Happiness and Continuous Learning

According to Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young."

At a recent event that I spoke at, sitting up front and center, was Florence - a lady who introduced herself to me, telling me that she has been married for 65 years and when she heard about my topic, she really wanted to be there to 'learn a little something that I might take home to share with my husband!' She was an absolute delight. She took notes, participated in all the activities and wanted to have a picture taken too. It was such a pleasure for me to meet Florence and the other wonderful women who attended. There was a young lady there, who had just returned home from Australia and has aspirations to be a public speaker. She, too, sat right up front near Florence. It was a very engaging and inspiring group!

Research shows that "unless we use it, we lose it"! The brain, I mean.

What are you doing, these days, to keep your brain active? There are so many great opportunities for continuous learning - it can almost be overwhelming.

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have."

~ Louis E. Boone

Researchers in the field of Subjective well-being have found that there are certain characteristics that happy people have in common. Happy people:

* Have self-control
* Are grateful
* Have good social relationships, supportive friends and family
* Have an adequate income
* Have respectable jobs, and
* Have a philosophy that provides meaning to their lives.

When you read these bullet points, do you see yourself in each one? If not, then there are ways of 'learning how' to be 'like' these happy people.

Self-control

The consistent practice of self-control starts with the realization that YOU are in control.

* You choose your attitude
* You choose your response
* You choose to set aside your personal problems
* You choose to give others a better day

When we take control, we refuse to be victims of circumstance, or of our own personal weaknesses. We take charge of our lives and of the situations that we face. This is a principal requirement for a happy life.

We choose how we live our lives on a daily basis - I'm talking about those things over which we have control. For anything beyond our control, we choose our reactions.

We are always in a position to give others a better day! Smile at them! It's contagious and then, if you feel as though you are having a bad day - just keep smiling and 'act as if'.

When it comes to having an adequate income or a respectable job, we are in a position to make changes if that's what we want. Perhaps it requires more education and learning new skills. Perhaps it means learning to adjust to change and trying a different occupation or industry or business.

For most of us, it does come down to having a philosophy that provides meaning to our lives. We all need a purpose. This, too, can be learned.

When I traveled around the world, I was always looking for new experiences and new adventures. In Dubai, in the afternoon I was at the Mall of the Emirates and tried Tubing for the first time in my life. What a blast!

In the evening, back in the desert, I had the opportunity (after a glass of wine, for sure) to have a lesson in belly dancing. I would have been foolish not to seize the opportunity to learn these things 'while in Rome'.

I'm so happy that I did