M3:D95 Happiness



What's on my mind today?

Today's post has less to do with fitness and more to do with life in general.  Happiness can be an elusive thing.  Many people spend their lives chasing after happiness.  It comes in so many different forms.  People tend to think that everything in their life must be happy in order for them to consider their life happy.  I wonder about that decision.

Happiness can involve finding that right person to have as part of your life.  The person you want to share everything with.  She's that person who you can talk with until the wee hours of the morning even when you have to get up for work in the morning.  She's the person you can share all your secrets with.  She's your partner for life.  Having this person in your life is happiness.

Happiness can involve children.  Children tend to bring joy to everyone in a family.  Children are something to be cherished and protected.  Having children in your life is happiness.

Happiness can involve choosing the right career path for yourself.  A career can be very rewarding.  The daily challenge of one's career and the personal growth one obtains from the career are forms of happiness in themselves. 

Happiness can involve friends.  Having a friend that you can talk to about anything is amazing.  Having that friend who never judges you, but will set you straight is invaluable.    Having a good friend in your life is happiness.

I could go on and on about what happiness can be, but the point is really not that hard to grasp.  You can have a happy life without everything being perfect.  If you focus on those things that make you happy and attempt to improve those things that don't, you will soon realize just how much happiness you have in your life.  We all tend to dwell too much on the negative aspects of our life and not enough on the smaller pieces of happiness we have.

I personally feel that it is so easy to be negative.  It really doesn't take that much effort.  If I want to pick something apart, I can do it instantly.  Now turn that around and find several good things about a topic and suddenly you have a job on your hand.  I believe that this is because we spend too much time on the negative.  We are far too comfortable there.  Today I am suggesting that we change that.  Start complimenting people more.  Start complimenting yourself more.  Begin to look for the good in every situation.  As you practice this type of behavior you will soon see a paradigm shift towards being more happy.  Trust me here, it works.


accountability
 
Find out what I'm doing to my body!

Today I continued through my tour of body parts, landing on the chest.  More of the same as the rest of the week with a weight that I can do 50 reps with.  I hit 2 exercises back to back, no rest between exercises and no rest between sets.  I completed 12 sets of each exercise for a total of 24 sets.  My chest feels slightly sore, but it isn't reacting the same as the rest of my body and that has me thinking about the right way to approach chest training.
 
Exercise the brain with the Thought of the Day!

"But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads." — Albert Camus
 
Get a discussion started by answering the question!

Do you focus too much on the negative and not enough on the positive?  Comment this post to answer the question.
 
 
 

Mission 1, Day 95: Accountability is increasing

Until tomorrow...GET BACK TO LIFTING!

Posted by Michael Mahony at 8/15/2008 8:55 PM
Categories: Weightlifting Logs, Nutrition, Old Missions
 
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

  • 8/16/2008 12:07 PM Larry wrote:
    Michael,
    The root word for happiness is the same as happenings. And herin lies the danger of seeking after happiness - it is tied to the happinings in our life. When stuff is going well we are happy and when not, we aren't happy. I think we need to seek to develop JOY in our lives rather then happiness. How many times have you heard about an individual that despite some deep sorrow in their life, they have a sense of Joy?

    We can be joy filled (joyful) in all circumstances of life.
    Reply to this
  • 8/16/2008 4:06 PM Danny wrote:
    Hey michael.
    I agree, that most people focus on the negative aspects of life.
    Its actually a very simple reason.
    The list of negative things in most people's lives is way shorter than the positive aspects.
    People dont want to dwell on the thoughs of things they have and how fortunate they are.
    Dwelling on negative aspects is alot easier, and more comfortable in most cases.
    If a person loses something... lets say a book, they will rather try to find the book, than just stop, look around and saying:" well that least i still have my house". This wont help them get their book back and is boring even if positive.
    Positive thinking is withoubt a doubt a booster for ones confidence in oneself.
    However negative thinking can trigger the "find" mechanism, where people strive to reach what they dont have.

    hmmm im starting to blabber again.
    Anyhow my point is, that most emotions and ways of thinking have their good and bad sides.

    And if someone was to disagree with my training methods, then i woult rather have them say it, than just applauding me for trying. Criticism is meant good, however it is a form of looking at something negatively. Ultimately, it will help the person better themself, or evaluate if it works for him/her or not.

    Your really doing a good job michael, and im not lying about that.
    I really enjoy watching your progress, reading your posts and commenting.
    Shred on

    Danny
    Reply to this
  • 8/16/2008 5:41 PM Mike Groom wrote:
    Being a positive person makes you more aware of the negativity in others. I have become a very positive person and I am amazed at "what" people can be negative about.
    Reply to this
  • 8/17/2008 10:59 AM Juli wrote:
    Hey Michael,

    I trust you completely, it is my main mission at the moment: The focus on the good stuff.
    Thank you for your great post today.

    Juli
    Reply to this
    1. 8/17/2008 9:40 PM Michael Mahony wrote:
      Hi Juli, glad to see you appear in my comments again.  I missed your comments.  Glad you enjoyed the post.
      Reply to this
Leave a comment

Submitted comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.