Recently I got dragged along to a work function that initially I didn't really want to attend. It was designed for families, and probably really well set up if you had young children. However, even 3 beverages in, I was bored – I didn’t want to pet small animals (the petting zoo for the children) or have a go on the jumping castle, I could see the magician’s sleight of hand and I was ready to leave. My wife was not in the same frame of mind. My daughter and I decided to partake in one of our favourite pastimes – people
Browsing category: Happiness
I love it when I encounter something new. This week a new word introduced itself to me. I was reading one of my twitter feeds and came across an article in The Age talking about a condition known as alexithymia. It’s a personality condition characterised by the inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. People ‘suffering’ from alexithymia lack emotional awareness and have challenges in social attachment and interpersonal relationships. They struggle to distinguish and appreciate the emotions of others which causes
"A lack of confidence is at heart a misunderstanding of the way the world works." Alain de Botton
"Misuse of 'literally' makes me figuratively insane"
Unknown
This fortnight’s challenge is to laugh. I would like you to find an opportunity to be really conscious of your happiness and what it is that makes you happy. To assist you in this challenge I have a little something for you to watch/hear, it made me laugh and that made me happy.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc[/embed]
I came across this work from Daniel Kahneman (the founder of behavioral economics) who talks about this distinction between our two selves: an experiencing self that lives in and knows the present, and a remembering self that recalls and dictates what experiences will ultimately shape our life story and what emotions are recalled through the remembrances of our stories / experiences. How many of us, when asked if we’re happy, distinguish between the happiness we’re experiencing right now in this present moment versus how happy we