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ChangingMinds Blog! > Blog Archive > 23-Dec-08
Tuesday 23-December-08 Lifting spiritsWhat makes you happy? What lifts your spirit? There are some things that bring a pure joy to our heart. Is it the innocent child? That crashing riff? The view from the mountain's peak? What blows your trumpet voluntary? Just remembering those times is a reservoir we sometimes forget and which can lift us up when we are down. Some things are almost guaranteed to bring joy. Some of these things are almost predictable and some come unbidden. I remember, many years ago, walking along the sea's edge on a sandy beach at dusk, feeling inexplicably happy. I'd been listening to Santana's 'Samba Pa Ti' and it was going round and round in my head. The waves were breaking gently and sliding up the sand to meet me. I felt totally at peace and could have forgiven anybody anything. I sometimes wonder about that time and why I felt that way. I've felt good since but maybe never quite that good. Not that I regret this -- I'm grateful for the experience and remember it fondly, rather than grasping at past glories. Maybe there's something too about getting older, where memory's glow gets rosier. 'Jouissance' is a term that means 'pleasure too much to bear'. Joy can be like this, which is why tears can accompany extreme forms of the emotion. It's strange how happiness and sadness are so circular, even how hysterics can end in laughter. One of the most uplifting things you can do is to lift up others. Helping others gets you out of your own head, where dragons often lie. It connects you with other people in affirming and positive ways. It shows you are good and let's you know you are good. Others praise you and you can give yourself justifiable pats on the back. Joy is where you find it, and I do hope you, kind reader, find it everywhere you look this Christmas season. Your comments You were fully within the moment, that is what you felt. ;^) Your entry also speaks to the difference between seeking validation and
giving validation. Instead of simply seeking validation and sucking up other
people's energy, one may validate him or herself by helping others. By
validating and helping others, one feels a sense of fulfillment like nothing
else. As Shakespeare said, 'it is twice blessed, it blesses him that gives and
him that takes.' Dave replies: What makes anyone happy is something easy to explain: Getting invited or
being proposed by someone (family or friend) to do any shorter or longer
activities, for fun or to have a good time, with a good mood and treating you
with confidence, but also with respect. Hi Dave, Dave replies: |
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| Home | Top | Quick Links | Settings | |
Main sections: | Disciplines | Techniques | Principles | Explanations | Theories | |
Other sections: | Blog! | Quotes | Guest articles | Analysis | Books | Help | |
More pages: | Contact | Caveat | About | Students | Webmasters | Awards | Guestbook | Feedback | Sitemap | Changes | |
Settings: | Computer layout | Mobile layout | Small font | Medium font | Large font | Translate | |
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