Archive for category Love
Laughing to Happiness.
Posted by Kevin Chan in Journal, Love on September 13, 2009
Happiness is right in our hands.
Last night, after a long day of school, meetings and social gatherings, I stretched myself on my foldable mattress, closed my eyes and I realised that I laughed a lot through the span of the entire day. I laughed with my dear friends in class as we joked about everything from the weird noises our lecturer made periodically to our friend’s attempts at chatting up a girl in class; I laughed with my groupmates as we watched random YouTube videos in the student lounge while waiting for a meeting to start; I laughed with my friends over a barbeque and a nice supper session.
I once read somewhere that happiness isn’t measured by how much money you have in your bank account, or the number of lovers one had, but is measured by just how much one laughs. I also read somewhere that the average adult only laughs about 10 times every day! Maybe that explains why so many people seem dissatisfied and disgruntled with the lives they lead.
The Pursuit of Happyness
In our materialistic, modern society, it seems that people keep confusing worldly achievements with happiness. People keep telling themselves that they will be happy once they “get there” with that shiny new BMW, Armani suit, and hot trophy girlfriend on hand, but they don’t, because happiness is all in the state of mind.
You can have every single material achievement in the world but if you’re still uptight about life and feeling insecure about yourself, you’re not going to be happy. The important point that I want to make here is that happiness is all about improving one’s internal state of mind and if one’s worldly pursuits do not translate into positive personal development or the fulfillment of intimate, personal goals, that person is still going to feel unfulfilled and ungratified.
For me, I believe that happiness all begins with the intention to be happy. Once one is ready to actually be a happy and cheerful person, even the most mundane of things can make you laugh like crazy!
Do your part and make others laugh!
Laughter: Truly the best medicine
I seriously believe that this world could do with way more happiness and laughter, so if you are already in a happy and positive state of mind, do your civic duty and spread some laughter today! Meet up with your friends that matter and spend some time relating funny incidents that happened to you! Share that funny video that you found on YouTube! Playfully tease your friend about that one girl who has that monster crush on him! The possibilities are truly endless!
Making the people around you laugh truly is a priceless gift that I believe we owe to the people we love. So make the extra effort to give that gift of love to the people around you every single day! It doesn’t take much, but just know that every time you make someone laugh, you make that person’s life one laugh better, one bit brighter.
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Or like Emerson put it, that one laugh could put your friend that one bit closer to true success.
Love’s Multiplier Effect
Posted by Kevin Chan in Love on August 25, 2009
Love, love, love.
One thing that many people fail to realize is that love is very different from wealth – there’s just no point hoarding it, and you can never, ever give too much of it away.
But many people don’t see that and they just go through life treating love just like how old Scrooge treats his money, ending up leading miserable, sad lives.
And that’s just a big recipe for a being miserable and unfulfilled all your life.
Giving love out to the world is the best investment one can ever make – whenever you give out love willingly, without expecting any return from it – love miraculously boomerangs back and enriches your life in mysterious, magical ways.
What’s even more miraculous is that there’s a multiplier effect to love. You show another human being some love, and you make a deposit in that other person’s ‘love bank’. Feeling a little more loved and cared for, that person starts to feel a little better about his existence on earth and starts being more loving to the people around him.
This in turn results in multiple deposits being made into the ‘love banks’ of the people around him. People around him feel happier, more cheerful, and the woes and stresses of our hurried lifestyles seem all so much easier to bear.
And so, the virtuous cycle of love perpetuates, making the world a better place for all of us.
It may sound like a futile effort – to make the world better with love – but then again it really doesn’t take much effort to try. You’ll never ever run out of smiles or hugs to give out, but they mean the world to that someone out there that really needs them.
Dale Carnegie once wrote in his book “How To Stop Worrying and Start Living” that the one foolproof method of overcoming melancholy is to go out there and just do acts of kindness every single day.
No amount of material possessions, or worldly pleasures will make someone truly satisfied and happy, but love will.
Giving out more love only means that you’ll be receiving even more love back in return, making every moment you spent on this earth a worthwhile one.
So pass some love around today, as all of us can always do with just a little bit more.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.”
- The Bible, 1 Cor. 13:4–7, NIV
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My name is Kevin Chan, and welcome to my blog on personal development.