Every day when we turn on the news, we see a world that seems filled with sadness, poverty, loss and grief. We ask ourselves, over and over again, how can we live amidst such difficulty and pain? The task of bringing relief to the suffering often seems insurmountable.
The truth is that our hearts ache for those who suffer no matter where in the world they are or for what reason the suffering exists. Yet, as much as we want to offer support and assistance, there doesn’t seem to be enough that we can do to create change. However, we will endeavor to bring relief wherever and whenever possible. Our capacity to love is great.
The question is, how do we look upon the sorrows of this world while maintaining balance and joy within ourselves? How can we be of service when our hearts are breaking? These are tough questions for very tough situations. Where will the resilience come from that will give us the strength and the courage to accept the world as it is? Is it possible?
It is. We first must understand that we provide the most help to others when we are clear and balanced ourselves. Happiness is infectious. The human spirit is astonishingly powerful in its ability to choose happiness in spite of life circumstances.
And life, it appears, is actually a menagerie of choices. Choices result in experience. Experience results in knowledge; our choices result in life experiences that ultimately bring growth, understanding and wisdom. At the expense of sounding a bit philosophical, our power stems from our ability to choose. We can choose happiness. And once we do, we can empower others to do the same.
So, the next time we find ourselves asking the question “why, why, why?”, maybe we will quickly come to the conclusion: choose, choose, choose. What is your happiness? What is your H-Factor? Choose!
Happiness is an inside job®.
Lisa Cypers Kamen is a filmmaker, positive psychology coach, author, host of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, professor and lecturer specializing in the field of sustainable happiness. She is widely recognized as an expert on the subject. Lisa’s acclaimed documentary film co-produced with her now fifteen year-old daughter, Kayla, “H-Factor…Where is your heart?” explores how people in varied circumstances find, generate and share happiness. In addition to her film on happiness, Lisa has also published a number of articles and books entitled, Got Happiness Now?, Are We Happy Yet?, Leadership: Helping Others to Succeed and Reintegration Strategies, about combat trauma and using positive psychology principles to create wellness in a post-war new normal. Lisa’s written work is featured on blogs for the Huffington Post, PositivelyPositive.com and InspireMeToday.com and she is a TEDx community event speaker. In addition, she is the Happiness Expert for the Florida Department of Citrus/ Florida Orange Juice in its Take on the Day campaign.
Harvesting Happiness for Heroes™ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that delivers stigma-free integrated combat trauma recovery services to warriors and their loved ones. Modalities include scientifically proven strengths based Positive Psychology coaching and interdisciplinary tools such as film, yoga, meditation, art and creative writing designed to mindfully empower the client to achieve increased self-mastery, self-esteem and reclaim her/his life. HH4Heroes focuses on the balance of mind, body and emotion resulting in greater overall wellbeing and the transformation of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) into Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG). HH4Heroes offers retreat workshops, one-on-one coaching, Battle Buddy programs, as well as our new R.E.B.O.O.T Online virtual community coaching classrooms designed to reach underserved areas. In addition, HH4Heroes deploys Return to Duty™ civilian and corporate training to help welcome a warrior home and into the community and workplace.
Lisa is committed to teaching Happiness is an inside job™ and helping others end their needless suffering through intentionally cultivating greater joy.
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