Happiness Comes From Within

I received a message from a follower that asked me to repost an earlier entry for a particular family member to read. So here it is, hope it helps.

Life isn’t the sweetest candy. When I feel like the world is just too heavy, I first always take a deep breath and remember my grandmother. A woman, that no matter what life presented, she always was able to laugh and enjoy life. I always admired that about her, it was not till later in life that I understood that happiness came from a place called ‘self’.

So, how does one become genuinely happy? Step 1 is to love yourself.

A counselor once said that “loving means accepting.”  To love oneself means to accept that you are not a perfect being, but behind the imperfections must lay a great ounce of courage to be able to discover ways on how to improve your repertoire to recover from our mistakes.

Genuine happiness also pertains to contentment. When you are contented with the job you have, the way you look, with your family, your friends, the place you live in, your car, and all the things you now have – truly, you know the answer to the question “how to be genuinely happy.”

I believe that life is about finding out about right and wrong, trying and failing, winning and losing. These are things that happen as often as you inhale and exhale. Failure, in a person’s life has become as abundant and necessary as air. But this should not hinder us from becoming happy. Every time you exert effort to improve the quality of life and your being, whether it is cleaning up your room, helping a friend, taking care of your sick dog, fail on board exams and trying again, life gives you equivalent points for that.

So my sister will understand this. Imagine life as a big score board like those which are used in the NFL. Every time you take a step forward, you score points. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at that board at the end of each game and think to yourself “Whew! I got a point today. I’m glad I gave it a shot.”, instead of looking at it all blank and murmur “Geez, I didn’t even hit a score today. I wish I had the guts to try out.”

Genuine happiness isn’t about driving the hottest car, nor getting the employee of the year award, earning the highest pay. Sometimes, the most sought after prizes in life doesn’t always go to the fastest, the strongest, and the bravest or not even the best.

Everyone has his own definition of ‘happiness’. Happiness for a writer may mean launching as many best-selling books as possible. Happiness for a basketball rookie may mean getting the rookie of the year award. Happiness for a business man may mean success. You don’t have to have the best things in this world. It’s about doing and making the best out of every single thing. When you find yourself smiling at your own mistake and telling yourself “Oh, I’ll do better next time”, you carry with you a flame of strong will power to persevere that may spread out like a brush fire. You possess a willingness to stand up again and try – that will make you a genuinely happy person.

When you learn to accept yourself and your own faults,  You pass step 1 in the project “how to become genuinely happy”. For as long as you know how to accept others, you will also be accepted. For as long as you love and know how to love, you will receive love ten folds back.

So one last time the question “how to become genuinely happy?”. I’ll leave you with this great quote- “Most of us know that laughter is the best medicine to life’s aches and pain. But most of us don’t know that the best kind of laughter is laughter over self. Coz then you don’t just become happy… you become free.”

Keep Dancin’  LB

Hi Everyone, This year Secretary's Day or more appropriately Administrative Professional's Day is April 23, 2014.  National Professional Secretaries Week and National Secretary's Day was created in 1952 through the work of Harry F. Klemfuss of Young and Rubicam. Klemfuss recognized the importance and value of the position to a company or business. 

Today, the title is changing and evolving. But, the recognition is equally important. There are two new terms in use today. They are "Administrative Professionals" and "Executive Admins". The two names sometimes mean different roles and responsibilities to different companies. Both are broader terms, which encompass more positions than the original "Secretary" role. The name change recognizes and acknowledges that the role has changed significantly since 1952, and for the better at that.

The most common ways of recognizing your Administrative Professional(s) today are:

• Flowers
• Cards, often with shopping gift certificates
• Take them to lunch 
• Candies
• Assorted Gift Baskets

Administrative Professionals Day gifts are by far the most common way of giving recognition to these most important people on your staff.  So don't forget those that keep your company running smoothly.

There is one more great day for April, I have to mention on April 28th, Kiss Your Mate Day. This is a perfect chance to smooch with your partner. As if you need an opportunity to share a kiss or two with the one you love. With spring in the air, April is an appropriate time for Kiss Your Mate Day.

Unfortunately, researchers tell us that kissing, an important part of romance and intimacy is the first thing to go in a relationship. If you don't currently kiss your mate every day, use today to re-establish kissing in your life. 

Here are some Kiss Your Mate Day tips and rules:

• There is no upper limit to the number of times you can kiss your mate today.
• It is highly recommended that you limit your kisses to just one mate.
• You can kiss your mate wherever you want (location/place).
• You can kiss your mate wherever you want (anatomically speaking)
• Giving candy or flowers is not required. But, I suggest that those who do will receive more kisses.

Keep Dancin’ Larry B

I AM NOT YOUR "DARLING"!

I was taken back the other day when a lady I was speaking to on the phone blurted out that statement to me. I said excuse me, she then proceeded to read me the riot act that I had called her Darling and She was not MY Darling. How dare I trivialize her by calling her Darling? The rant went on for a few minutes and I let her vent, I feel everyone needs to vent at times. I explained that I had not even realized I had said "Thank you, darlin' for your help". I apologized for my statement to her. I then explained that it was not meant as anything more than a courtesy to her. Where I was reared it was a common courtesy to use the words darling, honey, hon, and dear as a way of showing our respect to the person we may be speaking to at the time.

I told this lady that I was only trying show her some courtesy and if she took offense to actually having a gentleman be courtesy to her, then I truly apologize. Of course, this might have been a little over kill on my part but the lady just really took me by surprise that anyone man or woman would be upset for someone being a little courtesy and okay maybe little informal or too personal. Yet in today's society, I feel we strive way too much to be politically correct and become nothing more that automated beings.

I attempt to keep my Midwestern form of courtesy to a lady out of my daily business conversations. Of course, this incident shows that I will never be 100% politically or business correct.  I was reared to respect a woman and that included using these words of endearment as a way of showing respect.  Heck, I was reared to show respect to all beings and I know I might slip at times; my true nature is to be respectful and courtesy.  Just ask the 20 plus women I work with on daily basis, they get called honey, darling and sweetheart all the time, of course, they usually know I am trying to butter them up to take on more work. But hey at least I try to soften the burden with some good ole southern gentleman ways.

In today's world courtesy is not seen very much in everyday life. I try to ensure I keep my manners and am as courteous as possible. I still use the words Please and Thank you. I have heard so many times of late when someone holds a door open for someone else and the person says Thank you, the response back is No problem.  What happen to Your Welcome!   No problem, well I took that for granted that it was no problem you are the one that stopped and held the door. 

As you know if you have been following my blog, that although I am a big supporter of all things technological, I am also first to agree that technology has hurt our interpersonal communication skills and common courtesies.

In today's hectic pace of life, the common social courtesies have been left behind. Be it in the checkout line of a store, on the highway, on the phone and in person, most of the time individuals are too involved in themselves to show any type of courtesy to the world around them. I am sure you all can put scenarios to the areas I just mentioned. 

Would the world not be a better place is everyone showed a little courtesy to the each other? Cultures may be different, how we were reared by be different, the common factor is we are all human and on the same planet.

So I guess I can only say the one thing. "Thank you, Darling, Sweetheart and Honey for reading my blog this week."

Keep Dancin’ Larry B

April Fun Celebration Days

As requested I will continue to provide those crazy and unusual Holidays. Here are a few fun reasons to celebrate the start of April.  Starting the first Friday of April, April 4^th, 2014 is National Walk To Work Day.  U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson declared the first National Walk to Work Day on April 2, 2004.  With obesity and sedentary lifestyles growing at an alarming rate, National Walk to Work Day was initiated to draw attention to the need to get out and exercise, and to get in shape.

On this day, Americans are encouraged to walk to work. If you can't walk to work, take a walk during lunch time, or another time of the day.  The goal is to walk 30 minutes a day. Health officials are hoping this will encourage people to add a 30 minute walk to their daily lives. Health officials, medical agencies, and medical organizations around the country state that a 30 minute walk will significantly improve you health. The benefits are many, including lower weight, less chance of heart disease, less risk of diabetes, and much more. This translates to a longer and healthier life.

Unmentioned in other articles, is the emotional and mental benefits of walking. Walking is relaxing and peaceful. If you walk in a park, or along a waterfront, it can be captivating. Need a quick picker upper? Take a walk today. .

So, if you can't walk to work today, walk 30 minutes at a convenient time. Then, make it a apart of your daily life. I walk to my office every day but then again I work from home…

April 7^th gives you several opportunities to celebrate. April 7th is Caramel Popcorn Day. This day is an opportunity to enjoy the combination of two great treats - Caramel and Popcorn. This tasty, chewy treat is hard to beat. Caramel popcorn is readily found in popcorn tins and specialty shops.

If you are like me, you don't need an excuse to eat any kind of popcorn. So, you can easily guess what you need to do to participate in this day. While other flavors of popcorn is fine any other day, today it must be caramel popcorn.

A great way to make this day truly memorable, is to make homemade caramel popcorn.

April 7th is World Health Day. Sponsored by United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO), World Health Day focuses upon a different health theme each year. It is an international event to emphasize and work on important health issues or problems. Many countries around the world participate.

Major activities on world health Day focus upon, awareness, education programs, and fund raising activities to help with the health issue for the year. Countries also work on resolving problems related to the theme.  The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nation's sponsors World Health Day each year. Annually, a different country is selected to host World Health Day events.

Finally for April 7^th, No Housework Day… No Housework Day is your chance to do anything, except housework. Better still, have someone else do the chores for a day. Housework is a daily, seemingly endless and repetitive groups of tasks. It often goes unrecognized and worst of all..... taken for granted. But, watch out! If the dishes aren't done, or there's no clean towels, somebody notices.

There's two ways to celebrate this day:

If you normally do the housework around the house, cease and desist for this day. Instead, kick back and enjoy the day. Relax and do anything, except housework.

If you are a spouse or significant other, do the housework for your mate. It gives her (or him) a break from the housework. And, you just might get an appreciation of how much work it takes to keep up the house.  Oops, Sorry Paul, I will be in Florida this day..

Keep Dancin’ Larry B