Happy Life, Part 1

Earlier this year I began writing the Happy Life Manifesto. I intended to turn it into a Kindle book. Probably still will. But I feel like sharing a portion of it here, now.

So the rest of this post is from the original unedited, first draft of the intro to my manuscript for the Happy Life Manifesto, written in February 2013:

Happiness is a feeling of satisfaction, contentment and joy that comes from our WHOLE life, a life in which all the important pieces are integrated. If one piece of our life is out of balance for more than a brief period of time our life starts to disintegrate.

Imagine a pitcher of water. If the pitcher starts to crack, even a hairline crack leads to seepage.

Imagine a ball that's filled with water. If hairline crack or pinpoint puncture appears, the water will start to seep out. Eventually, the ball will collapse.

Imagine a balloon that's fully inflated. A tiny pinprick lets the air leak out.

That's disintegration.

We need to fill our lives, our pitchers, with certain things. These things are like links in a chain. But they are iterative and connected. They do not exist in chronological order. The absence of any one will ultimately lead to disintegration.

We need to do work that matters: Industry/Vocation/Calling

We need Community/Relationships/Family

We need a spiritiual connection, for me Christ.

We need health, which is built on three pillars:

Real Food

Movement (Exercise)

Rest

We need nature.

Recreation. Re-creation. Creation. See: nature.

Growth: No growth means atrophy. We much be challenged. If we stop learning, growing we will die.

Example: If our cells stop reproducing we will die physically.

Example: If our brains are no longer challenged, the cells shrivel and we lose mental faculties.

Example: If we don't work our physical body, our muscles atrophy and we die.

We are either growing or we are dying.

We need to be challenged. This is discovery + action.

Calling: Purpose

Connection: Spiritual & Relationships

Commitment: Community

Change: Growth

Discover. Inspire. Grow. Shine.

Are you with me? I hope so. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and share your notions of happiness and what makes a happy life.

Posted by

Sheree

Into Happiness, Social Business, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Real Food. Hiker. Runner. Friend to Animals. Beekeeper. Idea Explorer. Dot Connector. Writer.