New Year’s Resolutions or Keys to Happiness?
Sunday, December 27th, 2009A couple of years ago, I decided that New Year’s Resolutions don’t work for me, so this year I am posting Deepak Chopra’s 10 Keys to Happiness before the first of the new year, so you can have time to think about these. They are from his blog: www.intent.blog.com, although I have had a hard copy on my door for years! (See a brief biography of Deepak Chopra after the 10 Keys to Happinesss.)
Here they are, with bold type & winter photos my additions:
1. Listen to your bodys wisdom, which expresses itself through signals of comfort and discomfort. When choosing a certain behavior, ask your body, How do you feel about this? If your body sends a signal of physical or emotional distress, watch out. If your body sends a signal of comfort and eagerness, proceed.
2. Live in the present, for it is the only moment you have. Keep your attention on what is here and now; look for the fullness in every moment. Accept what comes to you totally and completely so that you can appreciate it, learn from it, and then let it go. The present is as it should be. It reflects infinite laws of Nature that have brought you this exact thought, this exact physical response. This moment is as it is because the universe is as it is. Dont struggle against the infinite scheme of things; instead, be at one with it.
3. Take time to be silent, to meditate, to quiet the internal dialogue. In moments of silence, realize that you are recontacting your source of pure awareness. Pay attention to your inner life so that you can be guided by intuition rather than externally imposed interpretations of what is or isnt good for you.
4. Relinquish your need for external approval. You alone are the judge of your worth, and your goal is to discover infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks. There is great freedom in this realization.
5. When you find yourself reacting with anger or opposition to any person or circumstance, realize that you are only struggling with yourself. Putting up resistance is the response of defenses created by old hurts. When you relinquish this anger, you will be healing yourself and cooperating with the flow of the universe.
6. Know that the world out there reflects your reality in here. The people you react to most strongly, whether with love or hate, are projections of your inner world. What you most hate is what you most deny in yourself. What you most love is what you most wish for in yourself. Use the mirror of relationships to guide your evolution. The goal is total self-knowledge. When you achieve that, what you most want will automatically be there, and what you most dislike will disappear.
7. Shed the burden of judgment you will feel much lighter. Judgment imposes right and wrong on situations that just are. Everything can be understood and forgiven, but when you judge, you cut off understanding and shut down the process of learning to love. In judging others, you reflect your lack of self-acceptance. Remember that every person you forgive adds to your self-love.
8. Dont contaminate your body with toxins, either through food, drink, or toxic emotions. Your body is more than a life-support system. It is the vehicle that will carry you on the journey of your evolution. The health of every cell directly contributes to your state of well being, because every cell is a point of awareness within the field of awareness that is you.
9. Replace fear-motivated behavior with love-motivated behavior. Fear is the product of memory, which dwells in the past. Remembering what hurt us before, we direct our energies toward making certain that an old hurt will not repeat itself. But trying to impose the past on the present will never wipe out the threat of being hurt. That happens only when you find the security of your own being, which is love. Motivated by the truth inside you, you can face any threat because your inner strength is invulnerable to fear.
10. Understand that the physical world is just a mirror of a deeper intelligence. Intelligence is the invisible organizer of all matter and energy, and since a portion of this intelligence resides in you, you share in the organizing power of the cosmos. Because you are inseparably linked to everything, you cannot afford to foul the planets air and water. But at a deeper level, you cannot afford to live with a toxic mind, because every thought makes an impression on the whole field of intelligence. Living in balance and purity is the highest good for you and the Earth.
Here is a brief bio of Deepak Chopra, just in case his name is unfamiliar. I downloaded it fromhttp://www.answers.com/topic/deepak-chopra. I saw him in person in State College a few years ago and he is a very talented motivational speaker as well as an author and an M.D.
- Born: 1947
- Birthplace: New Delhi, India
- Best Known As: Author ofAgeless Body, Timeless Mind
Deepak Chopra is a celebrity doctor whose specialty is the healing ways of his native India. Chopra was born and raised in India and moved to the United States in the 1970s. He settled in Boston and had a successful career as an endocrinologist in the 1980s before turning to the ancient healing methods of Ayur-Veda, emphasizing meditation, herbal medicine, yoga and massage. Real fame came with the publication of his best-selling booksAgeless Body, Timeless Mind (1993) andThe Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (1995).
He became a successful motivational speaker, with a series of multi-media programs for healing mind, body and spirit. In the late 1990s he produced a CD with readings of the works of Sufi poetRumi, including some byMadonna andDemi Moore andGoldie Hawn. His other books includeGrow Younger, Live Longer (2001),Life After Death: The Burden of Proof (2006), andBuddha: A Story of Enlightenment (2007). He is the founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California.
HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
