable activity and one activity involved with helping others. Dr. Seligman reported that “the pleasurable activity paled in comparison with the effects of the kind action.” Kindness is not the sole road to gratification, but it clearly meets the standards of being an important source of it. Inspirational Quotations and Stories to Guide You “The pleasant life, is wrapped up in the successful pursuit of positive feelings, supplemented by the skills of amplifying these emotions. The good life, in contrast, is not about maximizing positive emotion,/mbt-sport-2, but is a life wrapped up in successfully using your signature strengths to obtain abundant and authentic gratification. The meaningful life has one additional feature: using your signature strengths in the service of something larger than you are.” The search for happiness is a universal and endless quest. It seems only logical it should center around us. Instead,/mbt-kisumu, it really centers around others. Jeremy Bentham said: “Create all the happiness you can create,/mbt-baridi, remove all the misery you can remove. Every day will allow you to add something to the pleasure of others, or to diminish something of their pains. And for every grain of enjoyment you sow in the bosom of another, you shall find a harvest in your own bosom; while every sorrow which you pluck out from the thoughts and feelings of a fellow creature shall be replaced by a beautiful peace and joy in the sanctuary of your soul.” (Happiness: Lessons From A New Science -Richard Layard) How To Have A Happier Life A decent, thoughtful man was walking home late one night and saw a pathetic drunk laying in the gutter. Suddenly, he found himself under a horrific attack of cynical thought and said to himself: “God, why do you let this man lie in shame. If you truly exist, why don’t you help him?” And into this man’s mind came this sentence: “I am helping him. I just brought him to your attention.” ( Dr. Robert Schuller - Power Thoughts) Kindness and Happiness How often are people called to our attention and we think it’s not our job, or that somebody else will help? It can be as simple as giving or lending money, cutting someone’s lawn or listening to a friend’s problems. The Power of Knowing and Becoming Who You Really Are You are the prospective parent of your own fulfilled self and your own happiness. Dr. Martin Seligman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, in his book Authentic Happiness says this about true happiness: Opportunities for kindness present themselves daily. It requires attentiveness. As the antennae of insects scan an area to sense their surroundings, it’s beneficial for us and others to develop an enhanced sensitivity to our social environment. We’ll start to notice things we haven’t seen before. People will be helped. And we'll make ourselves more authentically happy people in the process. Mother Teresa was of the same mind: “I wouldn’t touch a leper for $1000, but I cure him willingly for the love of God.” It doesn’t necessarily have to do with God or religious faith. It simply has to do with doing something worthwhile for a higher purpose. Kindness is an important strength all of us can practice. It clearly mee To determine what your strengths are, purchase Authentic Happiness and take Dr. Seligman’s VIA Strengths Survey. A fuller version of the test is also available online at: Reading his book will provide an improved understanding of your strengths and how they may be best applied in leading you to a satisfying life. “It’s never to late to become who you could have been.” - Sally Field |
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