Problem Solving

Today is inspirational-post day! Because I'm feeling inspired. And inspirational. And...and...I have a lot to do, including studying up and preparing myself for an interview tomorrow afternoon. All of you potential-writers / job-seekers out there: it can be done. Just keep working, trying, and building your skill set, as well as your confidence and optimism. Skepticism and cynicism may be good for realism, but past that they do no good whatsoever. Cup half full over cup half empty any day, for me.

Meditate, then, on this quote:

"Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them."~Jack Brown

A brief summary of an article (I was somehow unable to access the full article...an html link error, I believe) really encompasses, I think, just how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm looking at a lot of different job locations and career paths as I search for a means of providing for myself, so the question of will I be happy? really pops up frequently. Happy versus fed. Happy versus not living under a bridge. It can be a delicate balance between finding a place that is meaningful (aka won't drive you utterly insane) and adhering to the idea that beggars can't be choosers. One must understand that one is worth something, and therefore you can afford to be picky. But you also have to be willing to do and try activities and careers outside of your realm of 'perfect job where you sit at home eating Doritos and writing your million-dollar books.

 

I know. That'd be awesome.

 

The article states that through a study at Harvard, author Shawn Achor

"found that only 45 percent of workers surveyed were happy at their jobs. From his experience designing a course on happiness, working with Fortune 500 companies across 42 countries, and restarting the world's largest banks after the economic collapse, Achor concludes, 'Most people believe that success leads to happiness, but that formula is backwards. The truth is that happiness is the precursor to success. When you raise your happiness, you raise your success rates and increase productivity.'"

The point is, your success and your happiness do not need to be linked. You don't need to be making six figures in order to be happy. You could be dirt poor-- as many of us I know are --and still be blissfully happy. It's about thankfulness, respect, peace, faith, and never taking for granted the blessings that we have, and there are many of them, many that we don't think about on a daily basis. Being happy can lead to success, instead-- happiness is more pleasant to be around. Happiness can be translated into confidence. Happiness can lead to gratefulness which can lead to contentment.

And contentment can lead to Doritos.