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June 2007: Happiness is no laughing matter |
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Earlier this month 3,500 people attended the 2nd
Happiness & Its Causes conference in Below are quotes or paraphrased points which sum up some
of the very interesting topics covered. Many thanks to Karen Horne (my sister, friend, the creative talent in
my life, my website designer, and the source for much of the information
below), and Judyth Wiley (friend, executive coach and marketing consultant,
who also contributed to this newsletter). When reading
these, consider a range of perspectives: how this applies to you,
relationships, colleagues, your workplace, community. Venerable Robina Courtin,
Director, Liberation Prison “Deal with what’s there – from
this comes peace of mind” “The goodness within us defines
us” “The neuroses do not define us
and can be removed” “27 people tell you you're good
and you're hungry to hear it, but you don't believe it” “1 person criticises you and
you hear it and believe it” “It is the hardest thing to
know your mind. It takes confidence.” “We don’t eat food which makes
us sick, but we don’t apply the same to thoughts which make us sick” Corey Keyes, Associate Professor, “Only 25% of us are
flourishing, functioning well and feeling good” “The absence of mental health
is a greater burden on society than the existence of mental illness” “Health is more than the
absence of illness, it’s the presence of something positive” “Focusing
on happiness is no laughing matter” Dr James Franklin, Associate Professor, "Happy people have more to
give" Natasha Mitchell, presenter “All In The Mind”, ABC Radio National “Service to others and reaching
out to others is the key. It’s not
about us, it’s about community” Amanda Gordon, President Australian Psychological Association “We spend our life noticing the
bit that’s missing” His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso “Modern Education should
include warm-heartedness and inner values.” (Children are growing up fearful
and insecure) “Genuine, unbiased, compassion
is based on respect of others' rights, regardless of their attitude towards
yourself” (as opposed to spontaneous love/compassion which is based on
others' attitude towards yourself), “It is not spontaneous, but can be
learned and developed through training the mind” “Mental pains and emotions are
deeper and more serious than sensory discomforts. We need to work on our
mental emotions.” “This does not require
religious faith, just secular ethics and science.” “Happiness is the peaceful
mind, the subdued mind. This is a daily, active pursuit.” "Happiness comes when
reality exceeds expectation. So you
can work on either increasing your reality or decreasing your
expectation." Clive Hamilton, Executive Director, The Australia Institute "To get what you want, you
first have to give up wanting….allow your life to unfold" Howard Cutler, Psychiatrist, Arizona USA, and co-author with the Dalai
Lama “The Art of Happiness” “Our happiness is linked to the
happiness for others around us” “There are many ways to
happiness, but training the mind is a direct path” Richard Eckersely, Social Analyst, “Giving other greater
opportunity to improve their wellbeing (that is, to increase population
health) means changing society, not just ourselves” Regarding the social and
personal perspectives on happiness, Richard offers a different approach for
addressing happiness at a social level: see www.fairshareinternational.org,
for the 5-10-5-10 principle. Dr. Julian Short, Psychiatrist “Treat people with respect and
caring. We want to belong” Dr Ian Gawler, OAM, Therapeutic Director, The Gawler Foundation “When people are clear and
comfortable in themselves, this allows true relationship to be established
and deepened” Barbara Pocock, Professor, Director, Centre
for Work + Life, “Long hours damage our social
fabric” “We need decent work and decent
work conditions” Salim Lee, Director,
Regents Garden Group, “Don’t waste this precious
life” “We are happiest when making
others happy” Discussion Panel on Resilience and Adversity - The power of a sense of
humour in the face of adversity - No matter how awful a
situation you must learn from it. (Live your life and share with other
people) - Emotions are the royal road
to the soul - From personal pain,
depression, people have learnt tolerance, empathy etc. - 80% of surveyed people would
NOT take a happy pill even if it was free and had no side effects. The downs
are important too. - How to deal with Pain and
Loss: you need a calm mental attitude - the strong foundation of a healthy
mental immune system. - You need the wisdom to look
at things from different angles - past the illusion. A wholistic
view. - Happiness is a political as
well as personal responsibility. We should try to effect political change. - A nation based on
materialistic values ends up with a society that lives by these values. (eg Garry McDonald, Board member: beyondblue;
actor; anxiety sufferer - Problem: we want a quick,
easy solution…. but it takes constant mental training and discipline - eg
athletes train daily - Keep conditioning your mind
or it will run rampant - Meditation really helps. Even
if you only still your mind for 1 minute a day, it rejuvenates and
de-stresses Stephanie Dowrick, Interfaith Minister,
Author of Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love The rational mind does not
understand forgiveness Forgiveness is an act of love;
is acceptance that things go wrong. When forgiveness if most
difficult, we learn the most from it eg courage, tolerance, patience,
generosity, restraint. Panel on Trauma & recovery The purpose is to learn
something from the trauma - whether personal or large scale (eg the recent
Tsunami) There is no recipe for recovery Tread lightly on the
planet. Cultivate inner peace. Show by example. If you want
peace, show your inner peace. Rachel Kohn, Presenter ABC Radio National, The Spirit of Things Remember life at any moment can
turn to less. We are busy wanting more. Buddha said: Time changes all
things. Not recognising this is the source of all pain. Dr Anthony Grant, Director, Coaching “Deferring happiness to later,
working hard now and putting wellbeing on hold, leads to stress and
depression” “What is the quality of the
conversation?” ------------------------------ Links / information - ABC TV, Compass - http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2007/1948531.htm
- http://www.happinessanditscauses.com.au/ -- book now for 8-9 May 2008 This article… …aims to provide you and your teams with information for your
professional and personal development.
Topics are based on areas of interest raised by clients and
colleagues, with material drawn from journals, books, articles and shared
experiences. Add / Remove: Please send an email to:
info[at]amandahorne[dot]com[dot]au Back copies of previous
articles: www.amandahorne.com.au/html/resources.html © |
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