Friday, July 27, 2007

The Secret of Life

If you, like many other people, are anxious because you do not know what you are supposed to do with your life, if you are looking into mysticism, the occult, metaphysics, and so forth trying to find out what your purpose in life is, then look no further. There is a reason why you were put on this planet, it's for the same reason we are all here, to be happy. Plain and simple, no 4 page explanation digging into quantum physics or exploring the prophecies of the Mayan calendar.

You are living right now and I guarantee eventually you won't be. This means that for a limited time you can do stuff and I recommend FUN STUFF!!

We are designed by nature to pursue pleasure and happiness. When we do something we consider good like aceing a test, we get a rush adrenaline, we feel pumped, we smile, we begin to exude confidence, we feel good, we are HAPPY. On the other hand, if we find out our significant other is being unfaithful, we feel cheated, enraged, we bow our heads, we cry, we lament, we are SAD. This is our body's response to external stimuli, and as we can all tell, our bodies want good things to happen to us, which is why it rewards us with all these awesome feelings. On the other hand it punishes us, if you will, with negative emotions when “bad” things happen, this is to deter us from doing them and to have us minimize the chances of having them occur.

There are 2 kinds of happiness: Temporary, derived from pleasure, like sex, drugs, food and the like and Long term, comes slowly with time. The big difference between these two is quite simple: Temporary happiness is produced by dopamine which is quickly broken down in the body, so when you have your favorite meal, you feel absolutely great until a few minutes after your done. Then you feel pretty much the same as you did before eating.Long term happiness is what endorphins produce, and you get this when you have worked for something and finally get it, like finishing med school or being a good parent, this happiness can last a lifetime.

Both these happinesses are great and we should get as much of both as possible, here are 10 easy steps to help you archive happinesses:

  1. Enjoy life, it's doesn't matter if you are a US soldier in Irak or an heir to the throne, you CAN make the best out of all situations if you try hard enough. There are plenty of stories of kids and adults having “fun” in extermination camps during the Nazi regime, it's all in your head.

  2. Laugh and smile as much as you can, be happy, remember it comes from within, you have the amazing ability to “create” happiness out of nothing.

  3. Have goals, it doesn't matter if they are easy or hard, short term or long term, we are happier when we have things to look forward to.

  4. Lead a healthy life, this encompasses a natural balanced diet, exercise and overall healthy lifestyle, your body will reward you for it, you'll feel much better when you are in shape.

  5. Have faith, you can be an Atheist, a Christian or Muslim, whatever you are will do, so long as you believe in something and feel that love, regardless of where it comes from if you believe it, it's there.

  6. Make others happy, when you make people around you happy, it makes you even happier, try it, tell a really good joke to a group of friends, you'll be glad you did.

  7. Avoid negative thoughts, these thoughts turn into negative feelings which defeat out main goal which is feeling good.

  8. Be gratefully, no matter how bad your situation is, it's usually much better than that of many other folks, so be thankful for small blessings, they tend to add up!!

  9. Love your life, love everything about it, your bed, your, house your wife (yes even her!!) your body, your family, your friends, the trees, the pets, EVERYTHING, when you love you ARE happy.

  10. Don't waste time, you are here for a limited amount of seconds, seize the day, don't let your mind wander, you NEED to be happy, allowing your mind to fly away and not make you feel good is not time well spent.

I hope these tips to the trick and remember, you DO have the power to be happy, USE it!!

3 comments:

Johnny Ong said...

try reading this book called 'purpose driven life'

the website is http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/

Tavi said...

thanks dude!

Anonymous said...

Culebro, that was great! No joke, I was just having a discussion about this very thing yesterday with one of my coworkers.

It's always good to have a reminder of why we are here.