Entries Tagged 'Life & Happiness' ↓

I’ve always been a bit of a humbug when it comes to “personal development”, happiness fluff and life-changing inspirational yaddayadda…

That’s because i’ve known for a long time that all these damn lists, personal improvement systems and anti-systems, productivity tips, self-righteous self-help gurus and on and on are mostly just more noise added to the online eco-system of “average” — more stuff to read and follow, more stuff to “TRY” when really you should be out there cutting your teeth and “DOING.” I’ll talk a bit more on my own experience with this, but first let’s get to the point:

There ARE a number of exceptions to the rule of general mediocrity and fluff online…

One of the true stand-outs is Seth Godin. It’s been remarkable for me to watch Seth in recent years, as he dives deeper and deeper into his own real natural genius. His short, brilliant, and to the point 14-page manifesto, Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself is indispensable for anyone who’s struggling to change the world, grasp their own genius, and stand in their greatest personal power. Continue reading →

Giving thanks today — for life — for freedom — for fearlessness…

To Live — to live as though each day, each moment, each passing hour is a blessing, and an opportunity to live a great life, a life in full volition and command of my personal power, but with reverence for the unknowable. That, I believe, is a good life, a life well lived…

Live Your Life

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their views, and demand that they respect yours.

Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a stranger if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.

When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

- Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation Statesman

Image via Wikipedia

Many thanks to the delightful Quote Garden for the wonderful selection of quotes this week! Enough to warm even the hardest of hearts…!

The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. ~Benjamin Franklin

If you want to be happy, be. ~Leo Tolstoy

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~Palmer Sondreal

Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy. ~Robert Anthony

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time. ~Edith Wharton

Continue reading →

Cover of Remember, Be Here Now

I came across this beautiful site today, Chai Pilgrimage and the quoted post and images below, due to the ineffable blogging of the strange and endearing world-tribe leader of inspired marketing, Seth Godin, and his quirky daily blog.

I loved imagining thousands of people descending on this quaint and unassuming (hyper-targeted, and totally lovable) blog by two wonderfully endearing devotees of Chai and, one of my own beloved great uncles, Neem Karoli Baba Maharaji, the joyful and lovable mystic made famous by Ram Dass, writer of the classic and essential book on enlightenment, yoga and conscious living, Remember, Be Here Now (which i was in no small way surprised to see was ranked at #3,073 in sales volume among ALL books on amazon at the time of this writing, which is no small feat, but is probably not that surprising considering the way things are changing in the world these days, and of course how brilliant and lovable the book is. But i digress…

I’m going to make this short and sweet, so you can look at the pretty pictures

Do what your heart calls you to do, and do it with all your heart. Then follow your inspiration and your joy in pursuing that calling, and try not to be shy! The world wants to hear what you have to say, and we NEED to hear what you have to say, because we’re human. If it’s not out there, we definitely won’t be able to find out about it – then how can we derive the great joy you may like us to derive out of it.

No doubt, when you follow this time-tested principle you WILL have a wonderful life – if not necessarily on the time schedule you’d ideally like it to arrive. Just trust and try to have faith, and let the small triumphs keep you moving forward.

Just remember the Chai Wallah – hyper-focused to bring excellence and service, so proud of his/her small contribution to the benefit of humankind, and so humbly working at their trade with little regard for the opinions of others. There is a recipe for a good life.

That’s all. Hope to see you around these parts again soon!

A wallah is one who performs a specific task. A rickshaw wallah drives the rickshaw, a dhobi wallah washes clothes and chai wallahs, you guessed it, they make chai. Chai wallahs are everywhere in India. Everywhere. From busy urban street corners to hidden alleyways, at bus depots and railway platforms and walking through the train car, along riversides and on footpaths that lead to pilgrimage sites in the middle of nowhere — when you need a fresh cup of tea, the chai wallah is always near.

Chai wallahs take pride in their chai. After all, each and every day, it is their responsibility to sustain and nurture the masses by providing the beverage that keeps India running.

A lot of my time and effort lately has been focused on new design projects with my web company @ iEnvision Media. I’ve got some exciting new stuff i’m working on and things coming up – including a redesign and re-purposing of this site and the Happiness Project itself to better reflect my current focus and approach (and what’s actually going on in the world today!)

If you want to stay posted sign on to the list here. I only send out stuff when i feel i have something to share that will really benefit you, and generally not more than twice a month. (And of course, it always rocks the universe )

I’ll be releasing some new material and video content soon, and some other super-secret awesome stuff too. (Sign up now if you want to be on the insider’s list…)

I recently sorta fell in love with Twitter, so follow me there if you’re game, and i also just created a new LinkedIn profile too (finally!).

I hope all is well with you as you read this. I really recommend you read the post below. This has been the key to my recent ‘liberation’ so-to-speak.

Take care and keep in touch and send me a shout any time!

- Satya

ps in case you’re wondering about the significance of the image, that’s actually a bunch of uncut diamonds…