Category: inspiration

Posted on in family, inspiration

What will matter

Author's mother in her wedding dress
It’s Mother’s Day, so this week I’m going to give myself the morning off and share words of wisdom that have resonated with me over the years about life and happiness. It’s a poem from Michael Josephson called What will matter.

What will matter
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten
will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations
and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from
or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought
but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success
but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned
but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity,
compassion, courage, or sacrifice
that enriched, empowered or encouraged others
to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence
but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew,
but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories
but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered,
by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

This week’s #HappyAct is to choose a life that matters. For the photo for this week’s blog, I chose a photo of my Mom who has been gone for 35 years now. She led a small life, but definitely a life that mattered.

Posted on in inspiration, travel

Happiness comes in waves

Sign about happiness

I came upon this sign last week on Broadway on the Beach in Myrtle. It said happiness comes in waves.

It was for some surf shop, but I thought it was very true. Happiness comes in waves. Some days the surf is calm, and you wade easily through the still waters. Other days moments of sadness or happiness wash over you like crests of a wave, all part of the normal ebb and flow of life.

When this happens, you just need to ride the wave.

My #HappyAct this week was literally riding the waves. The kids bought mini surf boards in Myrtle, so we spent the week body surfing—so much fun!

 

Posted on in inspiration

Learn which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn

Oprah Winfrey quote

Every once in awhile, I come across an article that resonates so deeply about what happiness is all about, I feel compelled to share it. This week, it was an article from Inc. called, “Oprah Winfrey Says One Decision Separates People Who Achieve Success From Those Who Only Dream.”

The gist of the article is to be successful, you need to move forward and embrace new opportunities, and that means sometimes knowing which bridges to burn and what baggage to leave behind. This includes

  • Worrying about what other people think
  • Worrying about what you have, instead of what you do
  • Counting on finding that one big idea or moment
  • Worrying about perfection
  • Worrying about what other people do
  • Worrying about whether you’re happy

It’s a great article. Read it. But there are two things I challenge the inimitable Ms. O on. She states that success and happiness go hand in hand. While there is a correlation between success and happiness, there are stories daily in the media of seemingly successful people who commit suicide or overdose who suffered from depression, feelings of low self-esteem or unhappiness. Success does not guarantee happiness. It all comes down to how you find and define success.

I also think that while you definitely shouldn’t worry about whether you’re happy, you should practice self-awareness and self-reflection about whether you’re happy. Only through self-awareness can you make changes and be brave enough to cross that next bridge.

This week’s #HappyAct is to think about which bridges you should cross and which bridges you should burn this year. And read the article.

Posted on in inspiration

Best happy acts of 2018

Author and her daughter

When I started this blog four years ago, I hoped I would find a community of people who would join me on a journey to explore what it means to be happy and be inspired to take action to create our own happiness, one happy act at a time.

I also knew there would be others who would never “get it” and think I’m crazy. I once had someone ask me, why do you blog about the same thing every week?  Sigh.

While there is always a common thread in my posts: exploring what makes us happy, I hope dear loyal readers you have figured out that like life, happyact.ca is a smorgasbord of content. Some weeks, it is a blog for foodies or commentary on work; other weeks it’s a travelogue or a humour column.

Some weeks it’s an advice column where I’m seeking advice for a problem or issue in my life. Other weeks, I’m sharing a tiny drop of inspiration or motivation. Either way, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it and it’s helped you on your journey to be happy.

I know life gets busy and there is a good chance you may have missed some happy acts this year, so to help you overcome FOMO (fear of missing out), here is a reprise of my top ten favourite happy acts of 2018. I hope you keep reading every Sunday morning and continue on with me on this journey in 2019.

On travel and exploring

On being happy at work

For giggles

Motivation and inspiration

Happy New Year everyone and here’s to a happiness filled 2019.

Posted on in inspiration

Hang out with happy people

Song album cover for Save yourself

Two weeks ago, I shared a post called Seven Habits of Highly Unhappy People.

As much as it’s important to avoid unhappy habits, it’s just as important to avoid hanging out with people who are pessimistic, focus too much on themselves and see themselves as victims in this world.

As Ed Sheeran in his beautiful song Save Yourself says, “human beings are destined to radiate or drain.”

This week’s #HappyAct is to surround yourself with people who are positive, bring out the best in you and who radiate. Avoid those who drain.

Posted on in inspiration

Live a right life

Saying live a right life

This week’s #HappyAct is courtesy of a colleague who posted this saying on his Instagram account, “Do everything with a good heart and expect nothing in return and you will never be disappointed.”

He said he has made many mistakes in his life (haven’t we all), learned many lessons and changed behaviours. His mantra from now on was going to be “live a right life”.

His words really spoke to me. I’m not sure how many people do things nowadays with a pure heart, expecting nothing in return.

Live a right life is going to be my mantra from now on too. Thanks for the inspiration, Paul.

Posted on in inspiration

Ten happy facts to put a smile on your face

bunnies

If you’re having a bad day, sometimes just thinking something silly or happy can clear the clouds. Here are ten happy facts to put a smile on your face.

  1. Young giraffes have kindergarten. One adult female stays with the young in a herd to watch them during the day. Their spot is on a hill so that the other mothers can see how they are doing. Adults rotate duties but scientists still do not know how it is decided.
  2. You were once the youngest person in the whole universe.
  3. There is a basketball court on the top floor of the U.S. Supreme Court Building. It’s known as the “highest court in the land.”
  4. A group of bunnies is called a fluffle and a group of hedgehogs is called a prickle
  5. Wayne Allwine (the voice of Mickey Mouse) and Russi Taylor (the voice of Minnie Mouse) were married in real life. 
  6. Male penguins use pretty pebbles to propose to their mate.
  7. If you took the whole solar system and shrunk it down so that the Sun was at your head and the orbit of Pluto was at your feet, Uranus would be just where you’d expect it to be.
  8. Elephants produce the same chemical that we produce when we see something cute when looking at people.
  9. The dot above an i or j is called a tittle.
  10. There is always the possibility today could be the best day of your life.

Have a happy week! Ed. note: Most of these I lifted from a conversation on Reddit.

Posted on in inspiration

Time for a spring makeover

Girl with hair cut

 

It’s another crisp, cold wintry morning. A blanket of snow covers our yard and the ice is reforming on the lake. Dave is in the final throes of his annual sap boil off. Spring feels like it is weeks away.

One way to usher in spring early is to give something in your life a spring makeover.

Yesterday, Clare and I went to get new haircuts for spring. Clare had been growing her hair with the goal of donating it for cancer. I was planning to join her. While I had to defer my pixie cut because my hair was still too short, my beautiful girl cut off her golden locks and is now rockin’ a new look for spring.

I also refreshed my blog this week. I hope you like the new look. I was going for something sunny, bright and inspirational.

It’s still easy to follow my blog and share my posts. Just click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner, and enter your email. Social sharing icons appear at the end of each post. If you read something you like, share the happy.

Thanks for continuing on with me on this journey to make the world a happier place, one happy act at a time.

Girl with long hair

Girl with long hair

Posted on in inspiration

Have a Happy Do Over Day

I watched a movie about time travel last week called About Time, a charming British indie film that was warm, thought-provoking, and witty.

In the movie, the father and son have a special gift: the ability to travel to places and times they have been before.

There is a critical scene in the movie, where the father tells the son the secret to happiness is to live each day twice: the first time normally with all the tensions and worries of every day life, and the second time doing the exact same things but noticing how sweet life is.

The film shows an ordinary day for the son. His morning is stressful, juggling making breakfast and lunches for his children, then fighting the morning commute downtown to his job as a lawyer, and endless meetings that seem pointless and bring little joy into his life.

The next scene is the son living the same day over. This time, he sees how beautiful his children are, and cherishes the precious moments with them over the breakfast table. On his morning commute, he looks out the window at the sunshine and marvels at the gift of another day. He sees the humour in the office shenanigans and celebrates success in court.

This week’s #HappyAct is to pretend we are time travellers. Choose an ordinary day this week, and relive it doing the exact same things you do every day, but this time, noticing how sweet life is. I’m going to try it and see what happens. Leave a comment and share your experience.

Posted on in inspiration

Timing is everything

Time's Up poster

There is a new book on my reading list for 2018: best-selling author Daniel Pink’s When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.

Pink’s book focuses on the science of timing to help us make smart decisions in our lives.

Our lives are a never-ending stream of “when” decisions. There are little “when” decisions: when is the best time to study for an exam, when are you most productive at work. And there are the big “when” decisions: when to start a business, start a family or change careers.

Both the Wall Street Journal and Toronto Star have written articles on Pink’s new book. The article in The Star focused on New Year’s resolutions and why “fresh starts” like at the beginning of the year, really work.

To establish a fresh start, people use two types of “temporal landmarks”— social and personal. Social landmarks are those that everyone shares Mondays, the beginning of a new month, national holidays. The personal ones are unique to each person: birthdays, anniversaries, job changes.

These time markers allow us to clear the slate on the past and help us see beyond the minutiae of day to day living to see “the forest beyond the trees” for a fresh start.

I am hopeful that 2018 is a fresh start for all of us and that #TimesUp.

You don’t have to tell Tarana Burke timing is everything.

The founder of the #MeToo movement has been quietly, tenaciously, devoting her life for ten years promoting empowerment through empathy, raising awareness of inequality and sexual harassment against women.

But it wasn’t until actress Alyssa Milano urged women this past fall on social media to speak up using the hashtag #MeToo that we were able to crest the tipping point to create a wave of support and change the dialogue and power imbalance between men and women on sexual harassment.

The wave became a tidal wave this January with the creation of #TimesUp, a legal organization formed to pay for and provide legal support for victims of sexual assault and the platform and voices of powerful women like Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.

Yes, timing is everything.

I am hopeful it is finally our time—time for women to be truly viewed and treated as equals.

I am hopeful that every organization will look within its own walls with a microscopic lens and make changes to ensure equal pay for equal work, and equal representation of women on boards and in the C-suite.

That every government implements policies to ensure women are protected, can receive an education, and can live freely without fear of retribution or harm.

That every father and grandfather teaches their sons and grandsons to treat women as we deserve.

And that some day soon, every woman will feel finally, it is our time.