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Regarding the topic of “Happiness”

Before you begin exploring the X-TENSIVE OPPORTUNITIES website please take a moment to read this section. I have learned next to compassion, this is the bottom line all the time. This is the ultimate goal we are all searching for after our basic needs such as food, shelter and security for ourselves and our loved ones. Happiness is what we search for in some form or another to be content as humans. One thing most fail to realize about happiness is that you can decide just how high a bar you want to try to jump to gain happiness. Today with so much more variety to choose from compared to the past we have artificially risen our own bar of happiness to include lots of material possessions like having the latest gadgets, purchasing vehicles we can’t afford and being able to keep up with the Jones.

But before you get started on your ventures towards Entrepreneurship I’d like to help you build a strong lasting foundation from which to pursue your ambitions. Please take a long hard look at what it is that makes you happy and what your truly passionate about, and just how high you are going to placing your own internal bar for happiness. I think you will find those who truly allow themselves to find internal acceptance and follow their passions will realize just how much power one person has to influence the world, provide value to others and leave a lasting legacy. Find your internal confidence, optimism and courage to live a life of value and chose to share it with the world. This will bring a truly enlightened way of living, a life that provides value to others around you and in doing so, life tends to find a way to return the favor.

So just what is happiness?

And how can you best attain it? The article below details just this, keep it in mind to ensure you remain a balanced and healthy individual while going through this journey called life with integrity, passion and determination. The paragraph below by Margaret Paul, Ph.D summarized this nicely so I’ve decided to include her writings on this subject. Enjoy!

Some people believe that achieving happiness is the purpose of life, yet the pursuit of happiness often leads to unhappiness. This is because happiness is actually a consequence of a different life purpose – the pursuit of evolving our souls in our ability to love ourselves and others.

When achieving happiness is your goal, you might pursue this in three different ways:

1) You might pursue momentary pleasure, believing that your happiness is the same as pleasure. When this is your belief, you might pursue happiness through substances such as alcohol, drugs, nicotine, or food. Or you might pursue happiness through activities such as sex, spending or gambling.

2) If you believe that your happiness is attached to money and the outcome of things regarding money, you might pursue control over outcomes through spending most of your time working, as well as accumulating and managing money.

3) If you believe that your happiness is attached to people, you might pursue control over getting love, approval, attention, admiration, or acknowledgement.

While momentary pleasure feels good, it is just momentary. Which means that you need to keep on doing whatever you believe will bring you happiness, over and over. This is what creates addictions – the pursuit of what you believe will avoid pain and bring pleasure. The problem is that none of these pursuits bring deep and abiding happiness, because their affects are always momentary.

True happiness is not the result of DOING, but of a way of BEING. Rather than being a result of the momentary pleasures of the outside world, it is the result of your intention to evolve daily as a loving human being. What does this mean? This means that ongoing happiness is the result of choosing the spiritual path of kindness, compassion, understanding, and acceptance. Yet it is not enough to express kindness and compassion toward others. Many have tried this and still end up feeling empty and angry when the deep happiness they desire continues to elude them. The path toward happiness starts with opening to learning about what is most loving and compassionate toward YOURSELF. You can have all the things that people believe will bring happiness – money, a good relationship, a family, work you enjoy – yet if you are critical and judgmental toward yourself instead of accepting and compassionate with yourself, you will not feel happy.

Imagine a child who seemingly has everything – tons of toys, the best schools, great vacations, lots of friends. But imagine that this child has parents who ignore him or her, or who are very critical, judgmental and controlling of him or her. This child will not be happy, no matter how many external things he or she has. Imagine that this child is you – the feelings within you. How are you treating this child? How do you treat your feelings? Do you ignore your feelings and cover them over with substance or process addictions? Are you judgmental of yourself, constantly telling yourself that you are not good enough, that you are inadequate in some way?

Ignoring yourself or judging yourself will always lead to unhappiness, so no matter how much you have in the external world or how loving you are to others. Until you decide to start treating yourself the way you want others to treat you, deep and abiding happiness will elude you. As long as you are treating yourself the way your parents may have treated you or themselves, you will continue to feel the emptiness and aloneness that comes from self-abandonment. If you want to experience true happiness, then start to pay attention to your own feelings with a deep desire to learn about what you are doing or not doing that is causing your pain and unhappiness. Happiness will be the natural consequence of your willingness to take full, 100% responsibility for your own feelings, and learn about and take action regarding what truly brings you joy.”

by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.