Lebenslustiger.com

Nic is collecting "Glück" today.

In Germany this word has two meanings:

Happiness or luck.

I am very blessed to have happiness in my life. And I am very grateful for it.

Still I also like to search for it because it is a fascinating topic. I wrote about it here and here.

My biggest "luck": Our two wonderful children!

One already taler than me and the other one is getting closer, too.

Today I am also happy because I have been invited by Die Raumfee to talk about what "home" means to me.

Please visit Katja - I am revealing big news over there!

Thank you for having me, dear Katja!

Happy Day,

Anette 

… theoretically yes, but also in practice, indeed you do have to practice, because happiness does not just happen

With that I have a few thoughts, links and stimulating questions for you today:

Of course you heard or read this or that about it already - happiness is clearly no recent invention...

But it is a good time to be reminded of that in this frantically "contemplative" time.

The streets are full, the checkout queues long, the shops full of people...

Merry Christmas...

I myself am a rather impatient type, therefore situations like holiday shopping make me go crazy.

But you can use those little pauses of waiting being forced on you for good thoughts instead of b*tching and moaning about them.

So:

- Why am I hectic if I have to wait somewhere?

- Do I do that perhaps only because I always did?

- Do I want to impress myself with being super busy with everything I got to do?

- Do I want to impress others with my busy-ness and full schedule?

- Do I really like this, do I want this? Or should I not simply admit that this - here is a German word for you: "Verplantheit" - this being-over-scheduled actually blows big time?

- In reality I do not have to want to do everything, have everything, master everything...

- Perhaps I must make a few clear decisions about what's really important and what is not.

(If decisions are hard for you, you can use a few props as proxies, and place them around you in the room, look at them, weigh them - sounds funny, but does totally work)

- Having a plan is good - though it is even better to have a plan B...

- Happiness always comes paired with not-so-happiness, with times when you are simply not up to practicing happiness - settling for serenity, relaxing maybe with a good book on the subject?

- "Mein Glückspilztrainer" (My Trainer for Happiness)

- "Was aber ist Glück?" (What is happiness?)

- "Mein Glückstrainingsbuch" (My happiness training book)

- "Glück, The world book of Happiness"

Also for children:

- "Ein kleines Stück vom Glück" (Christmas book)

- "Heute bin ich..." (Today I am ..)

- "Die Glücksfee" (The Happiness Fairy)

- "Glück, was ist das?" (Happiness, what is that?)

- "Was, wenn ich nicht der wäre, der ich bin?" (What if I were not who I am?)

I myself am now quite through the test - it is very good and telling, but also quite extensive. Maybe something for the holiday down time? There is a test for adults and one for children!

Have a happy day,

Anette

Tickets with words for life from Feine Billetterie 

...IS possible!

Every day a little bit and sometimes a little bit more - like I did last weekend.

I signed up for a workshop at the Fritz-Schubert-Instituts where teachers and people with other professions learn to teach students "happiness".

No - I am NOT joking!

It's true and it's really interesting and fun. I like to attend the workshop for personal growing, inspiration and adventure - can't say, if I will ever "teach" it - for now I will just go with the flow...

We already have some schools in Germany who offer "happiness" as a subject in their curricula! And what a great idea to teach it to the young, right?

So, from time to time I will let you know what I have personally learned so far in the "happiness" field.

Like everything here on the blog, it is meant to be as an inspiration, a little poke for an exchange of ideas and not scientific proven research.

We all strive after happiness - at least Aristoteles said so - and I guess we would all agree, that a successful life makes us happy.

But everybody has an own definition of what an "successful life" looks like.

It is a good idea to start with the question: What kind of human do I want to be? What ethics and moral will I live by?

Virtues and your individual character strengths will help answering those questions. 

Virtues? Sounds like dust bunnies and 'be home by 9pm',right?

Let's see. Scientists agreed on six virtues and 24 character strengths.

These character strengths determine, how you personally live and experience those six virtues in your daily life.

If your name doesn't start with 'Super' and doesn't end with 'hero', then most likely you will be- like the rest of us- not top of the pop in All 24 character strengths. Normally, one will have four to five so called 'signature strengths'.

Once you figured out and identified your personal signature strengths, you should try to consciously apply them in all areas of life. With a little exercise this should supposed to be an easy process, because those signature strengths are naturally given to you. And if something flows easily and effortless out and around - then everything feels inspired and exhilarated in blissful delight. You will experience to be in the 'FLOW'. You will experience HAPPINESS.

And since "Being-in-the-flow" is an active behavior in the present, it also determines the effect of the past, or in other words: you are free to shape the present positively and won't be determined by the past.

Here are the 6 virtues with its 24 character strengths:

1st Virtue: wisdom / knowledge
associated character strengths: creativity, curiosity, discernment, love of learning, being able to give good advice

2nd Virtue: courage (to overcome internal and external opposition or anxiety)
associated character strengths: authenticity / integrity ( honesty), bravery, perseverance, enthusiasm

3rd Virtue: compassion
associated character strengths: kindness, loyalty, empathy

4th Virtue: justice
associated character strengths: fairness, leadership ability, teamwork,

5th Virtue, moderation (for example: protection from extremes)
associated character strengths: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation

6th Virtue: transcendental (strengths here are meant to give meaning to life)
associated character strengths: a sense for beauty, gratitude, hope and optimism, humor, spirituality (= can feel attentiveness to a larger, more comprehensive reality)

It's not too complicated, right? Take your time - usually it's quite clear, which four or five strengths out of those 24 are your strongest. Yes, and then you might want to give the whole story a try - it's actually FREE! If humor does not belong to your signature strengths, I would definitely recommend adding at least a generous pinch of it...

Aren't those tickets great? They are from: Feine Billetterie 

Have a happy day,

Anette 

So happy I found this great idea!

My old beloved cashmere sweater had aged to a point where it started to decorate itself with holes at the elbows.

And even if the sweater is anyway no longer suitable for out and about, I still love to wrap myself in it on early chilly mornings. 

So comforting and the day is off to a good start. Kind of a ritual thing, I guess...

These needle felted patches are so quickly done and so fun to make.

Since one sleeve had a larger hole I had to put the clover leaf petals closer together on this side to fill the empty space. It worked well - you can see it on the picture which shows the backside/inside of the sleeve and where it's visible how nicely the wool closed the hole.

Sprinkle a bit water on your finished design to set the patch. 

My mornings got color... and luck! Love it! 

XOXO, Anette