This Too Shall Pass – By by Aishwarya Shah

A great article from one of the followers of the Guyanese Online blog.

Eclipsed Words

“And this, too, shall pass.”

This is a proverb indicating that all material conditions, positive or negative, are temporary and time solves all problems.

I once read that the great Abraham Lincoln used to have a grand affinity for this proverb. On September 30, 1859, Abraham Lincoln included a similar story in an address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society in Milwaukee. This is what he said;
“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: “And this, too, shall pass away.”

How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!

When we are in trouble, we feel that we are the only person who is facing these mountains full of doubts…

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Troubling Habits of Chronically Unhappy People – Dr. Travis Bradberry

Troubling Habits of Chronically Unhappy People

• By Dr. Travis Bradberry – Author of #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0

Happiness comes in so many different forms that it can be hard to define. Unhappiness, on the other hand, is easy to identify; you know it when you see it, and you definitely know when it’s taken ahold of you.

Unhappiness is lethal to everyone around you, just like second-hand smoke. The famous Terman Study from Stanford followed subjects for eight decades and found that being around unhappy people is linked to poorer health and a shorter life span.

Having more no longer satisfies us, perhaps we’ve reached ‘peak stuff’

If having more no longer satisfies us, perhaps we’ve reached ‘peak stuff’

Sunday 31 January 2016 – The Guardian – By Will Hutton

Societies must learn to use economics to help provide purpose and fulfilment

Real men don’t eat quiche. Real economists don’t ask questions about happiness. The economy pumps out goods and services, all of which create jobs and incomes. There is no value judgment in such a statement, no view of what constitutes the good life. Even to invite such a question of an economist is to risk ridicule. The task of economists – a value-free quasi-science – is to make sure that as little as possible gets in the way of turning inputs into more outputs.

But around the developed world consumers seem to be losing their appetite for more. Even goods for which there once seemed insatiable demand seem to be losing their lustre.

Getting Free Of Self-Importance Is The Key To Happiness – Polly Young-Eisendrath

Getting Free Of Self-Importance Is The Key To Happiness: Polly Young-Eisendrath

At TEDxMiddlebury 2013   Polly Young-Eisendrath discusses the idea that we can control and manage our lives as counter to our happiness. After considering the true meaning of happiness, Polly highlights several uniquely human emotions—shame, guilt, envy, and jealousy—that pose as obstacles to this happiness and offers solutions to overcome these emotions.

Polly Young-Eisendrath is a speaker, writer, Jungian analyst and mindfulness teacher. She is a long-time practitioner of Zen Buddhism and Vipassana in the tradition of Shinzen Young (in which she is a certified teacher). She has published many chapters and articles on Buddhism, psychotherapy, spirituality, resilience and Jung’s psychology. 

What the Economic Crisis Really Means – what we can do – video

What the Economic Crisis Really Means – and what we can do about it!

Published on Aug 29, 2012 – Doing  It Ourselves (http://www.doingitourselves.org and http://www.facebook.com/doingitourselves) – aims to broaden understanding of the debt crisis and peak resources and encourage action for the sake of personal preparedness, happiness and ethical living. This animation sums up the key challenges facing our global society of credit crisis and resource scarcity and describes a path we can take to a happier life, now and in the future!

Top five regrets of the dying – Bronnie Ware

Top five regrets of the dying

A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’. What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life?

• Susie Steiner   –  guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 February 2012
• Jump to comments (438)   –

A palliative nurse has recorded the top five regrets of the dying. Photograph: Montgomery Martin/Alamy

There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives. And among the top, from men in particular, is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’.  

The Pursuit of Happiness – Video and Editorial

The pursuit of happiness – Video

May 8, 2011 7:13 AM – CBS News – TV – Video  < click to view

Sunday Morning correspondent Jim Axelrod’s new book “In The Long Run” took him across the country to two very different communities to find out what beckons us to the pursuit of happiness.

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The Pursuit of Happiness – Editorial

February 4, 2012 | By KNews  Editorial

“Happiness”, or at least the discussion of it, is suddenly all around us. At the global, macro level, many countries – led by the pioneering efforts of the tiny mountain kingdom of Bhutan – are now seeking to measure the “happiness’ of their people rather than their per capita Gross National Income as a measure of how well they are doing.

At the individual level, there are happiness gurus from Oprah to Deepak Chopra that will convince you that it is within your reach to achieve a state of complete happiness if you would just follow their instructions.
What is going on, and are we Guyanese missing out something? There was a time – for most of mankind’s history, as a matter of fact – when the goal of man’s existence was simply to live a virtuous life.