[Faith-talk] Five Minutes To Happiness: A Reason To Smile

[debby]

Thanks. Sometimes it's hard to remember that it's just simple things that can create happiness.

On Aug 9, 2016 5:00 PM, Paul Smith via Faith-Talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> The following piece was written for the little book called "Lessons On 
> Life," and I hope you all enjoy it. 
>
> Devoting time each day for happiness will change your day and change 
> your brain chemistry. 
>
> It can be so easy to get caught up in the rigors of modern life that we 
> tend to forget that happiness need not come with stipulations.  
> Happiness becomes something we must schedule and strive for a hard-won 
> emotion and then only when we have no worries to occupy our thoughts.  
> In reality, overwhelming joy is not the exclusive province of those 
> with unlimited time and no troubles to speak of. 
>
> Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the 
> most serious challenges.  They have learned to make time for those 
> simple yet superb pleasures that can be enjoyed quickly and easily.  
> Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes.  The 
> resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will 
> be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason 
> to smile. 
>
> So much that is ecstasy-inducing can be accomplished in five minutes.  
> Alone, we can enjoy an aromatic cup of our favorite tea, take a stroll 
> through the garden we have created, write about the day's events in a 
> journal, doodle while daydreaming, or breathe deeply while we listen to 
> the silence around us. 
>
> In the company of a good friend or treasured relative, we can share a 
> few silly jokes, enjoy a waltz around the room, play a fast-paced hand 
> of cards, or reconnect through lighthearted conversation.  The key is 
> to first identify what makes us dizzingly happy.  If we do only what we 
> believe should bring us contentment, our five minutes will not be 
> particularly satisfying.  When we allow ourselves the freedom to do 
> whatever brings us pleasure, five minutes out of 14 wakeful hours can 
> brighten our lives immeasurably. 
>
> It is often when we have the least free time or energy to devote to joy 
> that we need to unwind and enjoy ourselves the most.  Making happiness 
> a priority will help you find five minutes every day to indulge in the 
> things that inspire elation within you. 
>
> Eventually, your happiness breaks will become an established part of 
> your routine.  If you start by pursuing activities you already enjoy 
> and then gradually think up new and different ways to fill your daily 
> five minutes of happiness, you will never be without something to smile about. 
>
> And there you have today's article about happiness.  When I first read 
> this article some weeks ago, I just knew that a translation of the same 
> into Esperanto would be in order for our blind and visually impaired 
> colleagues in eastern Europe, and I wasn't at all disappointed, as a 
> number of recipients there wrote about what made them happy even in the 
> face of Communism.  Perhaps in future I'll share with you some 
> reactions from them, if enough people are interested. 
>
> And that will do it for today.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing 
> another article of this type will be posted, may the God of Abraham, 
> Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in 
> these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul 
>
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