The latest
April 11, 2010 1 Comment
And I’m proud because I baked that fricken cupcake from scratch.
Does contentment equal complacent?
March 11, 2010 10 Comments
Other than well known spiritual leaders, can you think of any individual (living or non-living) that has truly shaped the world we live in today that is/was content? Politicians? Great thinkers? Artists? Writers? Actors? Entertainers? Scientists? Entrepreneurs? Innovators? I know contentment is a deeply internal and subjective state, that is almost impossible to measure, but if it came down to it – I doubt any would say they were truly content for the majority of time… as probably would most of the world’s population.
What I’m getting at is: can you have vision and drive when you are content? When one reaches contentment, do they then become complacent? And, are an ongoing vision and drive determinants of success and critical for making things happen?
I know success is completely context driven, so I’ve decided to add context to my drawing… but it’s to both sides in this case, therefore I can cancel it out again. ;-)
And yes, how to find contentment is another blog post altogether, but on a whim the common elements involve long-term peace, love, prosperity, gratitude, happiness, self-satisfaction and so forth.
So, could to not be content actually a good thing?
After all, contentment itself does not make the world go around. It’s the desire and strive for contentment that does.
2010: the pursuit of (further) happiness
January 1, 2010 7 Comments
hap
pi·ness n.
Happiness is more than just a word to describe an emotional state – I believe it is life’s meaning. And, my life’s pursuit.
It affects all that we do and we should ask ourselves continuously what we can do to craft, inject and sustain more happiness into our lives.
2009 delivered a significant and unexpected change in my life. It made me realise that happiness involves ingredients that I can’t control, but with me as the chef I can control and create what I would like with whatever I have. With how little or how much I have in my ‘cupboard’ at any one time.
I like the following quote:
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” ~David Brinkley
Something I like to remember as much in business as in life – things are always going to happen that we don’t ever expect to, but it how our unwritten contingency plans back up that reveal our true strength of character. And, happiness affects character.
I also think it’s important to differentiate between states of happiness: short- and long-term. If I were to chart my short-term happiness, it would look like the first graph below. Peaks of gratification, and troughs where I have to realign and be dynamic with my expectations.
Short-term Happiness
But I’m proud when I look my long-term happiness and see the following general linear relationship. I’d hope the same for everyone else.
Long-term Happiness
If you haven’t watched the following TED Talk yet, it’s something for your weekend. Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness:
So, what is your version of happiness?
For me, I find my version every once in a while when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror… and smile back. A friend to myself. A literal visualisation of my happiness.
Kate Kendall
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No expectations, no disappointments
April 1, 2010 1 Comment
I’ve been reading a little on expectation management recently and came across the following analogy, which I thought I would share:
“Think of it like this, when you were a kid you would get presents for your birthday. You never knew what was in the colorful shiny boxes but you knew you were getting a present and you were happy. That is exactly how you should live life. Life is full of all kinds of presents; some we will love, some we might not and some we might altogether hate. Just be happy that you’re getting presents and live your life!”
Full piece here.
Enjoy your Easter – Kate is over and out.
Filed under Comment Tagged with expectations, gifts, happiness, life, satisfaction