Arguably one of the only ‘days’ worth recognising, celebrating and taking part in.

Today is the second official International Day of Happiness.

On June 28th, 2012 it was announced that March 20th would mark a day that recognises “happiness as a fundamental human goal”, and equally important, to recognise;

the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and well-being of all peoples…

It’s a day to value the notion of happiness as a primal human desire and to reflect, educate and promote happiness as a valuable aspect of a flourishing society.

Maybe the most beautiful thing about this day is the inspiration behind it all: Bhutan.

Yeah, I hadn’t heard of it before either. Bhutan is a tiny country of only 700,000 people, 23% of which live under the poverty line. What’s so wonderful about them is [Read more…]

Here are 4 things to remember when you’re having a bad day. It’s worth starting by admitting:

1. It’s bad.

Don’t kid yourself. It’s worthless trying to justify why it is infact a good day. It’s not. You know it’s a bad day. Owning and accepting it, in itself, allows for the possibility of turning things around.

The truth is it’s a bad day. That’s just fact. The deeper question is, why?

For this day to be bad you must have had an expectation of how the day was supposed to go, and it evidently did not pan out that way.

It’s natural in today society to have a certain level of expectation, unconsciously or consciously. And, for whatever reason, it’s gone all wrong.

That was not under your control. What is, however, is how you react, and what you do from here on.

There are two questions you could proceed with when you are fully aware you’re having a bad day:

“Why has this happened to me?”

or  [Read more…]

Is it only food? And drink?

Where do you get your energy from?

Yes, we have the privilege of food sources. Our body requires it.

But where does our energy come from on the nights we’re up until 7am, talking with friends?

What about the times we are taken back by an idea which is nothing less than awe-inspiring.

Do you remember when you heard such shocking news on the media or by word. Do you remember forgetting it was late… Forgetting you were ‘supposed’ to be tired?  [Read more…]

The notion of living a simple life, for many, is automatically associated with living a life that is somewhat unsuccessful; a life that is peaceful but not what we are fully capable of experiencing as flourished humans.

It has been my experience that the complete opposite is true.

There are some common misconceptions that I often come across which are worth addressing:

Misconception #1: The desire for simplicity is ultimately a desire born out of learned helplessness.

That is to say: “There’s no point living an extravagant life. It’s too hard, and not worth even trying”.

False: The desire for simplicity is born out of the maturity to be able to see that material extravagance is no match for inner majesty.

Peace and joy become priorities, and they are known to be influenced by value such as wonder, curiosity, relationships, appreciation, recreation, the arts and others alike – none of which require the acquisition of popular products.

Simplicity is never due to the anticipation of failure, it is welcomed because what is deemed as ‘success’ the the eyes of today’s commercial society seems useless. It simply does not achieve the result we are looking for. [Read more…]

Surely…

Surely if we play;

The violin of vision,

The drums of diligence,

The flute of friendship,

The clarinet of clarity,

The guitar or greatness,

Play the piano of peace,

Then, surely… surely,

We will create,

The Song of Serenity.