What Brings Joy

8/11/2019 What Brings Joy

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Religious Laws of Prosperity1.) We avoid going into personal debt except for

absolute necessities like a home or education.When we do have personal debt, use restraintand get out of it as quickly as we can.

2.) We live within our means. In other words, welive on less than we earn. In other words, ournet income is greater than our expenses.

3.) We save a certain amount to help us throughthose inevitable rainy days and to act as seedcorn in providing other sources of income tohelp free us to serve in other ways as we get alittle older and wiser.

4.) We pay a steady, honest and grateful tithe.


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Positive Psychology Finding: Factors that

significantly correlate with individuals who

live at the highest levels of enduringhappiness:

1.) They are involved in something they believe isbigger than themselves.

2.) They use signature strengths or personalstrengths and abilities in many areas of their lives.

They tend to see their daily work as a calling

rather than a job or even a career.

3.) They have become more and more selflesswhich is defined as willing to be inconvenienced

for the sake of others.


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4.) They have many close friendships with peoplewho they have helped and are being helped by.

The wider and deeper the relationships, thebetter (the higher measurement of well being).

5.) They have substituted some of the pleasurable,more transient pursuits for more enduring,deeply meaningful pursuits.

6.) They have higher levels of Volunteerism.

7.) They live more virtuously. In other words,there is very little disconnect between their corebeliefs and how they live.


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8.) They are more religious (characterized as abelief in something greater than self).

9.) Theyve developed an abundance of gratitudedefined by counting blessings for good thingsthat happen and expressing them.

10.) They generally lead simpler lives. Theyunderstand that quantity influences quality andhave stopped impeding happiness by trying to dotoo much. They are not living in the Rat Race.

11.) Theyve given themselves permission to behuman. They accept emotions (fear, sadness,anxiety, etc) as natural and therefore, easier toovercome them.


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General ways we might make a difference

in our sphere of influence

Feed the Hungry

Clothe the Naked

Heal the Sick

Comfort the Lonely

Liberate the Captive

Educate the Ignorant

Spread TruthIncrease Beauty

Heal or Promote Families


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TRUE WEALTH

True Wealthis If you see a need, you will fillit Why? Because you have it all the means,the time, and the heart and you know whogave it to you.

True Wealthis having enough time and moneyto be able to Find your voice and inspire others

to find theirs ultimately achieving a life ofgreatness.

True Wealthis willingly consecrating everythingGod has blessed you with for the betterment ofmankind under His guiding inspiration.

True Wealthis Celebrating life as Godintended.


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BECOMING HAPPIER

"Learn to like what doesn't cost much.Learn to like reading, conversation, music.

Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbinghills.Learn to like people, even though some of them may bedifferent...different from you.Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction doing your

job as well as it can be done.Learn to like the song of birds, the companionship of dogs.Learn to like gardening, puttering around the house, andfixing things.Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of rain on

the roof and windows, and the gentle fall of snow on awinter day.Learn to keep your wants simple and refuse to be controlledby the likes and dislikes of others."Lowell Bennion
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/374225.Lowell_Bennionhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/374225.Lowell_Bennion


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Unfortunately, too many institutions have a vested interest inmaking people believe that buying the right car, the right softdrink, the right watch, the right education will vastly improve theirchances of being happy, even if doing so will mortgage their lives.

In fact, societies are usually structured so that the majority is ledto believe that their well-being depends on being passive andcontented. Whether the leadership is in the hands of a priesthood,of a warrior caste, of merchants, or of financiers, their interest isto have the rest of the population depend on whatever rewardsthey have to offer -- be it eternal life, security, or materialcomfort. But if one puts ones faith in being a passive consumer --of products, ideas, or mind-altering drugs -- one is likely to be

disappointed. However, materialist propaganda is clever andconvincing. It is not so easy, especially for young people, to tellwhat is truly in their interest from what will only harm them in thelong run. This is why John Locke cautioned people not to mistakeimaginary happiness for real happiness and why 25 centuries agoPlato wrote that the most urgent task for educators is to teachyoung people to find pleasure in the right things. Now this task

falls partly on our shoulders. The job description for psychologistsshould encompass discovering what promotes happiness, and thecalling of psychologists should include bringing this knowledge topublic awareness.

If We Are So Rich, Why Arent We Happy,Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Claremont Graduate University


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Material advantages do not readily translate into social andemotional benefits. In fact, to the extent that most of onespsychic energy becomes invested in material goals, it istypical for sensitivity to other rewards to atrophy.Friendship, art, literature, natural beauty, religion, andphilosophy become less and less interesting. The Swedisheconomist Stephen Linder was the first to point out that asincome and therefore the value of ones time increases, itbecomes less and less rational to spend it on anythingbesides making moneyor on spending it conspicuously(Linder, 1970). The opportunity costs of playing with ones

child, reading poetry, or attending a family reunion becometoo high, and so one stops doing such irrational things.Eventually a person who only responds to material rewardsbecomes blind to any other kind and loses the ability toderive happiness from other sources (see also Benedikt,1999; Scitovsky, 1975). As is true of addiction in general,material rewards at first enrich the quality of life. Because

of this, we tend to conclude that more must be better. Butlife is rarely linear; in most cases, what is good in smallquantities becomes commonplace and then harmful inlarger doses.

If We Are So Rich, Why Arent We Happy,

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Claremont Graduate University

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What Brings Joy