Choosing Happiness (and why it’s not as easy as it sounds)
Sunday, July 10th, 2011When personal development and self help gurus talk about choosing happiness, they make it sound easy. The conventional wisdom typically goes something like this: If you’re not happy, well then start doing what makes you happy. Start making changes to improve your happiness right now.
But happiness is not black and white, there is plenty of grey area in there. Happiness is not an absolute. There is not a point you get to and find out you’re suddenly happy, and most likely, if you’re unhappy, it didn’t happen suddenly – it’s probably been brewing a while. Happiness is a constant, living, breathing work in progress.
I have spent more time that I would like lately thinking about this topic. And I have questions… How much happiness is “enough”? At what point does being “mostly happy” become not enough that you need to make a change? Should you suffer through periods of unhappiness […]
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Conquering my fear of dancing
Monday, October 4th, 2010
Salsa Dance – “Dance All Night” photo by ted.sali
Something I have never liked doing, nor been any good at, is dancing. Any time I go anywhere where there is dancing, whether it’s a wedding or a nightclub, I always get a little pit in my stomach, wondering if I will inevitably get dragged onto the dance floor. I have other irrational fears like this, but finally I am working on overcoming this one.
Yes, just this past week I started my first lesson of salsa dance classes. It was hard for me to make the decision to sign up, but I finally did it. I have actually considered it several times over the past few years, but fear always got the best of me. Finally this time I just decided to make it happen.
Interestingly, it wasn’t all my […]
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Long Walks and Inspiration
Thursday, June 4th, 2009A few weeks ago I came across this video on YouTube, which I’ve posted below. It’s a video made by a guy named Christoph Rehage from Germany who had the goal to walk from Beijing to Germany. From the looks of his blog, The Longest Way, it looks like currently he is not walking, but is at university. Also, it doesn’t appear that he has completed the entire trip just yet, but walking over 4000KM is quite a feat none the less.
Here on Idealist Cafe I would like to start profiling inspirational blogs and websites, so if you have one or know of one, feel post in the comments or email me. I would love to hear about any journeys or adventures that are outside of the box and are inspirational. They don’t have to necessarily be about pushing physical limits, as I am also […]
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Abundance, Inspiration, and a new favorite quote
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009I am a frequent reader of Chris Guillebeau over at The Art of Non Conformity. He seems to be a good guy and have some great advice on unconventional life strategies. I read enough, actually maybe too much, about personal development and non conventional living, so sometimes I just skim a lot of these articles. I am at a point in my life where I know what I need to know to make a change, now it’s up to me to finally put into action what I have been reading for the past few years. For some reason I just can’t seem to get over the invisible hump I am facing. There are times when I am flowing with ideas, inspiration, and creativity, yet at other times I get down on myself and wonder what the heck I am doing. During these times, the […]
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A rare dabble in poetry – Today I Will
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008I don’t know why, but a few weeks ago I just sort of jotted this down while I was at work, and I’ve just recently dug it up and figured I should share it.
today
i will be firm,
i will stand for what i believe in,
i will not be fearful,
i will not back down,
i will speak my mind when someone doubts or questions me,
i will be responsible to myself,
and
i will live for myself
Why do people settle?
Sunday, August 31st, 2008This question is often on my mind, and can be interpreted in many ways. What I mean when I ask myself this is why do we settle for mediocrity when it comes to jobs, relationships, or even the life we lead in general? There are many reasons for all of us, I know I do it as well, and my reasons are probably similar to most. When I think of settling in my own life, I think I mostly about my career and my lifestyle.
For a long time, pretty much since I’ve been out of college, I’ve never been fulfilled by my jobs, nor have I been fulfilled with my daily life. Is it bad, am I unhappy? No, most days I am happy and most days I have nothing to complain about. Is my life better than most people’s? I […]
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