It's finally here. The end of 2010. Like with 2009, I'm thrilled and relieved to see the tail end of this year. And as when I sat here at this time last year, I looked to the advent of the New Year with hope for the promise of happiness and harmony it could hold. Unlike the tail end of '09, however, I am determined to not just fondly wish for a good year in 2011, I'm actively going after the joy, goodness, and everything positive rather than waiting for it to just spontaneously happen to me and mine. The negative can go jump off a cliff, I'm over it.
To that end, I googled "quotes about happiness" to glean what I could from the wisdom of others, delighted to find support for my 2011 mindset.
"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."
~Martha Washington
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
~Frederick Keonig
"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." ~Franklin Roosevelt
"Happiness depends upon ourselves."
~Aristotle
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
"The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
~Allan K. Chalmers
Many make resolutions for the New Year. I've tried, to little success as life just has a way of taking one down a rabbit trail. I have goals, yes indeed: that my family be healthy, happy, successful, loved and loving; that we survive another year without major mishaps or accidents, etc; that we accentuate the positive and if not eliminate the negative, then ignore it; write, write, write. Yep. Goals, rather than resolutions. With the fresh promise of a baby New Year, I'm quite hopeful we'll be able to strive and achieve many of those goals, ideally, all of them. Hope springs eternal, as well it should. Without hope what do we have? Without the ability to share hope, as well, what are we left with besides our miseries? Misery isn't what we need to be hunting, for it breeds and encroaches and is hard to eradicate.
The hunt is on for 2011...I'm hunting wascally Goals...with a determination to succeed at each of them with humor, aplomb, a modicum of dignity, and fewer regrets. It's gonna be a fresh New Year starting TOMORROW! Ah...the possibilities are legion.
1. Stop worrying. Worry kills life.
2. Begin each day with a prayer. It will arm your soul.
3. Control appetite. Over-indulgence clogs body and mind.
4. Accept your limitations . . .
5. Don't envy. It wastes time and energy.
6. Have faith in people. Cynicism sours the disposition.
7. Find a hobby. It will relax your nerves.
8. Read a book a week to stimulate imagination and broaden your views.
9. Spend some time alone for the peace of solitude and silence.
10. Try to want what you have, instead of spending your strength trying to get what you want.
~Abraham L. Feinberg
May your 2011 be filled with hope, happiness, health, humor, success, love, light, and laughter.
1 comment:
I hope you will reach all your goals in 2011, Laura!
Happy New Year!
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