Authentic Happiness

Hello Friends & Fam...

I want to share a little nugget of empowerment that I have received lately.  As it's in our nature to seek more happiness, fulfillment and meaning, I felt compelled to pass this along. 
A Univ. of Pennsylvania psychologist, Martin Seligman, has devoted his career to studying the art of happiness.  Through his studies he found that happy people from all walks of life shared particular ways of interacting with life, and he has created something of a blueprint for people to follow to live truly happy lives.  

He suggests that one of the main ingredients to being truly happy is to come to know your core character values and strengths and then to go about your days living in alignment with those values and strengths.  

Choosing to act and be in the world in ways that are in alignment with our unique strengths can become a great source of energy and power. In becoming more clear about our strengths, we can become clear on what feeds our soul. The more we feed these strengths, the more energy and empowerment we generate within ourselves.  In other words, doing things that we are naturally good at energizes us and increases our happiness.  

Don't get me wrong, I know that most everyone practices this to a certain extent already.  I'm just liking the idea of being actively aware of it as I practice it.  Maybe you will too.  

If you're interested in learning more for yourself what your strengths and values are, you can go to this website:http://www.authentichappiness.org.  Halfway down the page under Engagement Questionaires you can take the VIA (virtues in action) Survey of Character Strengths. It's 240 questions that will score your top character strengths.  

Once you take the survey and get a better understanding of your strengths, all you have to do is actively practice doing what it tells you you're already good at.  And boom, there you go, more happiness!  It's as easy as baking a cake.  We just have to follow a recipe that has worked for others all along.

Alright, that's what I wanted to share.  I had some free time and thought maybe some happiness could increase in your lives, as it has in mine lately.  I hope some of you find this as valuable as I have.   

Excerpt from men's group letter of intent

Who am I?  
I'm a 31 year old, creative, passionate, inspired, ambitious, loyal, and dedicated man.  I am a yogi and seeker of truth, love, compassion, joy, freedom, and fulfillment.  I am a dreamer and daily meditator.  I am an athlete, a mountaineer, and a world traveler.  I am gratefully sober.  I am a multifaceted being seeking to bridge the gap between where I stand today and where I dream to go.  

What do I want?  
I want to be deeply in love with life.  I want to connect deeply with people and all of life.  I want to love and be loved deeply.  I want to thrive in my health and physical being.  I want to face my fears and overcome limitations.  I want to be a calm, compassionate, confident, humble, and powerful man.  I want to always be growing in consciousness and spirituality.  I want to surrender to the ever changing situations life offers and flow playfully through experiences.  I want to be useful and serve my community and the world.  I want to create a life that is of my choosing, earning a living doing things that I love.  I want to expand in abundance, success, and love while inspiring others to do the same.   

What do I want to receive from the Men's Group?
I want to receive support and encouragement.  I want to have a place to explore my fear and vulnerability.  I want to learn to build deeper and more authentic connections with people.  I want to learn to love myself more deeply.  

What do I offer to bring to the Men's Group?
I offer to bring an open heart, an open mind, and a willingness to work.  I offer to bring a passion for growth and greater love.  I offer to bring my support for the Brothers, their dreams and goals.  I offer to bring my ears and a openness to listen deeply.  I offer to bring my brain and a willingness to share knowledge that I have been afforded that could be useful to others.  

My experience with personal growth work:
I have been reading books on personal growth and self help for as long as I can remember.  Though, the real work for me began 3 years ago when I got sober.  At that time, life had brought me to a place that you could call "rock bottom".  It was an extremely painful and confusing period of my life to go through but, looking back, I see that it was all a blessing in disguise.  I see that these darkest days of my life created within me an immense desire to be healthy, to grow, and to embrace my spiritual nature.  I see that "rock bottom" became a perfect place from which to build a strong and sturdy foundation for life.  These past 3 years have been an amazing journey.  I have been an active member of 12 step recovery groups during this time and I have a great respect for their effectiveness in helping people find solutions to life's challenges.  I am extremely grateful to experience life today as a spiritual being having a human experience.  I continue to read books on growth, spirituality, abundance, sex, creativity, etc. everyday.  I have also become a fan of listening to some podcasts on these topics.  I learned about men's groups by listening to a great podcast by Tripp Lanier called The New Man Podcast (highly recommended).