The 12 Laws of Karma

1. THE GREAT LAW

• As you sow, so shall you reap.

• This is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect.

• Whatever we put out in the Universe, is what comes back to us.

• If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Friendship, Love…

• Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Friendly, Loving.

2. THE LAW OF CREATION

• Life doesn’t just HAPPEN. It requires our participation.

• We are one with the Universe, both inside and out.

• Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state.

• BE yourself and DO yourself… what you want to have in your Life.

3. THE LAW OF HUMILITY

• What you refuse to accept, will continue for you.

• If what we see is an enemy, or someone with a character trait that we find to be negative…

• Then we ourselves are not focused on a Higher Level of Existence.

4. THE LAW OF GROWTH

• Wherever you go, there you are.

• For us to GROW in Spirit it is we who must change and not the people, places, or things around us.

• The only given in our lives is OURSELVES, and that is the only factor we have control over.

• When we change who and what we are within our heart, our life changes too.

5. THE LAW OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Whenever there is something wrong, there is something wrong in me.

• We mirror what surrounds us, and what surrounds us mirrors us.

• We must take responsibility for what is in our life.

6. THE LAW OF CONNECTION

• Even if something we do seems inconsequential, it is very important that it gets done,

• As Everything in the Universe is Connected.

• Each step leads to the next step and so forth and so on.

• Someone must do the initial work to get a job done.

• Neither the first step nor the last are of greater significance.

• They were both needed to accomplish the task.

• Past, Present, Future: They are all connected…

7. THE LAW OF FOCUS

• You can’t think of two things at the same time.

• When our focus is on Spiritual Values it is impossible for us to have lower thoughts such as greed or anger.

8. THE LAW OF GIVING AND HOSPITALITY

• If you believe something to be true, then sometime in your life you will be called upon to demonstrate that truth.

• Here is where we put what we SAY that we have learned into PRACTICE.

9. THE LAW OF HERE AND NOW

• Looking back to examine what was, prevents us from being totally in the HERE AND NOW.

• Old thoughts, old patterns of behavior, old dreams… Prevent us from having new ones.

10. THE LAW OF CHANGE

• History repeats itself until we learn the lessons that we need to change our path.

11. THE LAW OF PATIENCE AND REWARD

• All Rewards require initial toil.

• Rewards of lasting value require patient and persistent toil.

• True Joy follows doing what we’re supposed to be doing and waiting for the Reward to come in its own time.

12. THE LAW OF SIGNIFICANCE AND INSPIRATION

• You get back from something whatever you’ve put into it.

• The Value of something is a direct result of the energy and intent that is put into it.

• Every personal contribution is also a contribution to the Whole.

• Lackluster Contributions have no impact on the Whole, or work to diminish it.

• Loving Contributions Lift Up and Inspire the Whole.

Sources: 

• PandaWhale – The 12 Laws of Karma
• PandaWhale – Playing with the Moon
• Waking Times – The 12 Laws of Karma (video)

 

#42

Anything that happens, happens.
Anything that, in happening, causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen.
Anything that, in happening, causes itself to happen again, happens again.
It doesn’t necessarily do it in chronological order, though.
       ~ Douglas Adams

.

Most people do not comprehend,
[no matter how] they encounter such things,
nor do they understand what they learn;
they believe only themselves.
       ~ Heraclitus

.

Every thought is a seed.
If you plant crab apple, don’t count on harvesting Golden Delicious.
      ~ Bill Meyer

.

All the lessons of history in four sentences:
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.
The bee fertilizes the flower it robs.
When it is dark enough, you can see stars.

       ~ Charles A. Beard

In the spirit of Thirty and Thirty-Five comes the following awesome, beautiful, and creative web of thoughts that occupy my brain.

No matter.

I’m not patient enough to write poetry or prose, so I’ll just count down after Futurama.

Don’t you worry about life, the universe, and everything; let me worry about blank…

42. We believe in the interconnectedness of all things.

41. Everything is about inclusion.

40. Everything is everythang.

39. Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

38. As human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

37. Let it go. This too shall pass.

36. SIMPLIFY.

35. Lessons are repeated until they are learned.

34. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

33. Reflect on happiness.

32. People are very bad at predicting what will make us happy.

31. There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

30. We are feedback loops. We are the stories we tell ourselves.

29. Love is when you open your heart to pain.

28. To get over grief, be there for someone else’s grief.

27. Kittie heaven is mousie hell.

26. Bird is the word!

25. The ride does not require an explanation. Just occupants.

24. It’s not going to stop till you wise up.

23. Character is destiny.

22. Reflection creates identity.

21.
You can do anything.

20. We can change the world with a pen and paper. We keep waiting, waiting.

19. Starting is hard.

18. We’ll see.

17. Life is… delicious ambiguity.

16. Beware drift. Do what you love!

15. True happiness comes from within.

14. Get yourself a giant panda! (Super kawaii!)

13. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

12. That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.

11. It goes to 11. (Be sure to read through to Andy Weir’s story, “The Egg”!)

10. Life is like business. It’s 20 percent what happens to you, and 80 percent how you respond.

9. 80 percent of success is showing up.

8. Our attitudes produce our luck.

7. Love more, fear less.

6. Be grateful for every breath.

5. Be who you are, as hard as you can.

4. Be here now.

3. Be excellent.

2. There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

1. Only kindness matters in the end.

********* …enlightenment… *********

 

 

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for.

The Internets say that Bob Marley said that everyone’s gonna hurt you but some people are worth it anyway.

No matter how much I search, I cannot find the context under which he said it or even if he said it…

 

“Truth is” is a lesson that repeats until it is learned.

I speak “truth is”, and “truth is” speaks to me.

We are feedback loops.

We are the stories we tell ourselves.

Life is full of ups and downs. So get up.

“Truth is” is interconnected through time…

1. “Be here now.” This began my wondering if Bob Marley even said it.
2. I’m willing to believe that 6 million Facebook likes can’t be wrong.
3. So I Facebook’d it too, looking for answers. None came.
4. And I did it again.
5. I tumbled for it. And I asked on Quora.
6. But still no one on the Internets knows when or why Bob Marley said this.
7. It reminds me that life is pain, highness; anyone who says differently is selling something.

Fear of pain causes stress.

Do not fear pain. Let go of fear.

Maureen Killoran said, “Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response to what happens, and the response is something we can choose.”

Maybe I will wait forever and never find out if Bob Marley said it.

The truth about forever is that it is happening right now.

Maybe I will get lucky.

Those who open ourselves to pain often find luck. 

It’s worth taking some time to learn to attract luck:

1. Create your luck, says Altucher. Luck only takes 4 steps.
2. There are 4 principles for making luck, says Bakadesuyo.
3. Make your own luck, says 106 Miles paraphrasing Bakadesuyo.
4. Happiness affects luck profoundly, says Tumblr. I repeat it.
5. Invest in a luck factory and make a fortune, says ifindkarma.
6. What traits do lucky people share? Optimism.
7. Attitude affects luck, says Wiseman.

Memo to self: include luck in my incantations to be great.

And include luck in my incantations to be kind.

Malcolm S. Forbes said that too many people undervalue what we are and overvalue what we are not.

I repeat: Don’t try to avoid pain.

Instead, find someone or something worth suffering for.

Open yourself to heaven and earth, then trust your natural responses; and everything will
fall into place.

Step out of your comfort zone.

That is where the magic happens…

Postscript, a few days later. Truth is, Bob Marley probably did not say this.

Thank you, Spyridon Michalakis, in helping my quest for the truth.

The truth shall set us free.

Love more, fear less.

If I could tell the world just one thing, it would be:

Love more. Fear less.

Obvious to me. Amazing to others.

“There is no future. There is no past. Do you see? Time is simultaneous, an intricately structured jewel that humans insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet.”

~ Watchmen

“I will do today what you won’t, so tomorrow I can do what you can’t.”

~ Anonymous

“I do not much care for that man… I must get to know him better.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

“If there is no enemy on the inside, the enemy on the outside can do us no harm.”

~ African Proverb

“Our greatest problems often yield our greatest breakthroughs… fierce frustration is a precondition for a tremendous triumph.”

~ @CoryBooker

Recently I added favorites among Convos containing quotes…

Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. ~ Muhammed Ali

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. ~ Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. ~ Randy Pausch

There are no shortcuts. NONE. ~ Mark Cuban

Do something so hard you become great in the process. ~ xkcd

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. ~ Albert Einstein

If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough. ~ Mario Andretti

As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. ~ Henry Miller

Creativity is just connecting things. ~ Steve Jobs

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1700 times and walked maybe 1800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball. ~ Mickey Mantle

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that’s why I succeed. ~ Michael Jordan

I’ve seen each of these quotes many times in my life, but I keep coming back to them.

Sometimes it takes me a while to visuali
ze what I’m seeing.

‎Risk more than others think is safe. 

Care more than others think is wise. 

Dream more than others think is practical. 

Expect more than others think is possible. 

~ Claude Bissell via Lili Balfour via John Hagel

Teach compassion…”If you see someone who is struggling to make friends or being bullied because they don’t have friends or because they are shy or not as good looking or not dressed in the best clothes PLEASE step up. Say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside of school. Your kindness might just make a BIG difference in someone’s life! Pass this on and share with your kids!”

~ @LiliBalfour via Laura Kent

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

~ Gandhi

Love is where compassion prevails and kindness rules.

“What is hard is being good every day.”

 ~ Willie Mays 

Beware rogue pandas on rampage.

Sing with Brian Wilson!!!

Sing with Stephen Hawking!!!

‎”If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.”

~ Dalai Lama

 “Let your life be a testimony to your truth. Every day be an uncompromisingly true witness to your authentic self. The world needs no more dull carbon copies, folks shrinking from their truth. One stubborn soul, ignited from within, despite the crushing darkness of circumstance, can illuminate the world. We must illuminate the world. We must be brilliant.”

~ @CoryBooker (via @LiliBalfour)

“The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”

~ Muhammad Ali 

“There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

~ Steve Jobs 

Be who you are, as hard as you can.

Once upon a time, I said, Be here now.

And then I rested, interconnected.

And I said, Be excellent.

WHAT?!

And then I read,

You is kind, you is smart, you is important.

Somewhere in there, rakeshlobster tweeted…

Great career advice from @sv_troutgirl to @joshelman:

Be who you are, as hard as you can.

So I tweeted…

I believe “Be who you are, as hard as you can” originated from @naval.

And Rocky thanked Naval and so did Josh…

That was the most meaningful advice I’ve had in a long time.

So I tweeted…

“Be who you are, as hard as you can” is so easy to say and so hard to do. It takes courage.

And Naval reminded me…

Easiest when you are cast out and have no choice.

He also said to listen to people whose opinion you value.

The key word in everything I’ve said till now: COURAGE.

It takes courage to grow up 
and become who you really are.

      ~ e.e. cummings

See, there’s always a tension between being and becoming.

We’re wetware on all fours, searching profoundly for four11‘s.

To be who you are, you gotta get yourself some rituals:

Once you are who you are, as hard as you can, you can focus on learning more and continually improve yourself.

How can you continually improve yourself?

Bakadesuyo highlights his most interesting research:

• 10 things you need to know to be happier
• 10 things you need to know about sex
• 10 things you need to know about persuasion
• 10 things you need to know about relationships 
• 10 proven ways to be more creat
  ive 
• 10 ways to be more intelligent
• 10 things you need to know about productivity

Be here now. Be excellent. Be happy. Repeat.

Breathe. Be silent. Walk on the ocean…

11 Reasons Why Starting a Company is Hard …

In books we find we are not alone.

       ~ Carl Sagan

 

In stories we find we are not alone.

     ~ Jonathan Nelson

 

I’m giving a pariSoma talk to the Hackers and Founders Co-op Startup Class of 2011 tonight. And like Paul Graham, I found it helpful to write down what I’m going to say.

Like Evan Williams’ startup advice, I want to say something positive and useful.

My main message is that it’s important to have a network, because you can trade notes with other people who are doing similar things. This is why we started 106 Miles — so that any founder, engineer, or friend who joins us at our meetups will have a network to exchange knowledge and connections, and listen and learn.

That said, if I could tell entrepreneurs one more thing, I would say:

Being a first-time entrepreneur is hard.

Come to think of it, actually…

It’s hard starting a company even if you’ve done it before.

I’ve done it three times, and it’s still hard.

Off the top of my head here are 11 reasons why.

1. Having a great idea at the right time is hard. Big ideas are hard, and timing of ideas is hard. Being excellent is really hard but truly important, since nobody can steal an idea.

2. Designing an excellent and simple product is hard. User experience is hard to make excellent, and user interfaces are hard to make simple. Product-market fit is extremely hard.

3. Developing something people want is hard. Prototyping is hard, and iterating is hard. Minimum viable product definition is hard, and figuring out what people want is hard.

4. Getting traction is hard. Users are hard to satisfy. Attracting and retaining great users is hard, and attracting great content and quelling bad content is hard. Network effects are hard.

5. Keeping the damn thing up and running is hard. Technical operations are hard. “The Cloud” means some computer somewhere out there that you don’t control is going to go down at the worst possible moment.

6. Implementing a scalable business model is hard. Revenues are hard. Not all advice comes in three words. Although there is a lot of three-word startup advice, that matters not. Revenues require continual improvement of sales knowledge and the market, and that takes time, patience, and unbelievable tenaciousness.

7. Building a great team is hard. Finding a great co-founder is hard, and hiring is hard. Even if you read a lot about hiring, it’s hard. And sweet sassy molassy, managing people is hard. And being tough is very hard.

8. Raising seed money is hard. Angels are hard to understand. And finding a great fit between investor and entrepreneur is hard, very hard.

9. Raising venture capital is hard. Venture capitalists are hard to understand. Once upon a time you could
raise money with just a great idea. Then you needed a great idea and a great team. Then you needed a great idea, great team, and great prototype. Then you needed all those things and great traction. Now you also need a great business model, great revenues, great press, and if it’s not too much trouble, make the world a better place, too.

10. Turning away all the free advice is hard. People are unpredictable, and making decisions is hard. But it’s better to make any decision than no decision. Furthermore, the right people make all the difference in the world.

11. Managing your emotions is really fucking hard…      
Ben Horowitz said it best. Also, not quitting is quite hard.

If it were easy to start a company, everyone would do it.

But it’s not easy. And not everyone does it.

It’s hard. Really, really hard.

There’s a great analogy here: starting a company is like you’re 106 miles from Chicago, you have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and you’re wearing sunglasses. Hit it!

Here are 11 things you can learn to navigate those rough waters, ripped lovingly from a long Quora answer I once wrote about mistakes entrepreneurs make. 

1. Learn the difference between important and urgent.
2. Learn the difference between working smart and working long.
3. Learn the difference between an opportunity and a problem.
4. Learn the difference between lucky and smart.
5. Learn the difference between focus and activity.
6. Learn the difference between publicity and reality.
7. Learn the difference between prepared and over-prepared.
8. Learn the difference between output and throughput.
9. Learn the difference between managing up and managing down.
10. Learn the difference between managing expectations and just riding the roller coaster unmanaged.
11. Learn the difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Remember, you can do it. But it’s hard:

Keep your eye on the ball,
Your head above the clouds,
Your ear to the ground,
Your shoulder to the wheel,
Your nose to the grindstone,
Your finger on the pulse,
Your feet on the ground, and
Your head on your shoulders.

Now… try to get something done. 

 

In summary: Activate your network, work smart, work hard, open yourself to opportunities, close off some opportunities, overcommunicate, underspend, hang in there, stop things that aren’t working, collaborate, and listen.

 

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

LEARN says Nature Boy. Casey Abrams’ version is 80% mesmerizing:

 

A WORD ON STATISTICS, by Wislawa Szymborska

Out of every hundred people,

those who always know better:
fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:
almost all the rest.

Ready to help,
if it doesn’t take long:
forty-nine.

Always good,
because they cannot be otherwise:
four — well, maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:
eighteen.

Led to error
by youth (which passes):
sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:
four-and-forty.

Living in constant fear
of someone or something:
seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:
twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.

Cruel
when forced by circumstances:
it’s better not to know,
not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:
not many more
than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life except things:
thirty
(though I would like to be wrong).

Balled up in pain
and without a flashlight in the dark:
eighty-three, sooner or later.

Those who are just:
quite a few, thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:
three.

Worthy of empathy:
ninety-nine.

Mortal:
one hundred out of one hundred –
a figure that has never varied yet.

(translated from the Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)

Source: Caterina.net

 

Life is like business. It’s 20 percent what happens to you, and 80 percent how you respond.

That secret to life I tweeted from Daymond John on Shark Tank.

It reminded me that 80 percent of success is showing up.

And that happiness is correlated with success. Additionally…

 “True happiness involves the pursuit of worthy goals,” Csikszentmihalyi said. “Without dreams, without risks, only a trivial semblance of living can be achieved.”

 

But how does a being discover worthy goals to pursue?

I have a vision…

Worthy goals come from enlightenment.

Enlightenment comes from living.

Life itself is a process of continual improvement.

It’s 20% what happens to you, and 80% how you respond.

In 21 easy pieces. We begin each cycle by waking up.

1. Wake up.

2. Breathe.

3. Let go.

4. Get up.

5. Show up.

6. Position.

7. Include.

8. Be here now.

9. Be excellent.

10. Dance!

11. Give.

12. LOVE.

13. Reflect.

14. Empathize.

15. Encourage.

16. Be kind.

17. Connect.

18. Learn.

19. Simplify.

20. Nap.

21. Iterate.

 

At any point, be open to enlightenment…

See also:

• What are
  some important and generalizable life lessons?
• Life Lessons: What are important things and advice to know that people generally aren’t told about?
• What life lessons are unintuitive or go against common sense or wisdom?
• Why is love so important in human life?
• What is the most important teaching in human life?
• What is the most important thing in human life?
• Why do humans die?
• What is the unique quality of consciousness of the human beings who have attained the Supreme Enlightenment?

 

(photo source: Keira Susan Dazi!)

 

In 2011 I resolve to…

1. OWN AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE. I will be more thankful for who (and what) is in my life. I will not take my health or my happiness for granted.

2. THINK ABOUT WHAT I WANT, NOT WHAT I DON’T. Inclusion says my brain doesn’t understand negation so my thoughts will be more about what I want to attract, not what I want to avoid.

3. CONFIDENTLY TAKE A STAND MORE. When I disagree, I will be assertive in my position instead of politely demurring. When needed, I will be more fierce. I will get up one more time than I am knocked down.

4. BE EXCELLENT. Do something truly great. In the real world, not just in the online world. I want to show up, be part of an insanely awesome endeavor, and help make it even better.

5. BE PRESENT. I will be here now and spend more time engaging people and less time with my head down staring at a mobile device.

6. CONNECT MORE. And not just connect in a 106 Miles sense, but in a human-to-human, compassionate sense. Only connect. With empathy.

 

 

 

7. LET GO. And look to the future, not to the pasture.

 

8. MASH UP. Mash up my music. Mash up my life. All Day.

9. BREATHE. Just breathe. This time baby, I’ll be bulletproof.

 

10. BE HAPPY. There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

11. BE KIND. Only kindness matters in the end.

 


—— …reposted from my Quora; here’s an update… ——

In the comments on this post, Albo P. Fossa adds: ‘A caution. I saw an interesting ecard for New Year’s this morning: “I can’t believe it’s been a year since I didn’t become a better person.”

‘[Also] I saw on the Today show this AM (12/31/10), an interesting idea for resolutions. Instead of proposing “godlike” aspirations doomed to failure, choose discrete (maybe even one-day’s-worth) goals. Such as, “I will make a $5 donation to xxx charity.” Or “I will wash my dishes on January 11th.” …’

So my discrete goal in 2011 is to buy Lucas and Joyce some Psycho Donuts in Campbell, CA on or before April 1, a date we picked together for shipping the first software for the 106 Miles community to use to connect with each other online. (Code name: PandaWhale!) Til then, it’s 106 Miles to Chicago …

For now, I leave you with this kitten in a box.

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

Being happy does not mean everything is perfect;
it means you decide to see beyond the imperfections.

Remember the words of Winston Churchill, who said,

I like things to happen;
And if they don’t happen,
I like to make them happen.

But here is the exception: there is no way to happiness.

Happiness is the way, meditated Thich Nhat Hanh.

We breathe and connect the words of Nathaniel Hawthorne…

Happiness is a butterfly,

which when pursued,

is always just beyond your grasp,

but which,

if you will sit down quietly,

may alight upon you.

A butterfly flies with the magnetic appeal of a meaningful life…

People searching for a purpose in life — whether or not they are consciously aware of this deep-seated desire — will be attracted to others who have arrived at an answer.

And so we answer questions and question answers on Quora, in a neverending process of continual improvement…

• What defines happiness?
• What is the way to happiness?
• What is the concrete way to happiness?
• Why are successful people the happiest?
• What are some worthy goals to pursue in life?
• How can you maximize your happiness in life?
• What are life’s lessons from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos?
• Why are we drawn to those who have found meaning?
• What is the meaning of life?

Meditating ten essential reflections on happiness, we know that to be happy we have to want to be happy.

And that whoever is happy will make others happy, too…

Because the head is an overstated organ;
all of the action happens in the heart.

We breathe and reflect about happiness and kindness…

• Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.
• Only kindness matters in the end.

Never get so busy making a living,
that you forget to make a life.

And remember, there is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way.

And once more, with feeling: SIMPLIFY.

As human beings, our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Oliver Goldsmith said that first, but every moment we get to put that attitude into practice, making it into a habit, by being excellent. As Ralph Marston said… 

Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.

Everything is deeply interconnected. Aristotle (or Will Durant) has been oft-quoted, too…

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Robert F. Kennedy had another variation on this theme, when RFK said,

Only those who dare to fail greatly
can ever achieve greatly.

In other words, a fall is not a fail… It is an opportunity to learn. We can remind ourselves of this by singing (or dancing to!) Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”, boldly declaring…

I get knocked down, but I get up again,

you’re never gonna keep me down…

“Tubthumping” is much catchier than Dwayne Wade’s “fall seven times, stand up eight” commercial, which repurposes an old martial arts line…

Knocked down seven times, get up eight!

 

…which simply takes us back to our daily reflection and incantation…

Be excellent, for everything is about inclusion.

…so get yourself some rituals…

…don’t just be a cat in a box like all the other cats…

…and practice inner peace, because in the end, only kindness matters…

 Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.

Eleven Essential Reflections On Happiness…

Wow.

That may have been the sweetest ending of a World Cup game I have ever watched.

You can watch the highlights on your favorite Interweb site, but they won’t really give you the feeling of 90 minutes of tense, do-or-die buildup , culminating in a super charged score in the final minute that propelled Team USA from elimination into first place in their group!

****** I am “Snoopy Dance happy” !!! ******

But I realize this is a temporary happiness that comes from adrenaline and other juices pumping through my headmeats. Soon that rush will subside, and I will go back to reflecting my baseline happiness.

Simply put, happiness is the way.

And happiness comes from within.

Which brings us back to one of the main characteristics that defines being and becoming and the gap in between them: HAPPINESS.

Note that we are not talking about absence of pain; we’re talking presence of happiness.

A hundred days ago I created this ifindkarma posterous because bakadesuyo inspired me with his. I love to read what he writes, and in particular I love when he reflects about subjects such as happiness.

If I had to distill all of bakadesuyo’s happiness musings into essential reflections, here are the key takeaways I’ve internalized… so far…

10. Happiness is increased by how much you make and lowered by how much you want.

9. Happiness is a feedback loop, not just internally but also through others.

8. So be careful who you choose as spouse, friends, and neighbors.

7. Relative wealth is more important than actual wealth when it comes to how happy you are.

6. Giving makes us happier than receiving. Outcomes trump incomes in making us happy.

5. Happy people tend to love their jobs; jobs do not, by themselves, make people happy.

4. We’re bad at realizing how good we are at adapting to circumstances.

3. When distilled to its essence, happiness is a simple process.

2. To be happy, focus on what you have, and not on what you don’t.

1. There are still many unanswered questions when it comes to happiness.

Which brings me back to me. If I had to distill all of my happiness musings into eleven essential reflections, here are the key takeaways I’ve externalized… so far…

11. Read these musings, especially the one you’re reading right now. Reflect! Repeat!!! 🙂

10. There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

9. People are very bad at predicting what will make them happy.

8. Our attitudes produce our luck.

7. Most success comes from being present.

6. Reflection helps us be here now.

5. There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.

4. There are shortcuts to happiness, and breathing is one of them.

3. Happiness is interconnected to all things.

2. Happiness comes from what we want to include, not from what we want to avoid.

1. When it comes to happiness, lessons are repeated until they are learned.

And if all else fails, take a step back, breathe, think about a kitten wearing a tiny hat eating a tiny ice cream cone, and regroup. For tomorrow is another day, and we cannot waste today’s time cluttering up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.

Kitten. Tiny hat. Tiny ice cream cone. NOW!!!

Raindrops on roses and tiny hats on kittens aside, I want to take a moment or two to thank Jennifer Aaker and Gretchen Rubin and Tony Hsieh and Niki Leondakis and Caterina Fake for driving me to keep reflecting on happiness as I walk the earth. The tension between being and becoming has become more than an avocation for me… it’s something I’d love to work into my vocation, someday, someway. It is love incarnate.

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.

To empower other people to find their own happiness, to me, is tantamount to enabling the childhood dreams of others.

There is no greater job than enabling the childhood dreams of others.

Read. Reflect. Repeat.

We conclude this tapestry with a trinity of TED talks that reflect on happiness: Tony Robbins on why we do what we do (emotion!) and how we can do it better (focus!); Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice; and Dan Gilbert on why we are or are not happy:

(Cc: @Bakadesuyo @Aaker @GretchenRubin @Zappos @Niki_Leondakis @Caterina) 🙂 🙂 🙂