WebMD has an insightful article on the 6 common barriers personal happiness and how to overcome them by Annie Stuart.

The barriers are:

1. Complexity
2. A breakneck pace
3. Negativity
4. Despair
5. Suppressing sadness
6. Navel-gazing

Get out of the gutter and don’t get bowled over by unhappiness.

Photo Credit: The Unhappies Bolwing Pin by http://www.flickr.com/photos/14665421@N00/3029945920/

I love a good spoof to lighten the day with a little sunshine:

Weather Channel Accused of Pro-Weather Bias

Here are a few happy thoughts from Lloyd T. Long Jr.

If you are  seeking true happiness, you have to have these three special traits, plus compassion, respect, trust and a sense of love for your fellow man.

Happiness is being able to wake up every morning with a smile on your face, set mini goals for the day and and realize that in your small corner of the world, you are No. 1. At the same time, if you abuse that thought, you may wind up in jail.

Photo Credit 23rdian by http://www.flickr.com/photos/58055760@N00/230188091/

Are you sized for happiness?

Of all the women queried, those who wear the 14 dress size rated their general happiness higher than all others with 25% saying they were thrilled. Happiness, it would seems, coincides with curves, as a new poll on 3,000 British women has determined that size 14 women are the happiest with their life and looks, according to an MSN report. 

As January settles into Winnipeg and the temperature hovers around -30 it is good to remember the Buddhist principle of impermanence. I am snow happy for impermanence. Hopefully by Valentine’s day Winnipeg will heat up.

Photo Credit: happy snow by http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124420092@N01/4689740/

Stay Cool.

With the windchill, it is -41 Celsius in Winnipeg today. It is hard to be cool in the cold. The natural reaction seems to be to tense up against the cold yet if you stay loose I think you don’t feel quite as cold…you still feel cold but not quite as cold.

I will stay cool in Winnipeg even if I don’t have to work at it!

Photo Credit: The many faces of the Polor Bear by http://www.flickr.com/photos/yeimaya/378742297/

Can you start your day with a one minute exercise?

What if this was my last day? Would I die happy?

If you were to do this before getting out of bed what would be the result for you. Do you get a sense of the importance of the day and a gumption towards happiness now or do you get a sense of “what’s the point?”

I hope you find a gumption towards happiness. There will be one day when it is our last. Don’t wait for your last day to wake up to greater happiness.

Photo Credit: the gift of the moose by http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevewall/290510690/

A number of us are stuck in Cigar Lake at a uranium mining camp above the 58th parallel in Northern Saskatchewan. We are here for at least one extra day while we wait for the weather to clear to allow the plane to land. I see a variety of attitudes around the mining camp but it struck me that happiness is not catching the plane (although I would like that)…happiness is still being happy while being stuck.

Photo Credit: Airplanes Skidding In A Snow Storm by http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirudhkoul/2527466246/

Which way are you going?

How do you approach the blank page…when you know you need to write something?

How do you move into empty space…when you want to create something?

How do you find voice out of silence?

How do you move into the next moment when you are not sure where things are headed, including you?

I encourage you to move in with happiness.

I would like to slightly revise Thich Nhat Hahn’s statement to:

There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.

Photo Credit: “One Way,” But which Way? by http://www.flickr.com/photos/loopweaver/440308423/

I believe we should be attuned to authentic happiness.

I was flying home when I saw this ad in the in flight magazine. It just did not seem authentic to me. It seemed more manipulative to pair my liking of a tennis player with a coffee maker.

How about you? Does this percolate authenticity for you?

Is there an “if” to your happiness?

What if “if” does not happen, will you still be happy?

Photo Credit: Persistence by http://www.flickr.com/photos/mumbleyjoe/1273929104/