Celebrate Your LIfe: I Choose Love

Today I am giving the closing keynote at the Celebrate Your Life conference in Chicago. My keynote will feature a guest appearance by the outstanding musician and songwriter, Shawn Gallaway.

I first came across Shawn’s music about 8 week ago. I was sent a copy of his video for his song “I Choose Love.” I liked it so much I immediately bought his album on ITunes. The song “I Choose Love” is so beautiful, I found myself playing it over and over. In fact, one day I put it on my Ipod, hit “Repeat,” and went running to the song for about an hour around Central Park, New York. I also started listening to the song as part of my preparation for delivering my keynote talks and workshops.

Two weeks after first hearing “I Choose Love,” I travelled to San Diego to participate in the I CAN DO IT Conference. Who should I meet there? Shawn Gallaway! There he was, just sitting in the crowd. I recognized him immediately. We have been in conversation ever since. AND, today, Shawn Gallaway will be singing “I Choose Love” as part of my keynote for “Celebrate Your Life.” Do you believe in synchronicity, or is it all random for you?!

Do check out Shawn Gallaway’s website. His mission is empowering people to create a reality based on love not fear. He is a multi-talented artist, a genuinely good fellow, and his star is rising. Please watch his fantastic video to “I Choose Love.” It is a blessing.

Ending the Search for Happiness

Today I am doing a 1-day workshop on Be Happy at the NY Open Center down at Spring Street. It is an honour to be teaching at a place that has offered such consistent, visionary service to so many people over the years.

One of the goals of my work with The Happiness Project is to help people end the search for happiness and be happy now. The whole point of focusing on “happiness now” is to be able to stop searching and to start seeing. I believe that the purpose of our life is not to search for happiness; it is to follow our joy. Today, we will be exploring this idea in depth. In light of this, I offer you a poem entitled “In Search of happiness.”

In search of happiness,
I abandon myself.
The searching is a blindness.
I cannot see.

But I do not realize that
I cannot see.
And I cannot see, just yet,
what I am doing to
myself.

In search of happiness,
I lose myself.
I cannot find what I am
looking for because I
do not know what I am
looking for.

There is no search and find.
It is only search and
search and
search.


In search of happiness,
I call out to myself.
I want help. I want help.
Help is what I want.

I am tired. I am tired.
I am too tired to be happy.
I am too tired to be helped.
At first.

In search of happiness,
I find myself.
I am what I have been
looking for.

I come home again to a
place in me where All
is well.

I come home again to
a part of me that is All
of me.

I am no longer searching,
and I can see.
I can see.

Good Morning America! - 5 Ways to Be Happy NOW

I have just come home after being interviewed by THE Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America in New York. The interview was a JOY to do and they have already uploaded it on the GMA website: BE HAPPY - RELEASE THE POWER OF HAPPINESS IN YOU

The great thing was that my wife, Hollie and our daughter, Bo, got to be in the studio while I was on air! And so too was Ian Lynch, the Happiness Project Office Manager, whose birthday it is today! Happy Birth day Ian!

Success is a REAL Yes!

Today I am giving a 1-day workshop on success intelligence and the inner-life of a leader. The workshop is taking place in Manhattan, and is being hosted by One Spirit. One of the themes I will be exploring is “The Real Yes.”

I believe a leader is anyone who senses the big YES in their belly and immediately goes into labour; I believe a leader is someone who feels the deep YES in their heart and dares to follow it; I believe a leader is everyone who listens to the true YES in their mind and trusts it as their guide; and I believe a leader is who you are when you identify the real YES of your soul and really live it.

Leadership is receptivity; leadership is heartfelt; leadership is listening; leadership is being who you really are. So what is your real YES? What is it that you really say YES to?

On this note, I offer you something I once wrote called “The Real Yes.”

I took a chance.
And, yes,
I took a risk.

And, yes,
I gave it a go,
And, yes helped me
get past "No."

I can,
I know I can.
I'm able,
I know I'm able.

I will,
I know I will.
No longer am I
standing still.

I heard myself say,
"but," and "no," and "won't,"
"maybe," and "if," and "only,"
and "shan't", but it was "Yes!"
that got me past "can't."

"Yes" brought out the best in me.
I said "Yes!"
A real "Yes!"

Everyday Abundance: Being on Purpose

This evening I will be giving a talk on Everyday Abundance at One Spirit in New York.  One of the themes I will focus on is the relationship between abundance and living a life of purpose.

I notice that when I feel I am on purpose I want for nothing else.  Being on purpose, separation gives way to connectivity; being on purpose I become open and receptive; being on purpose I feel very, very present; being on purpose I am illogically generous; being on purpose I am in the flow; being on purpose I enjoy a vital engagement with life; being on purpose the neurotic static of my ego is barely noticeable and I feel in tune with something greater than myself.

This evening I will introduce the theme of being on purpose with a poem I wrote called “Money and Purpose.”   Here it is:

Money does not exist

in heaven.

But it can buy you

many things on earth.

 

So what is the true value

of money?

Isn’t it true that anything

of real value has

no price?

 

Let’s talk about exchange rates,

like economists do.

What are you trying to

exchange money for?

 

Are you trying to buy yourself

some freedom?

Are you hoping that enough money

will make you feel secure?

 

Do you still believe that money

can create joy?

Will more money really make

you feel abundant?

 

The ego will always try to sell

you something that is

already yours.

 

The richest person on earth is the

one who collects his Divine

tax-free inheritance.

 

Money or not, rich or poor, bull

market or bear market,

keep investing in the

treasures of your soul.

 

Don’t be distracted by what can

go up or down, and what

can be won or lost.

 

Focus only on your divine purpose,

and all of the necessary funds

will be made available.

Memorial Day: Remembering What is Real

Today is Memorial Day in the US. It is a time for reflection. It is a time to meditate on deeper truths. It is a time to remember what is real. It is a time to re-commit to your true purpose.

Here is a contribution to the importance of remembering. It is a poem I wrote for Happiness NOW. It is entitled: "A Mad, Forgetful Moment."

There once was a moment,

a mad, forgetful moment,

that slipped past eternity into time.

And in that moment,

mad and forgetful as it was,

out of nowhere an entire world,

separate from God, was dreamed up.

And although it was only a moment,

it felt like forever.

And although it was only a dream,

it felt so real.

In this mad, forgetful world,

the Ocean prayed to God,

"Give me water. I want water".

The Sun, brilliant and bright, would pray,

"Dear God, fill me with light."

And the mighty, powerful, roaming Wind would plea,

"Set me free, set me free."

One time, all of sudden,

and I don't quite know why,

the Silence began to speak,

"God grant me peace, grant me peace."

Then, Peace Itself, fell to its knees.

"Dear God, please, what can I do to be more peaceful?"

Now, looking quite perplexed,

prayed, "Dear God, what next?"

even eternity began to pray,

"I want to last forever and ever and ever."

Infinity felt small.

"Dear God, help me to grow."

And life itself, began to cry,

"I don't ever want to die!"

And you and I,

who are the essence of love,

we cried out for love.

"God please love me," we prayed.

"God, fill me with love," we prayed.

"God, grant me love."

Mad and forgetful as it was,

that moment in time soon slipped, tripped,

and fell away back into eternity.

It's all over now, save the memory,

- a mad, forgetful memory,

it too ready for eternity.

Bo Holden: Shall We Have Some Fun Today?

My daughter, Bo, has recently celebrated her second birthday.  As you can see by the picture of her, she is all grown up now. 

Recently, Bo has taken to waking me up each morning with a little question that she whispers ever so sweetly into my ear.  The question is, Daddy, shall we have some fun today? 

What an invitation.

It’s the way Bo says it that really gets me.  She makes it sound so appealing. How can I say “No” to her?

Having fun is Bo’s greatest priority.  To her, that’s what life is for.  On waking, she chooses fun.  This choice is entirely spontaneous.  Nothing has to happen first before she chooses fun.  She doesn’t check to see if it’s the weekend; she doesn’t look outside to see what the weather is like; she doesn’t go online to check the Dow Jones index; she doesn’t look up her credit rating; and she doesn’t check her blood pressure first. 

Bo’s decision to enjoy her day appears to be entirely unassisted.  For example, she doesn’t meditate first, and then choose fun; she doesn’t do an affirmation, and then choose fun; she doesn’t drink a shot of wheatgrass or espresso, and then choose fun.  She doesn’t wait for the day to go well before she decides to enjoy it.  Bo simply enjoys herself.

And we can do the same.

In my book Be Happy I ask you to consider the question: what sort of a day have you decided to have today?  Are you conscious of what you decided?  Indeed, can you find the place in your mind where you have decided already how good today will be? 

In every moment there is a choice. 

And it is never too late to change your mind and enjoy yourself more.