The Art of Happiness

Saw this article in the Straits Times (29 May, Recruit section). It highlights 7 secrets of living a stress-free lifestyle:
1. Love your Job
2. Stay optimistic
3. Be Honest
4. Soak in Positivity
5. Chase your Dreams
6. Expand yourself
7. Have Fun

Oh yes, it seems easy, isn't it? But, really, it's so much easier to say that to act it out ... or have that kind of attitude..

How many of us are doing what we love to do? Sometimes, we don't really know whether if it's wat we love to do until we are put into the position to carry out the job... By the way, how do we define 'job'? It's a vocation where we are paid from the effort we put in to complete the task? Back to "doing what we love to do"... often, we psycho ourselves to like a piece of job - this is in particular, if we are bought it by the purpose. Otherwise, how to get things done? Yes, just like "teaching"... some of us go into the "job" (which we normally refer to as profession) because of influences from significant ones like our teachers, parents, etc... Do we really love the job from Day 1 (even before our very first attempt in front of the class)? No, I believe... it's only over time that the passion starts to grow... and of course, it depends on the environment we are immersed in, our supervisors (especially in our early years)... how we are 'treated' matters!

Certainly, I envy those could earn a living out of their passion... ie. the reverse of the earlier scenario. For instance, one who is passionate about art gets to draw a cheque from the work he/she does! How I wish... This is truly, loving your job because you do what you love to do... and it pays!

Staying optimistic is very very important... for one to move on, and also for one to survive! Again, this falls back on how high our EQ is, too! I believe. There are always 2 sides to the coin. Similar to everything... we choose to see what we want to see... often, our choice is base on our ladder of inference (over time...). If we choose to see from the positive perspective, we feel better and normally it generates warmth and narrows down the distance between people. Take for instance, when SC said that she wanted to turn up for one of our workshops, there could be 2 responses - one is, Hey, there she comes again... trying to pick on what goes wrong, to prove her right? or it could be Hey, she bothers to come despite she's very busy... so, she's keen to see the happening and it's a chance to show her how we manage to engage our participants. Yes... one is out to catch the wrong while the other is to catch one doing right.

So, when surrounded by positive thinking people, it's helps to generate positive air to create a conducive environment where everybody can be soak in positivity. Yes, respect is one of the key elements for such culture to thrive.