Happiness Is A Choice

We live and share the world with 6.9737 billion people.

A percentage of the world’s population is in pursuit of one thing and yet somehow miss out on it. Despite not having the same things going on in  a day, each person is in pursuit of one thing and one thing only: HAPPINESS. 

While we kneel down in prayer at the end of the day, others would be just about to jump out of bed for a new day or be in the middle of a hectic day- looking up with a plea the end of the shift before anything else happens. We all experience our days in several billion ways, not one day is exactly the same.

Ergo, happiness is also in 6 billion ways: losing 5 kilos, getting good grades, riding without training wheels on, helping out a friend, a loved one coming home from war, stocks are up or even a day went by without being bullied. For one word, our definition can go 6 billion different ways and more.

I never knew that happiness was an end result I had been pursuing. It was only after reading what the leader of our church had said about happiness being a choice.

“You can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable. . . it’s your choice” 

~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Before reading that, each day was spent in dread. Even if there were times that I had laughter in me and was enjoying, I would stop myself and start waiting for the other shoe to drop. I blame this on a cultural belief that if we laugh too much we end up crying at the end of the day. I know, the idea is absurd and it took a leap of faith to know that God is not flimsy and He will not cause anyone hurt nor pain for laughing too hard because they are happy.

What I understand now is that life was breathed into us in order for us to know what happiness is. I believe that there is always a higher purpose and despite of my fascination with the sciences. 

Do you have happiness in your life?

We are not invincible to pain, regret, fear and anxiety- without it we have nothing to identify which the exact opposite is right? If the answer to the question above led you to go through an inventory of aches and pain, then think of the times these negative things didn’t happen.  

The pursuit of happiness is not what is dictated to you by marketers peddling a product, it is what your heart and insides tell you when you experience it. 

What would make you happy?

With the troubles I got, $1,000,000 sounds nice, right? Sure, but from today as I write this post with only my salary and several hundred in savings am I not going to experience happiness until I get the million? 

Happiness is a choice and is not focused on one goal that we perceive would bring “EPIC HAPPINESS!!!” We experience great joys throughout life, though it may be difficult to explain why actually seeing the twin rainbows or a falling star or even a baby yawning makes me smile.

Spreading the happiness

One of the people I admire is Bill Gates, for one he and Steve Jobs made it possible for anyone to reach others via the Internet with devices. The admiration started when I heard a story that he hired the person who hacked his credit card account after getting charged for boxes of something. If this was true, then it told me that Mr. Gates looked beyond the inconvenience or the invasion of privacy. He recognized the talent and that it should be used for good. Another reason why I admire him is because he knew when he wasn’t happy anymore. Building a business from the bottom up, getting a LOT of money in the process didn’t mean the same to him anymore. 

Happiness changes when you find out the things you once thought would make you happy isn’t anymore. News of his leaving Microsoft was that he decided to spend the rest of his life in pursuit of something else. Today he helps out a lot of people with his projects and has more time with his family. 

Bill Gates I am not, but the feeling of happiness comes from interacting and serving others. I have no charity foundation, but I am a saint and one thing I have learned is that I can’t be happy alone. Spreading the happiness makes the happiness more meaningful- just like Mr. Gates.

“Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others…By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” 

― Gordon B. Hinckley

 

Gaming Can Save the World

The movie Avengers is a big hit right now. Why is it that super heroes need to be mutants with super powers, demigods or an experiment gone wrong?

Last week I had to explain the word gaming, the word means approaching something at game level.  Today there is a sense of interest if something is given the “game” like approach. Incentives and prizes may be virtual or just a simple badge, but this is what gets people engaged.

I am a TED TV fan and aside from just viewing videos there are life lessons that I realized in several videos. The latest video features Jane MacGonical,a  game designer and director of game R&D at the Institute for the Future.  In her Ted talk she made me realize that there are skills, codes of honor and the phenomenal “epic wins”. She goes on to say that virtual games knows no boundaries the actual world will pose. Kids and kid-like people who spend time in virtual games go into their secret selves who are organized, strategic, analytical and heroes in their own right.  Ms. MacGonical believes that the future generation who save the world times over in virtual games will have the inclination to save the world in real life if only they are given the motivation, opportunity and the tools to do so.

In a local talk show organized by the youth talked about the Influence of Media and Entertainment in Today’s World. Most of us were parents who listened to resources speakers who gave tips in safeguarding our kids from the horrors of the Internet. We have to realize that the Internet is for everyone and by that I mean good and bad people are using the same technology our children are very much into.

Both talks have made me think of how much is entrusted on the shoulders of parents – whether they believe in a higher power who protects them or those who don’t. Parenting has no expiration date, no set generation and no exemptions.

No one stops being a parent even if their child has dentures and white hair. The level of relating to them will change but never the fact that they came from you. I often go back to the memory of my Dad calling us his jewels and hugging me like a 2-year-old despite the fact I had 2 children already. It was cheesy for me at that time…I guess I am being cheesy now too as I look and hug my eldest daughter as a child in front of her 1-year old :D.

There is no set generation that can apply to a child’s lifetime.  I often hear (and am guilty of mouthing out of frustration) “In our days, I never….”- a common mistake parents have. The good teaching of a generation applies in all eras, BUT there are innovations to it and processes parents should learn to get the message across.

Good will always be good and bad is always bad, the difference is  in the next generation the gray area between black and white gets broader. This is the area that needs our attention to keep our children on track.

Gaming brings out the characteristics in kids:

• they are in it to win
• They take on responsibilities that will not be normally given
• they rely on their judgment and resolve consequences
• they surprise themselves when they get to know the right thing leads them to victory (epic wins)

What drove me to write about this is the idea of embracing technology and knowing how to use it to our own advantage. Schools and the mind frame of parents do have to change and not be defeated by bad people who use the Internet.

The world does change, yet be assured that goodness is always there. We’re just on a different level and a new quest to find a better way of mixing the best of technology in it.

Pleasant Days Ahead

Let me clue you in on what yesterday was:

• almost not making the deadline for the Annual Physical Check-up
• had to cover for the time I spent in the clinic
• exciting new projects
• office politics
• a pre-valentine office celebration that ended around 8:30 in the evening
• 1-hour plus searching for a jeepney ride home with friend Belle
• went to fetch kids 6 streets from our home, just to find out there is a flash flood alert in our area
• got home around 12mn; put everything up just in case the flood comes
• slept a little after 1 am

Today, oh I just couldn’t call in late for work; with the lab results to get and submit, I was up 5 am. There was a moment of murmuring about how I could have a sense of duty when it was the office’s fault that I didn’t get home early…blah, blah,blah. A bit after that, I decided to read this day’s scripture book and chapter- like most readings, I am left wondering through the day the significance of the teaching. Today, well today, it came to me at 8:57 GMT+8 time to be exact.

However time runs it’s course, there is goodness in store in the most unlikely places in the most amazing ways. I decided this day to wake up expecting a surprise instead of doom.

It seems that waking up to a pleasant day ahead is better than getting drenched in negativity so early in the day.