This morning my children have a wanting that seems to draw energy from lithium batteries. They are creative in their persistence and for that I suppose I should congratulate someone. When they are all petitioning, they find harmonics I never knew existed. What to do?
It’s like stacking blocks. All the blocks on top depend on their base. Oh the lessons we can learn from our children’s toys! There is the swing that pivots from the hinge. The potential energy in a ball turned active only by the hand that throws it. The, …well, we get it. Our kids need us, parents and care-givers, in good working order, dependable, secure and safe.
Further, we show them by example. It is not about getting more of what we want, but by pleasuring in what we have. Such as 3 kids that scream a lot and demand for more, shouldn’t turn my subconscious into wanting a 4th fantasy child who looks like me but doesn’t holler as much. Right? Er…
So what do we do? Take care of ourselves. Appreciate what we have. Live by example. Get taught by circumstance. Choose and then choose and keep on choosing what we chose to appreciate, live, and learn again.
The Gallup Organization has done many sociological studies on happiness. In one Gallup World Poll more than 136,000 people in 132 countries were surveyed in 2005-2006. To measure this, they used questions about emotions, perceived respect, family and friends to count on, and freedom to choose their daily activities, learn new things or do what they do best. (By the way these are questions worth asking ourselves too.)
As Quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek about the results from this study,
The public always wonders: Does money make you happy? This study shows that it all depends on how you define happiness because, if you
look at life satisfaction, how you evaluate your life as a whole, you see a pretty strong correlation around the world between income and happiness… On the other hand, it’s pretty shocking how small the correlation is with positive feelings and enjoying yourself.
This was the first study to differentiate between life satisfaction and day-to-day positive or negative feelings that people experience. Getting richer may not be the only thing we can do to enjoy life.
This prompts us to understand our own agendas. (A discussion for another blog-post.)
But how do we take care of ourselves? Per the positive psychology movement, founded in part by Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD – do things that build self-confidence, strengthen character and develop interpersonal skills.
Well that’s a lot to process for today folks ;). I’ll shut it down for now. But before you go…
Question! What do you think? Does any of this stand out for you in your life?
Self Care Tip #39 – Do things that build self-confidence, strengthen character and interpersonal skills. Be a friend to yourself.