9 - In the middle of Happiness

It's in the middle of Happiness as you obtain what you want most

Transcript

Current Episode Introduction

This episode is informed by the verse of the poem representing the letter:

• H

• It’s in the middle of Happiness as you obtain what you want most

It includes a brief description of the verse, a personal reflection demonstrating how the verse has facilitated my own resonance with Doses of God in my life, a statement of gratitude, and a few guiding questions that may be considered for your own reflection.

Description

Here is description of the verse:

• It’s in the middle of Happiness as you obtain what you want most

• Happiness is a beautiful emotion that we can experience when the outcome of any given circumstance meets or exceeds our expectations. We experience infinite moments of happiness throughout our lives, from the simple satisfying moment when we take our first breath each morning to the more intricate moment when we achieve a passionate goal through persistence, patience, and planning. Many of you are inspired to contribute to meaningful outcomes that benefit the greater good of the world. And many of you, through your everyday activities, already make this world a better place. That is reason enough to spark a moment of happiness in your soul. Allow yourself to realize happiness when it graces your presence. Also realize that you have the opportunity to achieve monumental levels of happiness by setting your mind and efforts to the achievement of a meaningful goal. When such a goal is achieved, allow yourself to bask in the reward of the enhanced happiness that was designed as compensation for your efforts.

Reflection

Here is my personal reflection on the verse:

• To me, this verse is about being satisfied by practicing perseverance through the achievement of a goal, or, otherwise stated, to be happy by ambitiously allocating time and energy toward a desired state. Over the years, I have found myself obtaining happiness through achievement of tangible and intangible desired states that may be considered physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and/or spiritual in nature. Here are a few examples of perseverance toward achievement of goals in each of these domains that resulted in a state of happiness.

• Physically, when I was in my adolescent years, my desired state was physical strength that would allow me to bench press 300 pounds by the time I graduated high school. I was a scrawny kid who didn’t look like much of a weightlifter, but I believed my goal could be achieved, and I was driven to physically persevere by spending time and energy lifting weights until it became a reality. These days, my desired physical state is a bit more ambiguous and less intense, as I simply strive to maintain adequate physical health by eating a somewhat balanced diet, sleeping when I’m tired, walking more frequently, and periodically embedding brief segments of strength and aerobic exercises into my day.

• Intellectually, I had set a goal to achieve a Ph.D., which required intense periods of reading, writing, critically reflecting, collaborating with classmates, and engaging in scholarly discourse. Although I frequently felt like an imposter in the field, I persevered intellectually by engaging in academic activity intensely and often enough to press the boundaries of my intellectual limitations until I developed a level of knowledge that allowed me to earn the degree I desired.

• Emotionally, I aim to exist in a continuous state of emotional well-being. I have not yet figured out how to tangibly measure the achievement of this state; however, I do think it’s safe to say that during my later years of adolescence and early adulthood, I could have generally been considered emotionally unwell as I experienced many moments of unwarranted anger, fear, and sadness. That has since changed as, over the years, I have demonstrated emotional perseverance by implementing strategies to press the boundaries of my emotional limitations, which have allowed me to advance closer toward my desired state of continuous emotional well-being.

• Socially, I had set a goal of sorts to exist in a social state in which I could adequately share my educational data use knowledge and skills with educators. I have found that the area of educational data use sometimes has a tendency to be an undesirable topic amongst educators. Several seem to cringe at even the thought of spending time learning about data, which results in social barriers that must be penetrated for me to make a contribution to the field. Although I have faced several challenges in this area, I have demonstrated social perseverance by delivering educational data use messages through presentations, publications, workshops, and other forms of oral and written correspondence to press the boundaries of my social limitations, which have allowed me to advance closer toward my desired social state in this area.

• Spiritually, I have a desire to exist in a continuous state of presence, which may otherwise be thought of as an ongoing state of mindfulness, or conscious awareness. As with emotional well-being, I have not yet figured out a way to tangibly measure this area. However, also similar to emotional well-being, I seem to have an internal gauge for my spiritual well-being, intangibly measuring the extent to which I have faith, resonate with a sense of purpose for my existence, and am attentive to and act upon intuitions and other subtle internal or external signs that guide me along a path that is appropriate for me. In my earlier years, around the same time in which I was emotionally unwell, I was also spiritually unwell. I was unable to identify, or even remotely resonate with, any sort of purpose for my life. At some point in my early adult years, I began to feel a desire for an enhanced sense of purpose. I yearned for a sense of place, or at least a bit of a realization that I was meant to be here, which led me along a path of opportunities to pursue enhanced spiritual wellness. Although I continue to face challenges that may inhibit my pursuit of continuous presence, mindfulness, or conscious awareness, such as moments when I lack a sense of purpose or place in the world, I have demonstrated spiritual perseverance by implementing strategies to press the boundaries of my spiritual limitations, which have allowed me to advance closer toward my desired spiritual state.

• Achieving or notably progressing toward these goals in the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual domains has yielded a greater degree of happiness in my life. A few other achievements that have led to happiness include self-publishing a book (although it only sold a few hundred copies), opening the Boulevard Cafe (although it only remained operational for less than one year), starting Anderson Inquiry as a consulting business with low overhead, and having a career with a malleable schedule that also allows me to work in a flexible setting. All of these represent examples of obtaining happiness by pursuing something I wanted. At this stage of my life, what I want most is to contribute to a worthy cause and to be a good husband, father, and friend. I want to consistently and consciously do things that I am good at and have a desire to do in ways that have a positive impact or, in other words, to do things in a present state of being that I have the capacity to do and am passionate about in ways that are relevant. Generally speaking, I feel happy when considering my existence in each of these areas. Another way of interpreting what I want most is simply wanting what I have at any given moment of my life, which may be as simple as appreciating the fruit smoothie and soothing music that respectively appeased my appetite and ears while writing this reflection.

Gratitude Statement

I am immeasurably grateful for:

• all the happiness in my life -- whether it has been realized through achievement of complex goals or through ongoing, simple pleasures in daily life -- and will attempt to remain attentive to opportunities for realizing happiness through complex or simple experiences.

Guiding Questions

Here are a few guiding questions to consider that might facilitate your own personal reflection upon the verse:

• It’s in the middle of Happiness as you obtain what you want most

Take a moment to reflect on:

• times when you have realized happiness through complex circumstances, such as the achievement of challenging goals, or through the simplicities of daily life.

For example:

• What are examples of complex goals you pursued that contributed to your happiness?

• What are examples of simple moments that have made you happy in life?

• How do you feel when you experience happiness through complex and simple circumstances?

• In what ways do you express gratitude for your moments of happiness?

• What strategies could you implement to maintain awareness of opportunities to be happy?

Closing Statement

In closing:

• When you experience happiness in your soul, whether it results from simple or complex circumstances, you receive a Dose of God.

Next Episode

The next episode in this series will focus on the verse representing the letter:

• I

• A dose of God is on your Ice cream when you receive an extra scoop

Positive Vibes

Thank you so much for listening. May you consistently position yourself to accept and resonate with the Doses of God that are ever-presently here for you.