Happy People

"Happiness is the whole aim and end of human existence," Aristotle.

A friend recommended the book, Wat Happy People Know,by Dan Baker. It is a good read. The author says all of life is a dance between fear and love. Love takes us to happiness, and fear takes us away. I like the 12 qualities of happiness:
1. Love: the wellspring of happiness, most enjoyed when we are loving, an antidote to fear.
2. Optimism: This provides power over painful events. It gives you power over fear.
3. Courage: Nature's natural balance for fear.
4. Sense of freedom: Freedom is choice. When we choose, we define who we are.
5. Proactivity: Participation in one's destiny and forging one's own happiness.
6. Security: Knowing that feeling secure is based on simply liking who one is.
7. Health: To include healthy mood chemistry.
8. Spirituality: Concern about not living, rather than about dying.
9. Altruism: Not self-absorbed (as unhappy people are), gives one purpose
10. Perspective: Can prioritize their problems and turn them into possibilities
11. Humor: Shift of perception, lifts suffering off the heart and hands it to the intellect which can deal with it.
12. Purpose: Happy people know why they are on earth. They are doing what they are meant to do.

Good reminders for us as caregivers. Tomorrow: 6 happiness tools