A Breath of Fresh Air Book Collection - To Inspire and provoke positive thinking

A Breath of Fresh Air... Part 1 by YvonneB | Make Your Own Book

A Breath of Fresh Air... Part 2 by YvonneB | Make Your Own Book

A Breath of Fresh Air... Part 3 by YvonneB | Make Your Own Book

Happiness… what is it to you?

Wikipedia states: Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.  A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.

What does it mean to you?

When you think about being happy what do you see?

Looking at your own life, do you ‘feel’ happiness?

No two people are the same and therefore happiness for one person might not bring about the same thoughts, feelings and images for another person. Yet quite often people ‘rely’ on other people to ‘make’ them happy.

For true happiness to fill your life it must come from within, from you. It is not something to be handed to you by another or earned… it is a choice you make. Once you make that choice you are then free to support it with the actions, situations and people that further enhance it.

For example, I love family time; it is truly special to me. Being able to sit with my siblings and family, discuss life, business, politics, just about any topic is joyful for me because I love being with my family. It is the being with them that makes my heart sing; their company and their love enhance my centred happiness.

I believe that happiness is there for the taking. Being happy in yourself first and then letting it flow through the rest of your life to people you enjoy being with, places you like to visit, books you love to read, etc.

Have you noticed how certain pieces of music can lift your mood, enhance your happiness? How a kind word or random act of kindness makes you smile? These things touch the happiness that resides within you and lights it up like a torch. So if you make the decision to switch the torch on just because you can, how much more happiness is radiated when positive situations and loving people add to its glow?

No one can dictate to you what you should do to bring about happiness; it is your place to bring it to life.

The exception would be a person who derives happiness from physically or emotionally harming someone. No one has the right to inflict pain on another in order to gain a sense of happiness. And I would question whether it is actual happiness they are experiencing or just the rush of power and control.

We all need to feel pleasure, be engaged and interact with others as well as have a life that we feel is worthwhile to be truly happy... and it is our decision to be happy that can bring all of these things into fruition.

Today I tasted life for the first time. It filled me up, quenching my thirst & hunger. There was no need for more, Life simply fulfilled me.

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Wise Words for Creating Your Life...

My passion; helping women to create their lives. It is a shame that so many get stuck in the rut of 'going through the motions' and externalising blame. 

This phrase around 'creating' life is nothing new, it has been a topical discussion for many years and I found this very thought provoking piece by Anais Nin from 'A Woman Speaks':

"... there are two ways of going about liberation: one, of course, is the political way, changing the laws and fighting for equalities. There are so many ways of doing it. But the other I stress simply because it is the one I know: the psychological way, which is the removal of obstacles so that you can create your own freedom and you don't have to ask for it. You don't have to wait for it to be given to you. And the women I chose as my heroines were women who created their own freedom. They didn't demand it, they didn't ask for it. They created it. Something in themselves made them independent women, and this kind of independence I stress. Because the other feeling that has been taught women is the blaming of society or the blaming of men for the situation in which we find ourselves.

Now I found through psychology that when I put the blame on others I was practically saying "I am a helpless, passive victim." And it's a depressing thought! So the day I saw beyond that, at a certain moment in psychology, I saw "No, not at all. I am the master of my destiny." When I feel free and independent and behave in a certain way towards a relationship, that affects the relationship. I can have an effect on it; I can have an effect on the person I am working for, on my publisher. It is very easy to blame society or to blame the man, but it actually makes you feel even more helpless. Because that means that you are waiting for the man to liberate you, for the government to liberate you or for history. And that takes a long time. It takes centuries, and it's too slow for me.

We have only one life."

I love this piece, it resonates completely with the way I think and feel about taking ownership of one's life. Who wants someone else to dictate their life path to them? Surely it is our responsibility to live a life that we deem to be worthy.

So what is your take? Do you work to create your life or are you led? And if led, does it compromise your belief in your ability to 'do it your way'?

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