As I chalk up 48 not out on ye olde terra firma today, my mind flickers through a panorama of images, emotions, people and places from this particular earth experience.
One of these timeless scenes has my mother saying “Seems just like yesterday” as we sit on the back door step drinking tea and eating digestive biscuits – she’s taking a short break from housework and I’m recharging my batteries after returning from school.
Although clearly hearing what she said I was still deaf to the bittersweet meaning implied by her sigh and the peacefulness of the moment.
That was 30 plus years ago.. and it seems just like yesterday 
Wow! Such moments are when life’s deeper meanings presents themselves for inspection – rather like Nobu’s Chocolate Bento Box dessert shown above. (But don’t delay – peak enjoyment’s tasting the ice cream in a hot chocolate sauce embrace. Yummy!)
Of course not all memories are happy ones in many peoples lives. But still I am struck by how much happiness is a truly evervescent emotion – by that I mean it is impervious to failure and resentment and will ‘happily’ (!) enliven whatever and whomever it has the good fortune to encounter.
In fact the more I think about happiness in my own life the more I tend to agree with the US self development author, Brian Tracy, when he said in his wonderful book, “Maximum Achievement”:
“Set Peace of Mind As Your Highest Goal.”
Setting Wealth, Health, Relationship and Financial goals may be all well and good but without a mind at peace I doubt that they will amount to much over a lifetime.
Fortunately, an increasing number of psychologists (particularly Dr. Martin Seligman and others) have persevered long enough to bring the field of “Positive Psychology” to our attention.
And so I will end this birthday post with a little present for you all – a blog from the Happiness Institute, a Down Under organization making a real difference in peoples lives under the ever smiling face of Dr. Happy, aka psychologist, Dr. Tim Sharp. The site’s titled “The Happiness Institute.”
Check out Tim’s positive psychology blog – there are some great posts on happiness at work too.
- Mark McClure
Tags Coaching Life Success
2 Comments
Well Said Mark. Sound advice we should all take, regardless of job, position, interest, etc. I think peace of mind comes with following one’s ‘path’, i.e. your passion. If we don’t follow our path, we end up being miserable.
[Simon,
Yes, passion and peace of mind seem to have a relationship, don't they! Thinking back on it, some of my happiest moments have been when I was working my a## off but having a great time doing so. I liked earning lots of lolly too of course
Mark]
This may seem like a trivial comment, but have I mentioned that I like the way you have been highlighting key phrases? They really make your words and points stand out. I always enjoy your blog, and now I can drop by and quickly find what you note as most important. Thanks.
[Beth,
Oh, I'm glad you noticed that. I know my current blog style is fairly plain so I like to offset the key phrases in each article. (Truth be told, I'm a closet mind mapper and would mind map the whole thing if the font sizes would show properly. Alas, mind maps are an individual creation so I would probably confuse 95% of my readers with a wacky map instead of 300 plus words!)
Mark]
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