VALENTINE'S DAY: To Love Someone

Happy Valentine's Day!

May TODAY be a day in which every individual, and the whole wide world, chooses love over fear, love over hate, and love over attack.

Below is a poem I wrote, called "To Love Someone" when I was putting together the vision for a forthcoming workshop called "Love and Fear."

How do you really love

some

one?

In a way that they really

know they

are

loved?

And in a way that you

know that

this is

love?

I can’t tell you that.

That is not my job.

Only love can

teach you how to

love.

Therefore, this is what

you must do.

Pray to Love, like you

would pray to God.

Say to Love, “Show me

how to love this

person.”

Say to Love, “I am

finished. Now it is

Your turn to have a

go.”

Say to Love, “I am

Yours. Please use me.

Please help me to be a

presence of love on this

planet.”

Keep petitioning to Love.

Go straight to the top.

Accept no other teacher.

Let Love teach you to

love.

Eventually, spiritual e-mails

will land in your heart.

Internal memos, sent by

Love, will guide you and

direct you.

Love notes will write

themselves

into your

life.

And Love will show you

how to

love.

Daily Express: Discover Your Joyful Side

The DAILY EXPRESS published an article today, “10 Steps to Happiness”, that outlines my ten tips for facing blue Monday, the economic recession, and for rediscovering your joyful side. Here is the article in full. Enjoy.

UNTIL recently psychologists dismissed happiness as a “pleasurable emotion with no evolutionary value”. The theory was happiness feels good but it isn’t useful. However research reveals happiness has a powerful effect on the brain that helps you to think broadly, to come up with creative solutions and makes you generally more resilient.

In short happiness helps you to bring out the best in yourself. Follow my tips below to rediscover your joyful side.

1 The big rethink

Real, enduring happiness cannot be bought. Research confirms that money is important for basic needs like food, rent and clothes. However the link between higher income and increased happiness has been described in one study as “surprisingly weak” and “virtually negligible”. In fact a third of all millionaires are less happy than the national average.

2 Have a reality check

Work out what is truly important to you. Research shows people with consistently high happiness scores prioritise their life according to the things they value. They’ve worked out what is most important to them and don’t allow themselves to get sidetracked.

3 Do you need more?

In recent decades our purchasing power has more than doubled which means we can afford to buy more stuff than ever and yet more stuff hasn’t made us happier.

To be happy you have to know what you really want. After all, you can never have enough of what you didn’t want in the first place. True happiness isn’t a thing or a commodity, it’s something you cultivate and share.

4 Discover life’s riches

Money is important but it is not everything. Make a list of everything in your life that is more precious to you than money. Think also about everything you already have that money can’t buy. Obvious examples are family, friends, health, laughter, creative hobbies, your imagination and spirituality.

5 Be positive

Research shows that life circumstances influence your happiness by only 10 per cent in the long-term. Obviously life events have a short-term effect. A loss of job or divorce can be devastating. Winning the lottery or falling in love can be wonderful at least initially but the key to being happy in the long‑term is not circumstances but attitude. Set an intention to enjoy today 10 per cent more than yesterday. Back up your intention with three specific actions like calling a friend, smiling more and doing something you love.

6 Treasure relationships

Investing time, energy and attention in your most important relationships will increase your happiness. A recent study confirms that having rich and satisfying social relationships is the key difference between people who are quite happy and those who are very happy.

7 Make time for fun

Most of us are so preoccupied with life’s chores that we can sometimes forget to enjoy ourselves. Make a commitment to having fun. See your best friends and make time for your hobbies and passions.

8 Count your blessings

Keep a gratitude journal. Write down at least three things a day you are either thankful for, made you smile or genuinely inspired you.

9 Have faith

People who have a strong spiritual faith report greater than average happiness. Research shows practices like meditation, prayer, yoga and tai chi can help you to de-stress and feel more balanced. Most importantly, a spiritual faith encourages us to look past our individual egos.

10 Look after yourself

To be happy you must never compromise on your health. Getting enough exercise and sleep and eating a healthy diet will improve your mood and energy levels.

To order Be Happy by Robert Holden (Hay House, £9.99) with free UK delivery, call 0871 988 8367 (10p/minute from BT landlines) with your card details or send a cheque payable to Express Newspapers to: The Express Bookshop, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ or order via expressbookshop.com

SOUL NOURISHMENT: An Inspiring Start to 2010

What do you WISH for yourself in 2010?  How would you like to grow?  What would you like to experience?  What do you want to say YES to?  And, most importantly, what help do you need to make your wishes come true? 

I have just received notice from my publisher Hay House of a unique online seminar called SOUL NOURISHMENT that is designed to help you to start your year with a flourish and to help you keep flourishing through 2010.   Soul Nourishment features eight lectures by some of the world’s leading experts in the field of mind-body medicine and spiritual including, Wayne Dyer, R Chistiane Northrup, Dr Bruce Lipton, Marianne Williamson, Dr Brain Weiss, and me too.

The lectures you will hear were all pre-recorded at the recent I CAN DO IT® conference in San Diego, CA.  I was present at this conference, and I have heard most of the lectures available in this SOUL NOURISHMENT series, so I know how good this series is.   Also, if the line-up isn’t inspiring enough, I am sure you will find the price is:  $20!  Also, when you sign up you will receive a special bonus downloadable excerpt with Hay House founder, Louise Hay.   I have already personally ordered a copy for every member of The Happiness Project team.

One last thought:  If 2010 is really going to be an inspirational year for you, what inspiration will you stay close to?  Make a list of the practices, books, places, conferences, workshops, CDs, and people you will draw inspiration from this year.  Promise yourself to stay close to what inspires you. 

I wish you a truly inspiring 2010. 

365 Gratitudes: Happiness is Always Now

On January 1st 2009 I made my first entry in a journal called 365 Gratitudes. One of my new year’s resolutions to myself was to make a daily entry of “one-gratitude-per-day” for a calendar year. Why? Because I wanted to experience the power of gratitude and how it might affect my life, my relationships, and my ideas about happiness, success, and abundance. Just now, with a few hours to go before mid-night on December 31st, I made my final entry for the year.

365 Gratitudes, as I like to call it, has been a challenging and enlightening experiment. The challenging bit was maintaining the discipline of setting aside 10 minutes a day to record my daily entry. Finding 10 minutes out of every 1440 minutes sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? I did okay for the most part, but sometimes I would slip, and suddenly I was having to think back over four or five days. What happened? Where had I been? How could I not find 10 minutes to stop and be grateful?!

I have engaged in many gratitude-related exercises over the years, and enjoyed them all for the most part, but none have been as confronting and beneficial as this one. I would recommend wholeheartedly that you try this experiment for yourself. 365 Gratitudes has given me a deeper appreciation for the power of gratitude. I have learned that gratitude is much more than just a positive attitude or a nice idea; it is a spiritual practice that can transform your perception of who you are and how you experience the world. Gratitude teaches you how to live.

Here are ten lessons I’ve learned about the power of gratitude having done my 365 Gratitudes.

Gratitude is a spiritual compass: Practising gratitude daily helps you to stay on course with your life-journey and with the essence of who you are.

Gratitude is a training in vision: Being willing to see each and every situation and encounter through the eyes of gratitude helps you to see possibilities that you would otherwise be blind to.

Gratitude helps you to connect: Gratitude creates a deeper intimacy and oneness with life. It’s impossible to feel truly grateful and lonely at the same time.

Gratitude is from the heart: When you remember to be grateful, you also remember to live from your heart. Gratitude helps you to love your life more, and also to be a more loving person.

Gratitude is a healer: Being willing to be grateful for everything helps you to handle everything better. Gratitude is a willingness to see the gift in everything, eventually.

Gratitude teaches you what is real: The more you practice gratitude, the clearer you become about the truth of your life, and what is truly sacred to you.

Gratitude helps you to feel safe: Gratitude gives you a basic trust that you really do live in a friendly universe. Gratitude gives you faith that every life-event, no matter what it looks like,  is ultimately for your highest purpose.

Gratitude is a key to happiness: Gratitude shows you that the grass beneath your feet is greener than you think. Gratitude teaches you that happiness is always now.

Gratitude is a NOW thing: Gratitude helps you to enjoy your life as it happens. Gratitude has a spirit of immediacy that forces you to make contact with what is, right now, right here.

Gratitude helps you to be present: The more you practice gratitude, the more alive you feel. Less often do you get lost in modes of “doing” and “going,” and “chasing” and “waiting.” Gratitude helps you to be in your life.