Vita-Mix Lady - Green Smoothie Demonstration

A Pursuit of Happiness in the Madness....

As I gaze upon my crystal globe, what I see for 2013 is...

After a quarter of a century (or more) in the work force, I see clearly that there is a melding between work and life: we will hear less about work life balance as we realize that we only have one life). The definition of work is changing, life is becoming about the clarity of purpose.

The notion of "noble purpose" is becoming central to what we do. People will have top of mind the fundamental human question: "Why have I been put on the planet?" People will question more and more why they do what they do every day. Individuals will continue to review what is important to them and where they spend their time – and there will be a number of aspects to this.

Real Happiness. At the most basic human core is our search for happiness – and it will be central in our pursuit of purpose. I’m in the business of "good times" (RedBalloon will deliver its 2 millionth experience voucher in 2013), so I may have an unconscious bias in believing that more people are pursuing happiness on their journey to find meaning in what they do. But a happiness revolution has begun. We believe everyone deserves to have fun, feel good and be happy. We believe happiness starts with a drop, becomes a ripple and creates a wave. And we believe happiness is amplified when shared. Happy will be central to 2013.

Vivid Stories. As we search for meaning and worth, we will be engaged by vivid and real stories of human endeavour. We will be inspired to our own greatness through the power ofvivid storytelling. As we pursue the greater good, people are moving away from “stuff”. They want shared experiences, to create happy memories and to pass these memories on through storytelling. One of the keys to happiness is being able to relive and retell tales of experience. The power of language and storytelling are integral to the ‘doubling’ of the joy experienced.

Bite Size Learning. To discover what we want from life – and our place in it – we will continue to consume information at a greater speed than ever before in the history of the planet. People are reading and absorbing content on the run, contributing and listening to the conversation across multiple platforms and technologies. They’re liking, sharing, posting, commenting, tweeting and retweeting – never before have our conversations had such far-reaching impact, or the capacity to reach so many people and attract so many different voices. So we have a responsibility to get to the point, do it in an entertaining way, and encourage this sharing. I’ve found “list articles” a great way to grab peoples’ attention and inspire dialogue – Three things young women in business need to know, Five reasons why a coupon is not a gift., Eight reasons to celebrate work – and you can expect more of these in 2013.

Teamwork. We are all in this together – whatever "in this" means – whether it is community issues, tough times for business, family challenges. There will be a big focus on leadership, values and teamwork. As people begin to work for a living rather than live for work, they will ask the question over and over, "is this good for those people around me?" There will be a greater sense of connection and an emotional maturity will emerge where people learn to ask for help – and share the journey with others.

Interesting lenses into all humanity...the struggle continues....the mercy stays.....

.“Anxiety and Ennui are the Scylla and Charybdis on which the bark of human happiness is most often wrecked.”
-The Map of Life, William Edward Hartpole Lecky


 Dukkha
No creature so miserable as man, so generally molested, in miseries of body, in miseries of mind, miseries of heart, in miseries asleep, in miseries awake, in miseries wheresoever he turns, as Bernard found. A mere temptation is our life, on this earth, ever fettered of sorrow. Who can endure the miseries of it? In prosperity we are insolent and intolerable, dejected in adversity, in all fortunes foolish and miserable. In adversity I wish for prosperity, and in prosperity I am afraid of adversity. What mediocrity may be found? Where is no temptation? What condition of life is free? Wisdom has labour annexed to it. Glory & envy, riches & cares, children & encumbrances, pleasure & diseases, rest & beggary go together; as if a man were therefore born (as the Platonists hold), to be punished in this life for some precedent sins; or that, as Pliny complains, nature may be rather accounted a stepmother than a mother unto us, all things considered. No creature’s life so brittle, so full of fear, so mad, so furious; only man is plagued with envy, discontent, grief, covetousness, ambition, superstition. Our whole life is an Irish Sea, wherein there is naught to be expected but tempestuous storms and troublesome waves, and those infinite:

So great a sea of troubles do I see,
that to swim out from it does seem impossible. [1]

… no Halcyonian times, wherein a man can hold himself secure, or agree with his present estate: but, as Boethius infers, there is something in every one of us, which before trial we seek, and having tried abhor: we earnestly wish, and eagerly covet, and are oft soon weary of it. Thus betwixt hope and fear, suspicions, angers, betwixt falling in, falling out, etc., we bangle away our beat days, befool out our times, we lead a contentious, discontent, tumultuous, melancholic, miserable life; insomuch, that if we could foretell what was to come, and it put to our choice, we should rather refuse than accept of this painful life. In a word, the world itself is a maze, a labyrinth of errors, a desert, a wilderness, a den of thieves, cheaters etc., full of filthy puddles, horrid rocks, precipices, an ocean of adversity, a heavy yoke, wherein infirmities and calamities overtake and follow one another, as the sea waves; and if we escape Scylla, we fall foul on Charybdis, and so, in perpetual fear, labour, anguish, we run from one plague, one mischief, one burden, to another. Serving a hard servitude, and you may as well separate weight from lead, heat from fire, moistness from water, brightness from the sun, as misery, discontent, care, calamity, danger, from a man.”

—Robert Burton,
The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621.
[Top]

Just a thought...

“Anxiety and Ennui are the Scylla and Charybdis on which the bark of human happiness is most often wrecked.”
-The Map of Life, William Edward Hartpole Lecky

“A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.”
-Eudora Welty

Alicia Keys - Not Even The King (Official Lyric Video)

Just a thought on a BROKEN HEART....AND LOVE..

Don't let anyone take your JOY.....

surround yourself with people that

SEE the BEST

IN YOU...and make you want to be better....

we can't 'ATONE' for the hurt

these people feel and the blame

and shame they try to

PLACE upon us in the

NAME OF LOVE....

Some people can NEVER Fill their Cup...

and you may have to 'Pay the Debt" forever...

and then...before you know it...they have taken

YOUR JOY...because they continue to choose to

'Practice Pain'...and they will indeed...

'Make you Pay the Debt'

for their need for Pain IS

"UNSATIABLE"

PRAY FOR THEM AND WALK AWAY GENTLY.......

'YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON'

AND 'LOVE IS NEVER DEFEATED'.....EVEN WHEN YOU MUST WALK AWAY

FROM A 'LOVE THAT BRINGS PAIN'

In never said it was easy....I only said it was WORTH IT.....HANG ON.....YOU ARE LOVED!