HappyRant

Dalai Lama Foundation launches Project Happiness

What's the real basis of happiness? A group of students from the US, Tibet, India, and Nigeria are in India right now exploring that very question. And as luck would have it, you'll be able to follow along in their exploration.

Inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama's book Ethics for the New Millennium, The Dalai Lama Foundation launched a documentary film and internet project called project happiness. The essence of this project is to engage young people in a cross-cultural dialogue about the relationship of happiness to one's values and ethics.

Here's how the Project Happiness web site describes the project:

Project Happiness follows a senior high school class from the Mount Madonna School near Watsonville, California on a journey to discover the true basis of human happiness. Joining them on this quest are the Tibetan and Indian students from the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India and the Dominion Heritage Academy in Jos, Nigeria.

Using the internet, video cameras, and other new communications technologies, the students will explore and create a new curriculum for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s book Ethics for the New Millennium. Together the students will build bridges of understanding to learn about each other and themselves.

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Troy Evans - From Desperation to Dedication

What would you think if I told you how much I admire a guy who went to prison after robbing five banks at a point where he had been strung out on drugs for half his life? Would you wonder about my judgment?

You wouldn't if you knew the rest of the story, which I've been reading in From Desperation to Dedication: An Ex-Con's Lessons on Turning Failure Into Success.

At 28, Troy Evans' number one priority was getting his next fix. He had alienated his family, his friends, and had gone through numerous failed attempts at treatment. His plan if the police ever caught him in the midst of a robbery was a suicidal "death by cops." He was at rock bottom.

Fortunately, as he sees it, he was arrested and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. While in prison, a moment with his young son, who he had only ever known outside of prison through a drug-induced haze, provided the spark he needed to commit to turning his life around. He discovered hope, and ultimately discovered that others could believe in him. His persistence in pursuing an education eventually landed him a college scholarship and he began studying for the first of the two degrees he earned while incarcerated.

Today, Evans is a motivational speaker, traveling around the country and telling his story. 

In a way, it's a story we've all heard. Guy experiences hard knocks, hits bottom, and (cue the inspiring music) has an epiphany that turns his life around. And yet it's a story we don't hear enough.

Not least because it's proof of what we can do, regardless of where we are in our lives and the challenges we face.

It's so easy to get lost in our own challenges. It's easy to feel like throwing up our arms and saying, "There's no hope. I give up," if things get especially trying. But the reality is, whatever our challenge, there almost always is hope. It's just not as easy, or as clearcut, or as fast as we would like it.

Stories like Troy Evans' are a great reminder.

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Wheelchair backflip

Imagine being born with spina bifida. Then imagine being confined to a wheelchair since you were eight. Now imagine being a fifteen year old putting that chair through the paces in a half-pipe at the local skate park.

You try new tricks. You fall. You get up to do it again until you perfect it, just like all the other kids. Not exactly a stereotypical picture, is it. Welcome to Aaron Fotheringham's life.

It's easy to spot Aaron Fotheringham spinning, "grinding" and stopping for a moment atop the rim of a half-pipe before plunging back into the mass of teenage boys zipping around the neighborhood skate park.

He's the one in the wheelchair, the one with the bright yellow helmet, the one who does the back-flip that has made him an Internet and international celebrity. His friends slap him high fives as they pass on their BMX bikes and skateboards. They call him "Wheels."

"It's cool what he does," says 14-year-old Cody Manring, leaning both elbows on the handlebars of his red BMX bicycle. "He's inspiring other people."

Adults call the 15-year-old Fotheringham one of a kind, a pioneer carving a niche somewhere between BMX and skateboarding.

He learned the the flip at Woodward West, an action sports summer camp in California.

He finally accomplished the flip on the night before he was to go home.

"He's definitely out of the mold," says Buzzy Sullivan, a coach at Woodward West who videotaped Fotheringham's first flip. "He's not following. He's making his own path."

Fotheringham does stationary spins like a BMX rider and "grinds" like a skateboarder — riding an edge with the wheels of his chair straddling a railing or curb.

You can see a video of Fotheringham here.

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Laughter increases altruism

We know that laughter is good for you, but now with a study out of the UK, it appears that your laughter is good for others as well:

Laughter is often said to be "the best medicine," and now a recent study reveals a hearty laugh may not only make you feel better, but also can make you more cooperative and altruistic toward strangers.

...Study participants watched either a funny or a serious video, and then played a game with strangers to see how laughter affected the balance between group interest and self-interest during the game-play.

Each person was given a small sum of money (about 5 U.S. dollars) and told they could invest it in either a private fund or a group fund -- they would get back whatever they put in the private fund, while whatever was contributed to the group fund would be doubled and split evenly among group members, regardless of how much each person put in.

The researchers found laughter made strangers more likely to invest in the group fund, and so increased their sense of altruism.

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Selflessness scholarship

When I went to business school in the 80's, it was at the height of the "greed is good" era. It took years before my inner do-gooder finally found its way to the surface. So I'm always impressed at the desire to do good I see in the current young generation.

In Indiana, for example, a student group is raising money for a "selflessness scholarship."

Karen Montgomery is doing more than earning a bachelor's degree at Butler University. The college senior also is working to promote and honor Hoosiers who put the needs of others ahead of their own.

Montgomery, 21, is one of the founding members of Butler's chapter of the John Weidner Foundation for Altruism, the nation's first collegiate affiliate of the organization. The national foundation was launched in 1992 in California by John Weidner, a Dutchman credited with saving more than 1,000 people from the Nazis during World War II.

"He risked everything," Montgomery said.

In that spirit, the Butler chapter is establishing the university's first student-driven scholarship and is raising $25,000 to endow the annual financial award, which would go to a student who exemplifies selflessness.

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Try a 21-day complaint fast

Could you go 21 days without complaining? And if you did, what effect do you suppose that would have on your outlook on life?

According to this article, thousands of people are trying it to find out.

In the summer of 2006, Bowen challenged his congregation to go 21 days without a complaint or moan. His intention was to help them see the brighter side of life. Each individual was given a purple bracelet, and each time he or she gossiped, whined or complained, he or she had to switch the bracelet to the other wrist. The three-week countdown then started over.

What started out as a simple, local effort has turned into a world-wide campaign. Thanks to an outpouring of publicity as well as the sincerity of Bowen’s message, people across the world have jumped on the “A Complaint Free World” wagon. More than 183,000 bracelets have been shipped throughout the world.

I love the the notion of reinforcing the commitment to no complaining by physically switching the bracelet to the opposite arm. Of course, you don't have to buy a special bracelet to try this. Even a regular old rubber band would do the trick. The key is just giving it a shot.

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Use positive raw materials to build your worldview

Imagine that your mind is a machine that creates your perception of the world around you (which shouldn't be too difficult, since it is). Now ask yourself, what are the raw materials it's using? Is it using good, positive inputs, or is it a case of "garbage in, garbage out?"

As luck would have it, we have the ability to choose some of those inputs, simply by what we choose to focus on. For me, this blog has become part of my quest for positive raw materials. It has become part of a daily positive practice. I often do it first thing in the morning as a way to begin the day with a positive, hopeful, inspiring focus.

Every day, we're bombarded with toxic messages. They're in the news, on TV, and in the movies. It's easy to skim from day to day with the assumption that garbage in garbage out is just the way things are. But with awareness, we can consciously choose to pursue higher quality raw materials.

For me, this blog has become a great source of those raw materials, but there are any number of different ways to incorporate those positive inputs. For example...

• Reading positive books
• Watching positive movies
• Reading about positive, inspiring people
• Surrounding yourself with positive people
• Finding a personally compelling way to make a difference in the world

That's far from a comprehensive list, but you get the idea.

So how about it? What can you do to start focusing on more of those positive inputs and leaving the toxic messages behind? It doesn't have to be a huge commitment. Even something simple, like spending ten minutes each morning with an inspiring book, can make a difference.

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Who are the REAL richest people in America?

What's your definition of rich? One obvious definition is having bucketloads o' money. For Tim Richardson, an inspirational speaker based in San Francisco, wealth isn't so much about what you have as what you give. To promote that idea, he's putting out a new richest people list with a different spin - The REAL Richest People in America...

The REAL Richest People in America is about people making a difference. This inaugural list focuses on richness in giving with the aim of inspiring businesses and individuals to give their profits and their time.

Recipients will be selected not because of what they have or profit but because of what they give or what they do. “True richness comes from the love of giving back to society, and happens whether you make $10,000 or $10 million a year” says list founder Tim Richardson.

This nominees reflect the best about the joy of giving back; using their time and resources to make a difference in the world.

So who's rich in Richardson's eyes? There's a list of nominees on the web site.

Using that giving-back definition of wealth, how rich are you? How rich do you want to be? What's going to get you there?

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When I grow up, I want to be Mama G

Do you ever stop for a moment to look around and ask yourself, "Who do I want to be like? Who are my role models?" For me, one of the answers to those questions is, "Mama G," a high school teacher in Los Angeles who is pushing 90 with an amazing outlook on life.

It takes only a minute or two with the bundle of energy that is Rose "Mama G" Gilbert to get excited about just about anything.

And to forget that at 88 she's old enough to be the great-grandmother of her Palisades Charter High School students.

"I want them all to just live literature, love poetry and love life — not just get caught up in grades," Gilbert said.

Pupils usually don't start out liking poetry, so Gilbert eases them in with love poems by ee cummings. "It's very sexy," Gilbert said.

For Gilbert, teaching really is a labor of love.

Gilbert doesn't have to work; her husband left her millions when he died. But she loves it too much to quit.

Mama G's energy is infectious, said Masha Elakovic, a 17-year-old senior. "She comes in, she is really pumped up. That is kind of a sign she is ready to teach us and ready to be 'on fire.' ... I love her."

It's easy to get stuck in, "Gee, I wish I could be like her" when we look at people we admire. But the power of role models isn't in aspiring to be someone else, it's in asking yourself, "What would life be like for me if I incorporated more of what I admire into my own life?" And more importantly, "How can I incorporate more of that?"

For me, one of the things that really struck me about Gilbert was her attitude.

...Gilbert underwent heart surgery a decade ago, but it barely slowed her. She recorded lectures and had the substitute teacher play them for the class. Exams and papers were delivered to her each day so she could grade them.

"I'm crazy, OK?" Gilbert said. "That is my attitude. I don't dwell on the negative."

Every morning, Gilbert lifts weights and does yoga. Weekends are filled with UCLA basketball and football games and visiting her grandchildren.

Asked when she will stop teaching, Gilbert pauses.

"When I'm tired," she finally says. "I'm not tired. I have more energy than a kid."

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Living to inspire others

Sometimes what I run across as I'm out looking for something positive isn't breaking news, it's just a story about someone I want to know more about. Like this one about 40 year old Greg Smith.

40-year-old Greg Smith doesn't sugar coat it. His life has been far from easy. Born with muscular dystrophy, he wasn't expected to live past the age of 10. Now the father of three lives to inspire others.

"Not just people with disabilities, but everyone, because I feel like in my life, I've been through tough times, and I've come out victorious," said Smith. "And there is a story that anybody can be inspired by."

I started poking around to find out more about Smith. He's a national speaker, a radio show host, the subject of a documentary, and an author.

There is no fairy tale ending to Smith's story. The challenges in his life continue. Hurricane Katrina flooded their house in Mississippi with four feet of water just as he was dealing with congestive heart failure. He had to live in a nursing home for three months while their house was being rebuilt. And now...

Back home and recovered now, his body continues to grow weaker from M.D. He can no longer dress himself and needs help getting in and out of bed.

"I can't turn over in bed very easily, especially if I'm under a heavy blanket," said Smith. "I feel straight-jacketed at night. I have to condition my mind to just go back to sleep."

But he can still speak, and he continues to travel the country providing insights and motivation through the lessons he's learned along the way.

For me, the inspiration of stories like Smith's isn't just about seeing somebody overcome enormous obstacles. It's about how their story relates to me and my potential. As Smith put it as he was talking about the public's perception of the disabled...

"We don't feel sorry for ourselves, so you shouldn't either," he said. "In fact, I view the lessons I've learned from my disability as an opportunity to teach other people what they can do, and what's inside their spirits as human beings."

Each of us has amazing potential. Most of us, truthfully, don't come anywhere close to embracing it. Stories like Smith's serve to shake us out of our little world of perceived barriers and restrictions, and remind us to reach for something bigger.

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