Chris’ and Dora’s thought of the month

The truth is most of us lead a life of mediocrity when we are capable of achieving so much more. As humans, we have the potential within us to be powerful beings and do whatever our heart desires. To do this we need to first take control and responsibility for our thoughts, actions, and feelings.

One of the areas that we live well below our potential without necessarily realizing it is when it comes to happiness. As a society we are taught to believe that good is the opposite of bad. Therefore, we perceive for example we are in good health when we are not sick. This is simply not the case. Good health requires that we commit to eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and taking care of our mind and body. Similarly, we believe we are happy if we are not unhappy. But, true happiness can be achieved when we take the time to reflect, discover, and then pursue what makes us happy in life.

More often than not we rarely take action in life until things get bad. It is not until we are sick or unhappy that we are motivated to take action to resolve our problems. Then we work hard to improve ourselves so that we are no longer sick and unhappy. Have you ever wondered what would happen if we worked just as hard to go from being normal to happier?

The truth is when we discover real and authentic happiness we transform our lives. We become more productive, we are more creative at solving problems, we persevere in the face of challenges, our relationships improve, and we become healthier. Happiness is an important foundation for us to lead a more fulfilling life and one closer to our full potential.

As humans we all seek to be happy. Most people believe that happiness is based on luck or that it is beyond our control. Yet, ground breaking research suggests that we can control and influence at least 40% of our happiness. When asked, most people say they are happy. However research shows these same people tend to spend time and focus on what is missing in their life, what is wrong with their life, past failures, and what they are not good at. While this may be considered normal, it certainly is a long way from expressing and leveraging our true potential.

During the Art of Happiness program, we do not focus on the norm or the rule. Instead we focus on people who have or currently are exceptions in our society. It is the exceptions in our society that have been responsible for the greatest changes and evolution of our society. Consider for example Thomas Edison, a person who not only invented the light bulb, but also is responsible for invention of the hearing aid, projector, and establishing over 1,097 patents during his lifetime. We can learn so much from exceptional people like Thomas Edison. We can learn not only through their successes, but also their setbacks and failures. It is these exceptional human beings that demonstrate the potential within all of us.

At the Heart of Inspiration, we believe that every human being has potential - the potential to lead a fulfilling life. No one has to lead a life of mediocrity, or worse dissatisfaction. As humans, we are endowed with a gift that no other species on this planet has, and that is choice. We have the choice to take action and become happier, more fulfilled, and more engaged in life. We can choose to live to our full potential. We hope that you make the choice and join us on the Art of Happiness program. We are confident it is a choice you will be happy you made.