MSN Home  |  My MSN  |  Hotmail
Sign in to Windows Live ID Web Search:   
go to MSNGroups 
Free Forum Hosting
 
Important Announcement Important Announcement
The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
DavidStClair2[email protected] 
  
What's New
  
  Members Please Read  
  SITE RULES  
  View All Posts  
  GROUP FOCUS  
  Our Sister Site  
  ♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊�?/A>  
  Welcomes  
  Messages  
  General  
  SITE SEARCH  
  Translation Page  
    
    
  Links  
  ♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊♦◊�?/A>  
  Alchemy  
  Ancient Civiliza  
  Angels  
  Art  
  Ascension  
  Astral Travel  
  Astrology  
  Astronomy  
  Black Magic  
  Blavatsky  
  Books  
  Brain Waves  
  Buddhism  
  Chakras & Auras  
  Channeling  
  Cimarrones  
  Civilizations  
  Clairvoyance  
  Crop Circles  
  Crystals/Stones  
  David St. Clair  
  Dictionary  
  Divination  
  Dowsing  
  Dragons  
  Dreams  
  Energy  
  EFT Board  
  Empathy  
  Environment  
  Faeries  
  Fantasy  
  Feng Shui  
  Godz & Goddesses  
  Graphics & Snags  
  Ground/Sheilding  
  Health  
  Herbs  
  History  
  Humor/Games  
  I Ching  
  Illuminaughty  
  Inspirational  
  Kabbalah  
  KOMBAT  
  LOVE  
  Mailboxes  
  Masons  
  MATRIX  
  Meditation  
  Moorish Science  
  Money  
  Movies  
  Music and Lyrics  
  Natal Charts  
  NA Indian Board  
  Numerology  
  Oils  
  Pagan Board  
  PC Tips  
  Pictures  
  Poetry  
  Politics  
  Power Grids  
  Practice Reading  
  Paranormal  
  Prayer Circle  
  Prophecy  
  Psychology & NLP  
  Quotes  
  Radionics  
  Religions  
  Recipes  
  Reincarnation  
  RobertBruceBaird  
  Sacred Geometry  
  Science  
  Seth Materials  
  Spirituality  
  UFOs  
  Unsolved Mysteri  
  Videos  
  Water  
  Websets  
  Weirdness  
  Witchcraft  
  Words Of Power  
  Workshops  
  Writing  
  Yoga  
  
  
  Tools  
 
Inspirational : Where Does Happiness Come From?
Choose another message board
 
     
Reply
 Message 1 of 2 in Discussion 
From: MSN NicknameEerie7  (Original Message)Sent: 10/27/2006 11:10 PM
Where Does Happiness Come From?

I was asked to interview five people and ask them what 3 things would make them happier or more successful. As I compiled the list, here are some of the recurring things I heard:

What People Say Would Make Them Happier/More Successful

* more money
* better relationships
* better job
* more time
* more recognition
* a vacation
* better education
* a reliable car
* a bigger house
* better health
* get out of debt
* better neighbors
* better in-laws
* different co-workers
* never getting laid off
* better behaving children

Do any of those sound familiar to you?

I was also asked to put together a second list. This list consisted of how happy or successful people managed to be that way. Here are some of the things I found:

Characteristics of Happy/Successful People

* open-minded
* in control
* passionate
* energetic
* sense of humor
* worry-free
* goal-driven
* good listener
* reliable
* great attitude
* optimistic
* loving
* visionary
* ambitious
* self-confident
* “spiritual�?BR>* value-driven
* helpful

Now looking at those two lists, what differences do you see?

The first thing I noticed was that several things people said would make them happier/more successful were nouns while many of the characteristics of already successful/happy people were verbs or adjectives.

As I thought about it, verbs and adjectives suggest that you have to take some action while nouns don’t.

That’s when it really began to hit me. What people say would make them happier and more successful are almost all external to them. In other words, happiness and success can only come from the outside. On the other hand, people who are already happy and successful almost always have characteristics that are internal. In other words, happiness and success is seen by them as something inside of them.

So if you think that happiness is something external, you really have little control. Success will always depend on something or someone outside of you. But already successful and happy people can control their own destiny, because they see happiness and success as something internal.

I then realized that the verbs and adjectives in the second list get you what you want on the first list—not the other way around. If I wanted to be happy and successful, I had to develop and change on the inside.

I knew this intellectually before but it never really registered until just then. Happiness and success come from the inside, not the outside. Like most people, I had been looking for happiness in all the wrong places.

Why didn’t we learn this in first grade?

____________
Excerpt from The Journey Posted 10/18/2004 by Josh Hinds


First  Previous  2 of 2  Next  Last 
Reply
 Message 2 of 2 in Discussion 
From: MSN NicknameMIMI11MIMISent: 10/28/2006 6:30 PM
Awesome post Eerie
I haven't seen one of these polls in quite awhile.
A few years ago, I might have had stuff to put on the list.  I was quite surprised when I read the question that my first response was that I have everything that is required and I am happy and successful just as I am.  In years past, I would eventually get there as I analysed my "need" for the things on my list...but it definitely was not my first reaction.
Thanks for the post.  I learned something about myself today.
Namaste
Mimi