15 Steps to Happiness? Really. It's True

Found this on Facebook (Roland Lazenby passed it along) and thought it would be good to pass on to those of you having difficulty getting off to a good start today. There's nothing in here you don't know, but it's good to have it put into a perspective like this and to think on it for a minute. Practice it. There is a distinct way to be happy and this helps, regardless of what else is going on in your life.

In a nutshell, your choices are (and guess which one's the healthy one):

1. Loving vs. fearing
2. Accepting vs. resisting (a friend once told me that "all pain comes from resistence")
3. Forgiving vs. withholding forgiveness
4. Trusting vs. doubting
5. Meaning in your tasks/life vs. ambition
6. Praising vs. criticizing
7. Seeing challenges vs. problems
8. Selflessness vs. selfishness (I have a problem with this one because selfishness is often the best choice. If you don't love you, who else should?)
9. Abundance vs. poverty (this deals with the material, not the spiritual)
10. Big dreams vs. reality
11. Kindness vs. cruelty
12. Gratitude vs. ingratitude (and be grateful for all of it, even that you don't like or want)
13. Presence vs. disengagement
14. Positivity vs. negativity
15. Personal responsibility vs. blame

That sounds pretty much like an AA meeting in a box and my guess is that those of you who put these steps into your life will find what I found in AA: contentment.


(Photo: thebluebirdpatch.com)