Day Nine

DAY NINE

Giving.

There is only one way to receive in this life, and that is by giving. Giving alone is receiving, but giving also expedites getting. This is true of emotions, like love; this is true of money (give it to get it); this is true of everything. So today's task: give--anything. Give someone a genuine smile. Give charity. Give love (like it's going out of style). Just give. You'll surely feel better and it will come back to you more rapidly and in greater magnitudes the more you give. I can personally attest to this in all respects. I give love and I am loved, beyond measure. I give money and I never worry about money. I give thanks and I receive thanks. I offer help and I am offered help. What a tremendous way to live.

Day Eight

DAY EIGHT

Empathy.

Empathy is given to some of us in mass quantities, others of us have none at all. But whether you have it or not, it's really a rather simple principle: the ability to feel what others feel or to identify what they are feeling. Now to distinguish this from sympathy--sympathy is caring about how someone feels once you know how they feel. Thus, it's possible to be empathic and not care, or sympathetic and not know. For today's task: practice empathy. Try to identify how those around you are feeling. Once you see how they feel, let this be your guide in why they are immediately motivated to act in the way that they are. Now, take all of this one step further: try to see how someone very close to you is feeling, possibly about something specific. Identify this; feel it yourself. Now, find something about their actions, with respect to their feelings, that is commendable and let them know that you notice what they are doing and you respect it. It's amazing the power we have to affect others and empathy, combined with sincerity, is one of our most powerful tools. By focusing on others and by identifying their emotions, we learn more about ourselves and about our own emotions. Since love is the strongest, most binding emotion of all, this task will help us to explore and identify other emotions on our journey to understanding love.

How to...

HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

The Simple Version

The only way you can begin to achieve your dreams is to be clear, crystal clear, about them. You must know, exactly, what it is you want, and you must live as if you already have it. This approach is modeled after The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which in turn is crafted from guidelines as indicated in the New Testament. However, even prior to the arrival of The Bible, the tactics used to "attract" the life you want have been used, to immense success throughout all of human history.

Here's how to do it: to aid in visualizing your dreams, it is suggested to create some form of visual collection of your dreams, perhaps a large poster board with clippings of the things you want to have, the places you want to go, the money that will come to you, etc. Or you can instead do like I did and create a screen saver of images that shuffle while my computer sleeps. I prefer this method because I have full control of the images and I prefer them shuffled to provide variety. But I also have two additional methods I employ in conjunction. I also keep a meticulous list of exactly what I want to achieve and I check it daily to monitor my progress. I started with some small dreams that I knew I would achieve, contingent on a certain amount of time passing. But I also included some dreams still in progress that are much bigger and will take a little longer to realize. Thus far I've realized half of that list. The next thing I do is act as if I'm already living my dreams. This not only makes me happier, but it makes it clear in my mind that anything is possible. All I've done to speed up the process is "act as if." Because truly, when your dreams come true, you are happier and your attitude is shifted toward accepting what you now have. So by acting as if they've already come true, you effectively reduce the amount of time it takes for them to come true AND you are as happy as if they're true even before they have been realized. What a deal! And you know what? Your dreams have a tendency to occur much more rapidly the happier you are. So, if you employ the methods in this book successfully, your dreams will come true in no time! If you feel you are still struggling, there's much more you can do. More on that later.

Day Seven

DAY SEVEN

Read.

Read a book. Not just any book, read this book: The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. It will change your life--I promise. It changed me. When you finish this book, read all the books recommended in this book. They too are powerful resources that will enhance your life in every respect. If it weren't for The Secret, I cannot honestly say where I'd be or how positive my outlook would be. This is a must read.

Day Six

DAY SIX

Inspiration.
You know what my greatest source of inspiration is? It’s me. You might think that sounds conceited but let me explain. I am the culmination of every person I have ever met, every idea that has ever been planted in my mind, taken root, and blossomed, I am every piece of advice I’ve ever been offered, every “I love you” I’ve ever been told, and every piece of everything I’ve encountered in my life. Thus, I am my  own source of inspiration. So what’s your source? Surely it’s you. Today’s task: find your inspiration, see if it’s you. The best part of knowing who you are and what makes you “work” is that others see this—perhaps you’ll be an inspiration to someone else!

Days 1 through 5

I've included the first 5 days, in no particular order. Please read, try, apply, and tell me what you think.

The book is:

1,000 Days of Happy

• Thousands of tips and tricks to thrive in any trials or tribulations. 
• How to survive nearly anything. 
• How to be the best version of "you." 
• How to get more from life by giving more. 

Excerpt from the foreword: 

If I told you every story I have to tell, of everything that has happened to me in my life, how it affected me, and how I ultimately dealt with it and what I learned from it, I'd bet you wouldn't guess I'm in my 30s. Honestly, I don't feel like I'm as young as I am. I've lived a life full of many experiences both good and bad. I've also experienced deep, dark depression. Days and months of nothing. No hope. No light. No smiles. No happy. I've spent my share of time as a zombie, waiting for tomorrow, hoping for better, sometimes not even hoping. But, as always, there was a tomorrow, and as always, happiness always found a way back. I look back and wonder how I ever got through some of those times, then I realize it's what I told myself, inside, that got me through. I'd love to take credit for all of it and say that I did it all by myself, but that's simply not true. In fact, if it weren't for others, well, I'm not sure where I'd be. And therein lies the central point. It's what we receive from others, what they see in us, what we see in them, the advice they give--everything, it's all because of others that we survive and thrive. But before we can ever seek or use the help of others, we must first help ourselves. The first step is looking inward.

 

DAY ONE

Smile.

Smile. You know why? Because it's the universal sign of happy. How can you smile and not be happy. Ever see someone else smile and then you find yourself smiling? It's like yawning--happy is also contagious. Therefore, the trick is using this "contagious" to your advantage.

Stand in front of a mirror and smile, for one minute straight. Focus on your smile at first, then focus on your eyes. When you see your eyes "smile" then you know you are happy. Try this for an entire minute, focusing only on your reflection smiling back at you. See how you feel. But don't just fake it--really mean it. Think of a happy time (if you are presently unhappy) or happy times. Play this time or these times over in your head like they are happening now. How do you feel? Admittedly, this trick doesn't always work for me, but it usually does. It reminds me that I have been happy, very happy, and that even if I'm not now, I know I will be again. If it doesn't pull me out of my funk, I try another trick. And hey, if this didn't work, but you really tried it, sincerely gave it your all, then I'm smiling because you tried. You can at least take from this that you made someone else happy. Your happy is coming--I assure you. Hang in there.

DAY TWO

Sincerity.

Be sincere. Be sincere in everything you do--but for this task, specifically in the way you talk to people. Flattery is wasted if it's not sincere. So too is everything else. One of my favorite quotations (actually painted on my wall) "In a world where you can be anything, be yourself." (Etta Turner) Like so many other characteristics, you must first be sincere with yourself before you can be sincere to the world.

Have you ever had someone tell you "thank you" and really mean it. There's a huge difference between a sincere "thank you" and the type of "thank you" you say a hundred times a day--like the kind that is just an afterthought, such as when you receive a receipt at the store. A sincere "thank you" has feeling, it has emotion. It makes you tingle when you hear it. Imagine if you said every "thank you" like that. Then imagine if everyone said "thank you" like that. So for this task, you are going to practice being sincere. Say "thank you" and really mean it, any time someone helps you. When you focus on being thankful, on being grateful, and when deep down you know you really mean it, you will be very happy for a very long time. I know. I do this every day. One of my jobs is in a call center and without the face to face, all I have is my voice. So it's my task to be sincere, but to also sound sincere. Every call, I pour my sincerity in, and at the end of each call, each guest, in his or her own way, thanks me. I hear the sincerity in their voice, and it's a direct reflection of my sincerity I shared with them. Sincerity is one of the most powerful and rewarding gateways to true, life-long happiness.

DAY THREE

Expression.

Express yourself.

There are two amazing forces in this world that have the ability to affect us very deeply. They can alter our moods, enhance our moods, and "speak" our moods. They are movies and music. Have you ever been completely, desperately sad then heard a sad song on the radio--the words so perfect, the music exactly what you need, it's everything you want to say--and then you feel better? Think of that, you are sad, you hear a sad song, but then you feel better. How can that be? Because of expression. A perfectly written song that perfectly matches your mood will say everything you feel in a way you might not be able to say. But once it's all out--even though you didn't say it--you feel better. Good music is an outlet for our emotions. If we can emotionally connect with something or someone, it validates how we feel. We feel better knowing someone else feels or has felt the same way. The same is exactly true of movies. Good movies have a profound impact on our emotions. Today's task: make a movie and song play-list organized by moods. Whenever you are in such a mood, find the best movie or song to match your mood. You'll instantly feel better. (There is a windows audio program that actually lets you select 'mood' for songs to better help organize).

DAY FOUR

Love.

Today's task: tell someone you love them. It's doesn't matter if it's a family member, a close friend, a best friend, or a significant other. Tell someone. Love is the energy, the life-force, if you will, of the universe. Spread it and it will come back to you. The key to lifelong happiness is to love and be loved, in any way. Like so many other characteristics, you must first love yourself. If that is lacking, it is hoped that you are on your way to loving yourself, because I assure you--you are loved, whether you know it or not. Bonus if you tell more than one person. Ice cream sundae with cherries on top every time you hear it back!

DAY FIVE

Dream.

If life is a canvas, our dreams are the paint and we are the paintbrush. Without dreams, your canvas will be blank. An artist might argue that a blank canvas is art, but it surely isn't life. Paint and paint vividly and wildly. I dream everyday, bigger, better, brighter, and each time more and more intensely. I have nothing to actualize if I have nothing to yearn for. Later I'll divulge secrets to make your dreams come true, but for now, open your eyes and dream. I want you to know, and I'll ask you to accept this on faith, that anything you dream can come true, but first, paint the picture. Your task: draw, speak, or write down at least ten dreams. Start with a few smaller dreams that you can actualize within a shorter period of time, then allow them to grow--bigger and bigger and bigger. End with a few dreams that sound almost fictional. You'll be surprised, if you keep good track of your dreams, you'll be checking them off without even realizing they've been met. I made a list 2 years ago of some very big dreams, I think I had 7...I've already crossed off 3. 

That's days one through five. Tell me what you think. Love. 

AO ;)