It’s all about perspective!

It’s difficult to enjoy the comforts of home when there is constant yelling, screaming and fighting. This includes those people who live alone and have their inner voice constantly yelling at themselves. This may or may not be you.

So to all – cut out the ‘noise’ and create a home filled with love and laughter.

What can you do to your physical environment to have it nurture you, relax you and empower you?

The term feng shui literally translates as “wind-water” in English.
It is pronounced fung-shway.

Your home should be your place of serenity, protection and safety!

I have listed ten things you can do to mix it up a little bit in your home.
Some things on this list may not have anything to do with Feng Shui but I still like my list.

1. Change scenery -move your couch or chair around to face a different direction.

2. Put up inspiring quotes around your apt like the bedroom, kitchen, or bathroom.

3. Start a pow-wow by yourself and/or invite friends/family over. Make a part of your room the “thinking area”, or “play area”, or “get silly area”.

4. Declutter – get rid of stuff so you can find things easier. Lighten the load so to speak. You’ll get a little bit of exercise while you’re at too!

5. Set up things the night before (clothes for work, etc.) so you can get out of the house faster in the morning.

6. Set up your favorite music to play upon returning home from work…soft music, head banging music. Allow yourself to decompress at your own speed.

7. Pick up party lights – blue, red, yellow, green and don’t be shy about using it an area to set mood lighting and ambiance.

8. Implement “bubble bath hour” – This works great for the mind and body… de-stress by yourself or with a partner or friendly bubble bath enthusiasts*. (*depends on how big your tub is)

9. Put up a picture that makes you feel good, maybe in a chore related area such as the laundry room, garage or wherever you think would be helpful to so when you look at it, it makes you smile!

10. Create theme days or months. How about a pirate day or a beach day knights in shining armor day. Even clothing optional day. You could make a sign that says “No Yelling Beyond This Point” or “You are Now Entering The Quiet Zone”.  Or how about “Clothing Optional Beyond This Point”. You get the picture. You are limited only by your imagination.

I know there are many more ideas you can implement into your home. Have fun with this and see how you feel after making some changes.

The best way I can describe Feng Shui is like redecorating your physical, mental and emotional living space.

Check out the below link to get some more insight into Feng Shui for your home:

Feng Shui that Makes Sense – Easy Ways to Create a Home that FEELS as Good as it Looks

Sounds exciting to get a whole new perspective about setting up your home or office in such a way that will nurture, relax and empower you, doesn’t it?

Share this post or like us.

Cheers!

Jason
The Happiness Helper

Choose Happiness Over Money?

Really?

In Singapore, there was a recent study of  18- to 35-year-olds who chose happiness over wealth, this, according to Singapore’s Generation Asia findings.  Interesting to see survey results on how to live a happy life, and what this study revealed.

Some chose happiness over money in light of them living at home, with minimal expenses.

 

The online survey of 1,500 people is Asia’s most comprehensive psychographic study in terms of the number of respondents, geographical coverage and insights into 16 key topics: Beauty, communication, education, entertainment, fashion, food, health, kids, love, luxury, media, money, sports, technology, travel and vehicles.

One of the key findings was that 75.4 per cent feel that happiness is more important than making money.

One of the panel members, Executive Editor of TODAY Phin Wong, 34, said: “The bigger question is, do they know what makes them happy? Do they know what direction happiness lies? Do they know what it takes to be happy versus a list of things they don’t like?”

Most people will do what they need to do to get by.  Life experience has a way of changing ones perspective on things. It would be interesting to follow-up with the 18-24 yr olds in another 8 yrs and see what their perspective is on happiness over money after they’ve been out in the world a bit and paid their own way for a while.

Will it change their response?

Ms Eugenie Yeo, 33, Regional Brand Marketing Manager of Discovery Networks Asia Pacific and one half of Riot! Records, believed that making money is not their priority as they have an easy life. “At 30, they might still be living with their parents. Financial gain isn’t their priority,” she said.

“It is about balance. In today’s society, without money, you’d be a very unhappy person,” said Ms Pearlyn Koh aka DJ Foxxxy, 24. “It is about earning enough and spending within your means.”

I think you learn what is important as you grow and develop your values. When life throws you curve balls you learn to adapt and there may be times you wish for more money and times you wish for more happiness. As we see below they’re even questioning if they know what happiness is.

“To come back to Phin’s point, do these youths know what happiness is? Or is it something that society is teaching them?” he added.

Mr Nicholas Seguy, 32, co-founder of French sneaker brand Feiyue, did not agree with the findings. “I don’t see that as the real behaviour of 18- to 35-year-olds in Singapore. I think they are still very driven by materialism, if not more than the generation before them.”

I believe it is possible to learn how to live a happy life while having an equal amount of happiness and money!

Do we need to choose happiness over money, after all, aren’t they both necessary?

Please LIKE, share and/or leave your comments below!

We’d love to hear from you!

This article shows you how to get happy right now as it’s important to not wait for happiness to land in your lap as you may be waiting a long time.

Make up your mind to take action as you are the one who needs to be proactive in getting yourself to a happier state of mind.

It doesn’t take much to make one happy. It’s the simple things in life that puts a smile on a young girl.

What will make you happy?

As Dennis Do states in this article, he used to live in the dark ages while waiting for happiness to arrive.

It never occurred to me that instead of waiting for it, happiness could have already begun. I just had to quit rationalizing how it isn’t here yet.

So you say you aren’t happy at your job? Then it’s time to be grateful for having a job.

Don’t feel happy about cleaning the house? Then it’s time to be glad that you’re living in a clean house instead of a dirty one.

Allow me to point out one thing if I may.

The tasks on your to-do list may or may not be the most exciting things. In fact, you may prefer to do something else instead. You might prefer playing video games, catch up on a movie, or go out with your friends.

You could even be doing something else. I get it. There are better things that you could be doing.

I’m sure that doing chores or any other related tasks is disliked very much.

I dislike them too, I confess.

But acknowledging this fact means that you acknowledge being bored; displeased. It also means that you are in the mindset of being unhappy with what you’re doing or where you’re at, because you think that something else will make you happy.

You see, happiness doesn’t begin when that special moment in time comes. If you are still waiting for that moment, quite frankly, it will not come to you until you’re satisfied with the present moment.

No matter what you are doing; no matter how hard or repetitive a task is, you can always find something positive about it. It’s all about acknowledging the benefits.

There’s no time like the present to change your state of mind. It really is that easy to change!

How To Get Happy Right Now

Thinking positive and making the best of any situation will help you get happier faster than always looking at the negative side of things.

It’s an almost impossible feat to get happy while you’re constantly negative and downright miserable!

Your thoughts will determine your outlook on life and your actions will help you follow through on those thoughts.

Choose one thing right now to start doing that you’ve been putting off. Don’t think about it, just do it.

We encourage any comments you may have and also please Like this post if you dare : )

In the excerpt below read one interesting perspective from Joan Winifred of Partners in Wellness:

When sick, we all want to get better. We do what it takes or what we think it will take to get better soon. Who likes being sick? I don’t! We rest, take vitamins, enzymes, eat chicken soup, drink tea with lemon/honey, etc.

When you have a cold and/or allergies, you know you are feeling better when you stop sneezing. Perhaps relationships are like that? You know it’s better when you stop yelling and fighting; having negative interactions most of the time and when you share a positive moment, a hug, loving word, or laugh. Symptoms of a sick relationship simply stop!

It might just be a matter of time…some things need more time than others. Some things need more love. Some things need more respect. We have to WORK at keeping “important” relationships/partnerships as healthy as possible, as well as non-toxic or damaging. However, it starts with self. We all have issues, imperfections, “symptoms” (myself very much included!). If we don’t work on getting better inwardly, or less symptomatic, are we spreading our symptoms/issues around?

 

Relationships are work and not the 9 to 5 kind of work where you clock in and not be seen nor heard for 8 hrs. Maybe this happens during sleep but no one is really working on their relationship while sleeping. Some might be, but these are mostly called dream states.

Here’s a formula for a happy relationship: “Women want to be loved. Men want to be respected. Simple enough, isn’t it?

That is how we are wired, or created, if you will. If you want to be loved, are you lovable? If you want respect, are you respectable? We cannot control how someone else acts or feels. We may influence, motivate, encourage, lead, push or pull them in the direction we would like them to go, but ultimately, they have to go there themselves. And to go there they have to want to.

How To Maintain A Happy Relationship

Learn to let go. It’s all okay. Learn to stop micromanaging. No couple matches up 100%. There will be things that annoy or tick you off. You just want the good things to outweigh the ticking off things.

One of the main characters you control in your relationship is YOU!

How to maintain a happy relationship is worth the effort as it may only be a few tweaks here and there but will increase your overall happiness together exponentially. Have fun together and laugh a lot!

Like this if you agree…

Here are some fun ideas to help change your state of mind to a happier you. So get happy fast without delay.

Here are three ways to get happy and improve your mood and lower your stress level. Put this into action and help yourself as well as help others.  Below are some cool suggestions you can do right away!

Remember, don’t hold back!

It’s the little things in life that make you happy and you can boost your happiness level at will.
Excerpts by the editors at Prevention:

Happiness Helper #1: Do a Good Deed

People who volunteer are likelier to be happier than those who don’t–regardless of how much money they make or other socioeconomic factors. Researchers believe volunteering boosts happiness because it increases empathy, which makes you appreciate all the good stuff in your own life.

Pitching in for a regular cause in your community is ideal (such as serving food at your church’s soup kitchen), but you can make a difference in other ways in mere minutes. Become an organ donor or sign up for a charity walk. For the person on your holiday gift list who has everything, consider donating money to a good cause in their name. Check out villagevolunteers.org for ideas: Just $20 buys a water filter to give Kenyan orphans clean drinking water, and $35 is enough to purchase 10 mosquito nets to help prevent malaria.

Happiness Helper #2: Flip Through Old Photos

When you’re feeling down, break out your kids’ baby albums or pics from your favorite vacation.

It may actually make you feel happier than a square of Godiva chocolate would! That’s what researchers at the United Kingdom’s Open University found after they examined how much people’s moods rose after eating a chocolate snack, sipping an alcoholic drink, watching TV, listening to music, or looking at personal photos.

The music and chocolate left most people’s moods unchanged; alcohol and TV gave a slight lift (1%), but the winner by a long shot was viewing pictures, which made people feel 11% better. To keep your spirits high, try hanging one of your favorite photos at eye level in an unexpected spot, such as taped to the window in front of your kitchen sink. You’ll score a quick mood boost when you’re doing something mundane, such as washing dishes.

Happiness Helper #3: Sing in the Shower

The shower, with its cocoon of privacy and superlative acoustics, brings out the diva in us all. And we would be wise to let her take the steamy stage and croon away. Music therapists believe that singing boosts your mood. Bonus: singing also enhances immunity by increasing antibodies that fight sickness, according to one German study. So whether your style is Adele or Britney Spears, belt your heart out and soak in singing’s mood and health benefits.

3 Ways How To Get Happy

Doing a good deed is simple enough just by holding the door open for someone or helping someone carry something to their car/home.

Looking at photos from trips you’ve taken or those embarrassing pictures that makes you laugh every time you look at them.

Singing in the shower can be very liberating and if you don’t know many words to songs, who cares? Just make your own words up. Have fun, it doesn’t have to rhyme, just belt it out anyway!

Tell me if you felt better after trying some of the ideas above.

Please LIKE and/or leave a comment below.

Get this, the difference between happiness at work, engagement and job satisfaction can have three very different meanings. You can have job satisfaction and still be unhappy at work!

There are many people who do a great job because they have “a job to do” without necessarily loving it. In fact, isn’t this the case with most people, that is if they can stay long enough without the fear of their positions being eliminated.

Check out the survey below, but first watch this video…the guy has an accent so you may need to watch again to get all the words but I think you can definitely relate to this at least on part of your work day!

Are You Unhappy At Work? (Like this guy)

Here is a survey about happiness at work.  It goes into detail about happiness at work, engagement and job satisfaction. They wanted to verify that they were assessing something that operated differently and not just dealing with something that wasn’t job satisfaction and engagement.

Here is what they found:

1. The results we got show that the concepts are all different. Happiness at work predicts performance very strongly: job satisfaction and engagement don’t work in the same very consistent and linear fashion.

2. People who report high levels of happiness at work automatically also report high job satisfaction and high engagement. But when we investigate people with high job satisfaction or high engagement we can see that they aren’t necessarily happy. For example you can be highly engaged doing tough and unpleasant stuff because you’re focusing so intently on it. But that may not make you happy: in fact high engagement and low happiness is often associated with high intention to quit and low energy. This finding suggests happiness is a bigger and therefore more important concept than job satisfaction or engagement.

3. We’re pretty sure that people report high engagement because they feel they ought to (in other words there’s a social desirability response to the question).

4. Job satisfaction and engagement are ‘old’ concepts which were developed in 60s and 70s when organizations were very different. The research they are based on was done inside organizations whose structures and approaches were much more hierarchical with a much more command-and-control approach. This is no longer relevant in flatter or lean-and-mean, pressurized organizations of the 21st century.

They finish the survey by saying that “The data for job satisfaction and engagement surveys is often collected in a manner (using a Likert scale) which results in a bi-modal distribution. For example:

‘As an employee how satisfied are you with your organization?’

Many things can contribute to not being happy at work. Whether you feel a very low job satisfaction or just plain unhappy, maybe you can try speaking to someone in your office to help change the environment or a change of position. This is something you need to look at and honestly assess if it’s just time to move on to bigger challenges.

So whether or not you are unhappy at work, if you could change one thing about your job what would it be?

I believe it is very important to be happy at work since you spend a majority of your time there.

People need to feel they are important and part of a team. Progress at work is just as important as progress at home. It’s important to set up professionals that are attainable through your employment history.

 As written by Margaret Heffernan, she lists three simple ways to increase employee happiness while at work. Consider this very sound advice. And we really can’t afford to forget them .

I’m sure you’ll agree that growing at your job will be helpful to your happiness level at work. Here’s what Chelsi Nakano had to say about Margaret Heffernan’s article from Inc.com.

Growth

A dead end is a sure way to kill someone’s spirit. People need to feel like they’re moving towards something, so it’s important to establish professional development plans that can play out over the course of employment.

Community

Being proud of where you work is crucial for genuine community building and a real sense of purpose, but not everyone puts food on the table by curing diseases, running blood drives, saving the world, etc. “Superficial social-responsibility projects won’t fill this gap for you. You need to create direct links between the success of the business and the community you serve,” advises Heffernan. “These need to involve the entire work force and should be active, public, visible, and long lasting.”

Fairness

The last part of the puzzle is a timeless adage: treat people the way you wish to be treated. If you’re working a full-time job, then the majority of your week is spent around the same people, and happiness in that environment requires mutual trust and respect. It’s simple, really.

To Be Or Not To Be Happy At Work

Since most working people spend a majority of their time at work with co-workers they may or may not like to be around, it makes sense for you decide to be happy while at work.

If you change the way you look at work and adjust your attitude, you may just see a positive light to your days and be happier.

How important is it for you to be happy at work?

Please leave your comments and/or LIKE it.