Tag: Harvesting Happiness

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. I was living the dream. I was floating through my days, moving between the multiple houses and the multiple cars without a care in the world. My husband loved me, my kids thought I was an awesome mom and loved that I could shower them with everything they needed. I had a rockin' wardrobe and one hell of a travel schedule.  My body was perfect, my lifestyle was perfect, my family was perfect. My everything was perfect. Until it wasn’t. The marriage dissolved. The cars, houses and flashy clothes were history. I couldn’t provide for my…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. I'm no Kevin Bacon, but I just found a batch of research that says the degrees of separation between me and the rest of the world are decreasing. And it's no surprise that social media has a lot to do with it. Take Facebook, for instance: Mark Zuckerberg and co. say that I’m only 3.74 degrees away from any other user on the social network. That’s less than 4 connections separating me from President Barack Obama, Kim Kardashian, or even you. Small world, huh? And the numbers get even more mind-blowing the more you think about…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Once upon a time, in a not so far away land, there lived a wife. A trophy wife to be exact. She was living the "dream," with every single one of her "wants" more than fulfilled. Loving, affluent husband? Check. Two beautiful children? Check. Vacation homes? Double check. Travel, jewelry, fashion sprees? Check, check, check. Busy social calendar? Check to the nth degree. How do I know all this? Because that trophy wife was me, living my personal Disney fantasy. That is, until the music stopped. The façade fell down. My marriage failed. The economic recession…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Does a person have to be happy all the time? Can you expect there to be no negative experiences in your life? There will inevitably be negative events and experiences in life. It’s just the way things are - and things can happen in life that we never expected. The loss of a loved one, the end of a marriage, a move to anew cityor country… the list of possibilities is endless. One person’s negative experience could be someone else’s positive. It also depends on how situations are dealt with. Optimism contributes to a healthier, happier…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. How many decisions do you make in a day? From fast food, to text meetings to tweets that blow up our phone we are inundated with media. Compounding that, we live in a world full of choices – more so than any other time in history. From our hairspray to our hamburgers, it seems that the more we seek the more choices we have. Choices can empower us and choices can overwhelm us. In our instant gratification society, where the choices come fast and furious, where do we begin in making the choices that impact our daily…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Are high-achievers happier than the rest of the population? Is there a relationship between goal achievement and happiness? Curiously, there are people who have achieved great things in life but aren’t necessarily happy. Conversely, there are those who have achieved very little by today’s standards yet seem to be quite content. This is a question worthy of contemplation. An ever broader question pertains to the concept of one’s purpose beyond the concept of goal achievement. If we feel we have a purpose in life, are we happier? If our existence serves others, do we experience a…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Are you stuck? Are you waiting for the right things to happen so that you can finally be happy? For many people, happiness is an enigma. Happy comes and goes, yet it is not something that is a constant in life. Yet it is possible for happiness to be one of the most dependable elements of your life. When we get trapped in the little boxes we create for ourselves, we find ourselves feeling miserable, lost and alone. Maybe we think we need a new job. Maybe we think we need a new partner or more…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Focusing on now means that you focus on what is happening in the present. You can't change what happened yesterday and you don't know what tomorrow will bring so focus on what is happening right now. Focusing on now means that you focus on what is happening in the present. You can’t change what happened yesterday and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring so focus on what is happening right now. Remember too that you can’t fix what happened yesterday and you can’t fix anything that may happen tomorrow. It’s all about now- you can…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Before you think of Cinderella and the three fairy godmothers, I want you to think about how many times you think about what you want or what you wish for. I want, I wish, and only if are some of the phrases we use to describe an ambiguous point in our future when we will have what we think we need to be happy. In the present moment, we are left feeling unfulfilled. We are living with a sense of longing for a brighter future. We are hoping to change our current situation so that we can finally,…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Here are a couple of self-reflection questions and secrets to a happy life. Ask: If I had one day left, would I forgive the person who hurt me most? Could I do so without demanding any form of punishment? Who are the people in your life who deserve your forgiveness? You will be surprised how wonderful you feel when you forgive – you may feel free. Miracles happen every day, when we least expect them. Have the belief that they can happen for you. Your value isn’t determined by the amount of money you make or the…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. 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…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Can we create a happy life for ourselves? The key word here is “create.”  Do we cultivate a happy life when we choose to live a life of creativity and passion? Does the secret to our ultimate happiness lie in the mere choosing of it? You see, everyone is creative.  When we expand our definition of creativity to include far more than the fine arts, we come to realize that all life is art, and we can apply our unlimited creativity and individual expression in any direction we choose. At this particular point in history, we…

By Lisa Cypers Kamen. Happiness starts with you. It is all about your attitude toward life and the situations you face in daily living. You have to look at what you have accomplished in a day, a week, a month, etc. - not what you haven’t accomplished. If you are having trouble finding happiness in your day and it seems like your attitude is shifting to negative things, here are a few tips for you: Try to change the way you look at things by looking at the bright side. Focus on solutions, not the problems. Listen to music that…