Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.

"It's a heck of a start, being able to recognize what makes you happy."

-Lucille Ball


Over the last year my son has be increasingly obsessed with stuff. He always wants to get stuff, anything: toys, mail, candy, etc. He will explain to you in great detail how happy it makes him to be on the receiving end of gifts. He likes to get stuff to give stuff away. And it worries me.

It worries me because he is not happy without it. It worries me that when he is not happy, he doesn't know why. It worries me because I was the same way when I was his age, though mine was not the getting stuff, it was just a general unhappiness.

I've spent years and years trying to fill that void where happiness should be. I went through my teen years feeling hopeless and terrible unhappy, I had The Void. I've tried filling it with food, drinks, relationships, you name it, I tried it. None of it every worked, I'd get a temporary relieve from The Void, but over time The Void always came back. All I was doing was avoiding the what and why of happiness.

There is no certainty that you or I will ever find what truly makes us happy, but a little inner searching can help you distinguish why we do what we do.

Does money make me happy? No. Some people really love money, I don't. It pisses me off. I have to dedicate so much of my time to earning it, managing it and spending it, that it takes away from all the stuff I really want to be doing. I want it, lots of it, just so that I can go about my daily life without the money questions lingering in the back of my mind.

Does food make me happy? Kinda. Food is an odd sort of fellow. I love the fact that you can take all these seemingly unrelated items and create a fabulous experience of the senses. I like the fact that several times a day I can pull off a creation. The question is does food itself make me happy or is it the joy I get from the experience of working with it? I'll have to think about that question for a few more years.

I can go on and on with habits that are both good and bad and the 'Does it make me happy?' question. What I do know is I have a list of things that I know I get a kick out of: I like experiencing new things, I like creating things and I love learning something new. If I am doing any of those things, I fell happy and fulfilled, at least for a little while.

We all are different and our ability to acquire happiness is as varying as our personalities. You just have to ask yourself if what you are doing is making you happy. Long term success is based on how happy and content you are with your daily actions. If you continue to do things that go against your happiness, you will stop doing them or turn into a bitter and often angry person.

So, lighten up. Let some joy in. Who cares if you are 55 and still finger painting and playing with dolls. If it makes you happy, then do it!



Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy
CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

Visualization and Action

I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That's the thing. You can't just visualize and go eat a sandwich.
-Jim Carrey



When trying to change your life in any way, using positive affirmations is an incredibly useful tool. I know there are many people who have never heard of this concept so I'll start with a brief explanation:

Positive affirmations is a positive activity that you want to have happen. They are written as if they have already happened. Your affirmations should be read at least once a day, though twice is twice as good. They are especially effective if red before going to bed and again when you first wake up. Mine are written in a card that I carry around with me everywhere. Here are some examples of affirmations for different situations:

For losing weight: I am 130 lb. I am a healthy, fit, energetic person.

For quitting smoking: I am smoke-free. I am breathing better.

For school: I am a college graduate. I am passing all my tests.

For business: I am attracting the right customers to my business. I am attracting wealth in abundance.

If you have any questions about your affirmations, or would like some assistance, you can always contact me and I will be glad to help.

Affirmations must be used in combination with activities to assist in reaching your goals. You cannot repeat 100 times a day that you are going to be healthy and fit, then not exercise and eat fast food 3 times a day. Affirmations are there to push your subconscious mind into creating positive choices through your day.

Just like hypnotherapy and subliminal messaging, without a real drive and personal interest in making changes, affirmations cannot work by themselves. Your day should be punctuated by the positive choices you have made. Celebrate your success and the success of others. Many small steps will construct the journey of your life.

Success Corner: I want to congratulate Terry, Angie and Tammy for their recent positive choice to make a better life for themselves, both financially and health wise. They have done what a lot of people choose not to, they have committed to daily activities to grow a business and live healthy lives. Way to go!

Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming



CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz

We Are The Dreamer Of Dreams

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

-T.E. Lawrence

We all dream. We buy a lotto ticket and think of all the things we could do with 200 million. We think of how it would be if all of our troubles just up and vanished. But very, very few of us actually dissect those dreams into manageable chunks.


When my son was around 5 I realized that I didn't want the life that I had. I'd drop him off at daycare around 6:30am and pick him up around 6:30pm. I remember spending hours thinking how nice it would be to have someone take care of us. Just to be able to take him to school and pick him up was something so far out of my reach that I'd stress over it. Then there came the turning point, it started to affect him.


He'd act out in school, then the school would call me and I'd come in. Then he'd start acting out more. I then realized that the hours spent away from me wasn't just a necessary evil, it was harmful. That's when I took action. I started looking at all sorts of ways to work at home. I saw myself being able to get to the school in the middle of the day, I saw myself getting him on the bus, I FELT that this WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! Then a job offer came through and it was working from my home and it was mostly what I was looking for. This was the first time I had used pure determination and positive thinking to make my world better. I have been working from home for 4 years now and it has been one of the best decisions of my life.


Dreaming and hoping are good. They are a fantastic way to feel out what you want in life. I have a dream board. If I want something, I break it down. How much will it cost? What do I have to do to get it? What is a reasonable timeline to set myself to achieve this dream? I get pictures of what I want and I put it on my dream board. I look at that board many times a day. It keeps me motivated on my goals. I KNOW I will get everything on that board, I see myself several times a day driving that RV, smelling the Scottish air, driving that new car. The best feeling in the world is when I go up to that board and take something off of it.


Find the difference between fantasy and dreams. You can reach your dreams. Anyone can, it's just a matter of how.




Have a Blessed Day,


Brandy Deming


CelticBlessings4U@Gmail.com
http://www.womenswealthandwellness.com/celticblessings
http://www.twitter.com/brandysbiz