FROM CHILDHOOD TO MATURITY
WHEN YOU ARE GROWING UP, FROM AN EARLY AGE YOU BECOME CONDITIONED TO SEE YOURSELF AS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LIFE. THIS IS NORMAL AND NATURAL. WHEN YOU ARE A CHILD, YOUR PARENTS ARE IN CHARGE. THEY MAKE ALL YOUR DECISIONS. THEY DECIDE WHAT FOOD YOU WILL EAT, WHAT CLOTHES YOU WILL WEAR, WHAT TOYS YOU WILL PLAY WITH, WHAT HOME YOU WILL LIVE IN, WHAT SCHOOL YOU WILL ATTEND, AND WHAT ACTIVITIES YOU WILL ENGAGE IN DURING YOUR SPARE TIME. BECAUSE YOU ARE YOUNG, INNOCENT, AND UNKNOWING, YOU DO WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO DO. YOU HAVE LITTLE CHOICE OR CONTROL.
AS YOU GROW UP, HOWEVER, YOU BEGIN TO MAKE MORE AND MORE OF YOUR OWN DECISIONS IN EACH OF THESE AREAS. BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR EARLY PROGRAMMING, YOU ARE CONDITIONED UNCONSCIOUSLY TO FEEL THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS STILL RESPONSILBLE FOR YOUR LIFE. THAT THERE IS STILL SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE WHO CAN OR SHOULD TAKE CARE OF YOU.
MOST PEOPLE GROW UP BELIEVING, THAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG, SOMEONE ELSE IS RESPONSIBLE. SOMEONE ELSE IS TO BLAME. SOMEONE ELSE IS GUILTY. SOMEONE ELSE IS THE VILLAIN THE THEY ARE THE VICTIM. AS A RESULT, MOST PEOPLE MAKE MORE AND MORE EXCUSES FOR THE THINGS IN THEIR LIVES, PAST AND PRESENT, THAT MAKE THEM UNHAPPY.
GET OVER THE MISTAKES YOUR PARENTS MADE
IF YOUR PRENTS CRITICIZED YOU OR GOT ANGRY WITH YOU FOR MISTAKES YOU MADE WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP, YOU BEGAN TO UNCONCIOUSLY ASSUME THATSOMEHOW YOU WERE AT FAULT. IF YOUR PARENTS PUNISHED YOU PHYSICALLY OR EMOTIONALLY FOR DOING OR NOT DOING SOMETHING THAT PLEASED OR DISPLEAED THEM, YOU FELT INFERIOR AND INADEQUATE.
WHEN YOUR PARENTS WITHHELD THEIR LOVE TO PUNISH YOU FOR NOT DOING SOMETHING THEY DEMANDED, YOU MIGHT HAVE GROWN UP WITH DEEP FEELINGS OF GUILT, UNWORTHINESS, AND UNDESERVINGNESS. ALL THESE NEGATIVE FEELINGS COULD THEN INTERSECT TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A VICTIM, LIKE YOU WRE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF OR YOUR LIFE ONCE YOU BECAME AN ADULT.
THE MOST COMMON FEELING THAT WE HAVE AS ADULTS IF WE HAVE BEEN RAISED IN A CRITICAL HOME ENVIRONMENT IS THE FEELING THAT :I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH" BECAUSE OF THIS FEELING, WE COMPARE OURSELVES UNFAVORABLY TO OTHERS. WE THINK THAT OTHER PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO BE HAPPIER OR MORE CONFIDENT ARE BETTER THAN US. WE DEVELOP FEELINGS OF INFERIORITY. THIS CAN BECOME AN EMOTIONAL TRAP.
SELF-DISCIPLINE AND THE GOOD LIFE
YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL IN LIFE IS TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO THIS FOR YOU. THIS PERSONAL DESIRE IS THE MOTIVATION BEHIND ALMOST EVERY BEHAVIOR. MOREOVER, HAPPINESS IS MORE EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL THAN IT IS A MATTER OF ACQUIRING MATERIAL THINGS. IN THIS PART, YOU WILL LEARN HOW THE PRACTICE OF DISCIPLINE IN THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS OF YOUR LIFE CAN BRING YOU MORE JOY AND SATISFACTION THAN PERHAPS ANY OTHER QUALITY.
THE REASON FOR HAPPINESS
IT IS OFTEN THE SIZE OF THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR PRESENT SITUATION AND THE CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT YOU FEEL THAT YOU NEED TO BE HAPPY THAT DETERMINES WHETHER YOU ARE HAPPY OR UNHAPPY. THIS IS VERY MUCH A MATTER OF YOUR OWN EVALUATION AND DECISION.
THERE IS AN OLD SAYING THAT "SUCCESS IS GETTING WHAT YOU WANT, HAPPINESS IS WANTING WHAT YOU GET". WHEN YOUR INCOME AND YOUR LIFE ARE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR GOAL AND EXPECTATIONS AND YOU ARE CONTENT WITH YOUR SITUATION, YOU FEEL HAPPY. IF ON THE OTHER HAND, FOR ANY REASON YOUR CURRENT SITUATION IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU REALLY WANT AND EXPECT, YOU WILL BE DISCONTENED AND UNHAPPY.
THIS STATE OF CONTENTMENT CAN BE CONSTANTLY CHANGING, WHEN YOU START OFF IN YOUR CAREER, AN INCOME OF $ 50000 PER YEAR CAN SEEM LIKE A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT. BUT ONCE YOU NOT EARNING $100000 OR MORE. SOME PEOPLE ARE UNHAPPY EARNING A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
HAPPINESS IS A BY-PRODUCT
THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT HAPPINESS IS THAT IT IS NOT A GOAL THAT YOU CAN AIM AT AND ACHIEVE IN AND OF ITSELF. HAPPINESS IS A BY-PRODUCT THAT COMES TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE ENGAGED IN DOING SOMETHING THAT YOU REALLY ENJOY WHILE IN THE COMPANY OF PEOPLE WHO YOU LIKE AND RESPECT.
EARL NIGHTINGALE, PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS AND RESPECTED RADIO COMMENTATOR ON SUCCESS IN HISTORY, SAID THAT "HAPPINESS IS THE PROGRESSIVE REALIZATION OF A WORTHY IDEAL". WHENEVER YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE MOVING, STEP-BY-STEP, TOWARD SOMETHING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, TOWARD YOUR MOST IMPORTANT GOALS, YOU AUTOMATICALLY FEEL HAPPY. YOU FEEL SATISFIED AND CONTENT. YOU FEEL A TREMENDOUS SENSE OF PERSONAL GROWTH AND WELL-BEING.
