Ali Bierman'World
Share to change the World

Category Archives for happiness

Unhappy? Stressed Out? Stop Doing What You Hate and Do What You Love

Do your daily tasks and work leave you feeling miserable and stressed out? Instead of doing what you hate find what you love and do that instead.

If time and money were no object, what would you be doing right now? Where? With whom?

Okay. So here is my question, why aren’t you doing that right now?

I can’t tell you how many people, when I posed that question to them, had to stop to think about what they’d rather be doing with their lives. So many adults gave up on their dreams long ago.

Do you count yourself among the ranks of people without dreams? Do you take each day as it comes, hoping to safely make it through to death?

What would your world be like if you took the risks you need to take so you could stop settling for your ho hum life and go after your dreams? What if you focused on your desires, trusting the Universe to provide all the synchronicity necessary to lead you right to that place doing that thing with the people you want to be with?

Would you go for it?

What is stopping you?

The world is filled with people who say they had to make a living so they could not do what they really wanted to do. Who says so?

What if all those people just used that reasoning as their excuse because deep down in that hidden place lies the secret they do not want to speak even to themselves? What if the real secret they are not living their dreams is their fear?

What is fear anyway? Fear is more than the acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear is taking a memory out of your past, adding extra emotion to it and throwing it out into your future. Fear is the anticipation of pain!

Fear is telling yourself that the last time you tried to do ABC you failed. You got hurt. And now when you even think about trying again you imagine getting hurt again, only this time even worse! In fact, you scare yourself silly – racing heart, sweaty palms, jitters – just picturing your attempt in your imagination!

Talk about feeling stressed out!

Know why? Your subconscious mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what is fantasy for you. So that fearful situation is completely real. You are living in that experience!

What if you chose to imagine a completely different scenario What if you chose to see yourself succeeding at what your really and truly want, deep inside, to do with your life?

The bottom line is, you would not have that desire unless you were equipped to make that desire your reality!

Go for it! The only way to fail is by giving up!

Happiness Is Loving Where You Live

I spent my life on the East Coast. When I told my son I as moving to he Northwest he told me I was an East Coast person and wouldn’t be happy out here.

I was an East Coast person growing up – maybe. But in my heart I think I always longed to live out here. While I thrived on the hustle and bustle of Manhattan and Washington, D.C., I knew what I really wanted was to live in the mountains.

Before I made my trek across the country I drove up and down the east coast checking out the mountain areas. I never found any place that felt right and also offered me the culture, good food and spiritual life I sought.

Boise, Idaho. Who’d a thought I could find what I long desired in the potato state?

Well, I lived here for a year before I ever saw a potato farm And I don’t remember where that was so I haven’t seen another since. The grocery store has bags of Idaho potatoes so I suppose there are lots of potato farms = maybe not in the Boise area.

Doesn’t matter, really. I came out here because I love the outdoors and mostly because I love water.

Many of my friends here have boats. Idaho has more natural waterways than any other state. I moved here from Virginia. Virginia has no natural lakes in the entire state, jus some rivers – none too close to where I raised my family in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

So it was no surprise I only knew one person with a boat back there. Yet here many many people have boats and campers too. You don’t have to drive far to find great camping. Now I just need to figure out if I really want to go real camping – something I never did.

Living in the high desert is really different. There are all kinds of land formations here I never saw back East. Some of the gorges look like mini Grand Canyons!

The Birds of Prey flock just down the road and sometimes in the tree that overhangs my deck! Ever seen a peregrine falcon up close ad personal?

I drive real slowly to get to my house as the owls patrol the road and the jackrabbits scurry across after dark. I think the funniest things that I never saw in Virginia are the whistle pigs and quail that move faster than you can imagine!

Yes, if you like the outdoors and wildlife then consider moving to Idaho. No. Don’t! We want to keep this place a secret!

Happiness Is Making Friends In All Kinds Of Places

Happiness is making friends. Computers make it so easy to make new friends no matter where on the planet they live.

Today I got to watch the screening of a movie I made with some friends last week. The movie spoofed Facebook. I had no idea Facebook offered so many applications. No wonder some people get addicted and spend hours and hours there!

I ran into one of my Facebook friends and thanked her for connecting me with one of her friends. She had no idea who I was talking about. Turns out many people accept friends without knowing who they are.

Okay, if what you want to do is show big numbers then accept all the friend requests that come your way. I think very many people do that.

If you participate in any of the popular social media you might want to consider actually getting to know some of the people who send friends requests. I always check out who a person is before saying yes. And I am glad I do.

I made friends with this extremely cool and wise person who was on my other friend’s list of friends. Were it not for Facebok I may never have met this amazing woman. In fact, I met lots of really cool people on Facebook – people all over the world!

I remember back in the 1990s when personal computers were first coming into popularity and finding their way into people’s homes. You didn’t always get to communicate instantly or chat as you do now.

Everything worked through email. When you were lucky enough to find yourself online at the same time as a friend you could send emails back and forth pretty fast – or so it seemed back then, having nothing to compare it to.

Then voice chat appeared. Voices came in bundles and some people found it annoying but hey – I got to talk every day with my friend in New Zealand. And that extra voice piece allowed us to become such close friends I wound up spending 3 months in her home in New Zealand!

How amazing is that?

Now you can jump online and start a chat right in your email or on any of the social networking sites. Opportunities to meet people all over the world abound. Truly this is one small planet and people are just people no matter where they live or what language they speak.

We live in pretty extraordinary times, yes? Just one thing, though, remember to meet people face-to-face too. Leave your computer and house every day even if all you do is go out for a walk.

The virtual world is fun and exciting. So is the neighborhood where you live!

Happiness Is Living Without a Story

Happiness means never living in your story.

I never heard the term story, as in living in your story, until I was in my fifties. Wow! The earlier in life you understand what your story is and how to never live there again (or in any other story, for that matter) the sooner your life moves into flow.

Okay, so what is a story?

Did you ever ask someone how they are doing and they dive into their latest drama in full detail? As a matter of fact, most people tell the same “poor me story all their lives – even though it may have happened fifty years ago!

Actually, in all likelihood their story never happened at all. Their story is their interpretation, what they made up, about an event. Their story is their version, their of something that happened.

Negative hurtful interpretations of events run people’s lives into the ground. They become victims who dig themselves deeper and deeper into the abyss. Before long they cannot even see any light. They live in the darkness of “woe is me.”

Do you know anyone like that? With every new person they meet they rehash that same story.

If that person is you then choose to stop energizing your past. Your past cannot survive unless you fuel memories to raise it from the dead and keep it alive. To accomplish that end you must steal the energy you need for living in the present moment. The consequence of that action is slow deterioration of your health.

If you know someone who constantly tells you about the awful treatment they received from someone or something then serve them by refusing to listen. Listen to them once or twice but if they try to repeat the circumstance let them know you love them too much to see them bury themselves in victimhood. Besides, it feels quite unpleasant being around people like that.

Tell them, “No more stories. Come live in the here and now.” Or…

Invite them to tell you their story non-stop, over and over again right now.  (I know this sounds like a sacrifice on your part. Realize you may serve them in this moment so they never want to tell anyone their tale again!)

You see, what happens when someone tells their grievous story the first time or two or maybe even three they may cry or become teary-eyed. However, with each telling they will hear themselves differently – and you will too. They will start laughing at the ludicrous behavior of repeating such a story.

You will both laugh out loud at some point and you will have helped them break that disempowering habit! Now that constitutes one priceless gift.

Fun: Essential Ingredient in Happiness

Fun is a key ingredient to happiness. You can be happy without fun AND you can take your happiness to a whole new level when you add fun to your life.

You can be happy without having fun. But why would you do that? You’d be missing out on the joy and freedom that comes with fun and recreation!

People talk about balance. Okay, you want a balance that includes your work, your recreation, your important people and all your significant relationships. And you want to take care of your well being and health too.

Health? What does that have to with fun and happiness?

Happy people are healthier than people who fail to live in happiness. When you smile, and especially when you laugh out loud, you release what Dr. Candace Pert calls neuropeptides. Essentially, neuropeptides are released by your emotions. Good feelings release good chemicals that run through your system making you feel good and actually boost your immunity and health!

Pretty darn neat, don’t you think? When you do things that leave you feeling great you improve your health! You improve your physical and emotional health!

What do you do in your life that allows you to cut loose and just have fun? What activity brings you joy and laughter? I am not just talking about inner comfort. I mean outrageous goofy behaviors that leave you laughing inside and out!

Norman Cousin’s’ story about how he healed himself from a fatal illness by watching funny videos is not a myth. It is real. And it is real science too.

Here is the thing about fun – many people are afraid to look goofy. Most people refuse to look ridiculous – as if behaving in a silly manner changes who you are or what you have accomplished in your life!

I know all about those feelings. I thought if ever did anything that made me look foolish I would lose all my credibility and the respect of others who know me and those who do not know me!

I discovered nothing could be further from the truth.

Last year I felt the fear and did it anyway – a friend and I started making what we call Laughing Ladies Videos. Talk about looking completely foolish!

The amazing result was my little girl came out to play. ! Holy crow! My little child never played in my life – not that way! Goodness gracious I had so much fun after that first video we went on to make two more.

And, as far as I can tell, I didn’t lose a single friend or client. In fact everyone who responded to our videos said they were rolling on the floor with laughter and thanked us for the break in their ho hum day.

I guarantee you will survive looking foolish and in the process have more fun than you can evener imagine! Do something ludicrous for the joy of it

1 4 5 6 7 8 22
>