Welcome. My name is Derek Dashwood, and I hope you get a good feeling of the range of human issues that we discuss. We try to discuss what we perceive as the news behind the news. I hope you enjoy the discoveries and discussions. Please let us know. Here we say who we are, and include a kind of mission statement of the science findings we try to bring to your attention: how to light a candle rather than bemoan the darkness.
Antique history books discuss happiness and the state of joy that can be created on earth, and in the mind. As one who meditates and as a follower of Transcendental Meditation, the recent demise of Maharishi has been a week of reflection among those who meditate. Maharishi was not perfect, no man was, but to follow his way to meditation was modern and perfect for the times. So when he visited my city in 1968, his fame through the Beatles had me at his feet and I have meditated since 1969.
And since then, so many studies have shown it does lessen strain, place one in a more contemplative open framework for clear thought. This scientific finding is no surprise to those who meditate or were alert during Sunday School. It is worth contemplating. With all the coal dust in the air, some fresh rare diamond thinking would help the hope to blue skies, nothing but blue skies, all day long.
Happiness is always elusive to feel in a consistent state, as depression can be so difficult to shake off. We know more quickly when we see happiness in others: a laughing couple, a tender holding of hands between an elderly couple, a child on a swing in the park with adoring family nearby with their arms out. Within our own lives, it can be obvious as well: a meeting with a long unseen loved one, almost any time with a grand child, a sense of achievement at completing an overdue task.
When we bask in the warm praise of one we respect, or enjoy the smile of a loved one, the tail wage of a dog or the purr of a cat, we know we are happy. How to maintain that state is unlikely over a lifetime given inevitable tragedies ahead no matter how carefully we and our loved ones live. But some research has been done by University of California psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky and others.
Their findings confirm wisdom back to Socrates, Aristotle, and up through the ages to a young man still 27 who began to publish Poor Richard’s Almanac which became an instant success and created fame for Benjamin Franklin and notice of America as a brave free new land. This research found that we would all be happy if we followed what we learned in Sunday school or kindergarten, or any of the antique history book genius found in there.
The first virtue is to count your blessings, then practice acts of kindness, and savor the joys of life. Thank a Mentor, learn to forgive, ask for forgiveness. Invest time and energy in your friends and family. Take Care of Your Body, and develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships.
Each of these elements science has found exists among those who live longest and report highest rates of personal inner happiness. Living rare diamonds .
We can find ourselves wiping our brow, sweating, with grand children at their school or getting them some urgent thing they need and you were there. Receive because you have earned, as I have done, and make amends as you can. Savor your Best Grandpa Ever award and look at it and whistle while you work, and realize that science can predict some pretty predictable things that is so good to know. For when the crabby lady makes a rude comment, you somehow can really sense she may not have practiced these eight great ways to be happy.
And so we will gather around the fire here again shortly, and talk some more on this. The words stand so well, I thought they should be savored, in case my additional words on this may take it away. When I was first rising (I was a mail boy at Head Office) I found I could remember all the eight names of the vice presidents. Their names followed when I stepped off the elevator and thought their initials, “mebssbsm”.
So, each day you prepare to step off your elevator and face the bosses or the clients, make them think you are clever by saying all names as your circle that floor. Or change the key letters to fit you. So, for now, you can see it’s as easy as Later Alligator, In a While Crocodile. While you do your good deed and smile.
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