Happiness

Charles Schulz, the author of the comic strip "Peanuts", once wrote a book called "Happiness is a Warm Puppy". Was this just a cute title for a book, or was Schulz trying to tell us something?


Everybody loves puppies. They're cute, cuddly and always happy to see you. Puppies will cheer you up when you are in a bad mood and are always ready to play with you. Puppies don't care how cool you are, how you look, how you did in school or whether or not you won your game. Puppies love you no matter what. In return, all the puppy asks is that you love it back.

So, yes, happiness is a warm puppy, but Schulz was really writing about something bigger than that. He was telling us one of the keys to happiness:

To love and to be loved.

A Dunk by a Girl?

Check this out....

Jogging Snobs

The two biggest fitness crazes in the 1980's were aerobics and jogging. During that time that it became socially acceptable to wear workout clothes as everyday street wear. In the 80's is was very common to see people walking down the street wearing fuzzy leg warmers from their aerobics classes


or warm-up suits from jogging.


My sister April was into both aerobics and jogging. She took aerobics classes on her days off and went for a run after work. She did not, however, wear aerobics outfits or warm-up suits for street wear.

April works for a store in Beverley Hills called Les Habitudes (www.leshabitudes.com). Les Habitudes is a high end clothing boutique where the average dress costs $3000. My sister has selected clothes for Racquel Welch, Meg Ryan, Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz. Clothes from Les Habitudes can be seen on TV each year during the Oscars telecast.


(these are photos of Berry and Cruz wearing dresses they bought from April)



My sister's clients come back to her year after year because she "really has a good feel for what looks good on me". Some clients trust her so much that they order clothes from her over the phone. "I need two evening dresses with accessories. You pick them. You know what I like."

She once took $50,000 worth of clothes to a client's house because she was sick. The client bought it all.

My sister knows fashion.

When it comes to exercise clothes, however, my sister chooses comfort over looks. For jogging, she likes to wear sweatshirts with the collar and sleeves cut off and baggy shorts.

One day, while on a run in Beverley Hills, April came to a red light. While waiting for the light to change, a couple in very expensive warm-up suits jogged up and waited for the light with her.

As they waited, the woman examined my sister from head to toe and made a face at her ratty clothes. She then turned to her companion and said loudly:

"If people can't afford to jog, they shouldn't do it....."

Sportsmanship

This is an amazing story.

My Wish for You

This is a picture of some of you in 3rd grade. Can you tell which exercise you're supposed to be doing?

My simple wish for all of my students: that you grow up to be happy and healthy.

Sounds simple right? Maybe not. The SF Chronicle recently published a series of articles on happiness, such as how to be happy, who is happy, why people aren't happy and how your happiness affects your health.

One thing these articles showed was that happy people tended to be healthier than unhappy people.

This is easy to understand, once you think about it. Happy people tend to take better care of themselves. Unhappy people tend to use artificial means to make themselves feel better. Things like too much food or alcohol or drugs. Happy people tend to enjoy every day. Unhappy people tend to stress out or get depressed, which makes them prone to illness.

I wish you happiness and health because the two go together.

So, how do make yourself a happy person?

There's lots of things you can do. Some may sound silly, others may sound difficult. Mostly, your happiness will depend on your ability to get along with other people and how you feel about yourself. Keep reading this blog for suggestions on how to make your interpersonal relationships meaningful. I've already given you a big suggestion: learn to listen to each other.

Here's another: accept people for who they are, not who you think they should be. Then, learn to see the good in people.

An old saying: "Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone."

Listen

I once read a book called "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. It is a great, sad book about life in a small Southern town during the Great Depression.



The town's citizens don't really know each other. Times are tough. Everyone is poor and struggling to make ends meet. Even though they live in the same small town, every one lives their lives separately, both because they don't want others to know about their struggles and because they aren't interested in hearing about anyone else's.

A man named John Singer moves into town. He is quiet, patient and easy to talk to. Soon, many people visit Singer to do just that. They tell him things they don't tell anyone else and in so doing, they are able to unburden themselves of worries and fears they were keeping inside. They also share with him their secret dreams and desires. By doing this, Singer's visitors begin to feel hopeful and optimistic where they were sad and lonely before. The simple fact that they have found someone who seems to value them, who listens to them, makes them feel better about themselves and the world in general.

The thing is, these people aren't really confiding in Singer. You see, John Singer is deaf. The citizens of the town are so desparate for someone to talk to that they confide in someone who can't hear, let alone understand them. Later, when something tragic happens to Singer, he cannot find anyone to talk to, not only because he has trouble making himself understood but because noone is interested in listening to him.

Singer finally finds some comfort in the company of a 13 year old girl. She is the friendless daughter of the owner of the house in which Singer lives. She is viewed by most people in the town as a little odd. She starts to talk to Singer, and in turn, tries to understand what he is trying to tell her. They slowly build a genuine friendship based on their willingness to listen to each other.

One of the points the author tried to make with this book is that, in order to build meaningful relationships, one of the most important skills you must have is the ability to listen. She also points out that, in order for a relationship to work, both sides must try to listen to each other.

Listening does not mean simply waiting for your turn to talk. It means hearing, understanding and reacting to what the other person is saying. Relationships are built on mutual understanding. The first step in reaching that understanding is listening to each other.

Beware of the Green Monster

No, I'm not talking about the left field wall at Fenway Park.

I'm talking about envy.



Envy, or jealosy, is a destructive force. Don't let it rule you. If you do, you will never be happy. If you do, you will find yourself angry with others for having something that you want. You can't control that, so let it go. Envy makes you do mean, nasty, unpleasant things to other people. When you're thinking unkind thoughts about someone, stop and consider: is it because I'm jealous? If the answer is yes, it is you that needs to work something out, not the other person.