Join me in starting a movement. Let's all get happy!

In my latest article, A Happiness Project I suggest a movement to spread love and happiness. Read it and join me.

Come back here and tell me about your random acts of kindness everyday. Tell me about the groups you start in your community or among your friends and family.

Also, share with us the ways that this project impacts your life.

Feel free to join us at anytime that you read the article or come to the idea. We will always be looking for your input.

Dear Yvonnie,

Just wrote you an e-mail wanting to join this project.;

The realm I live in ,makes it that the giving others happiness,by the way ,to me cannot be done,each Mind makes his happiness or suffering.

Hope you are in accord with my comment.If not,it,s o.k,different strokes for different stroke.
I usually am in the Buddhism section.When I saw the word happiness ,I had to come and see you.,,
Is there an article in which you describe your view of what happiness is to you?
With respect
Loong

Yvonnie, doing kind acts sounds lovely, but for me it doesn't make me happy to make others happy.

Dear Jilly,

Been a while.What makes you happy then?

loong

Hello Jilly and loong-

Absolutely, I agree (loong), that happiness comes from within. That said, kind acts + love = happiness for the giver of the kind act because it takes their mind off of their woes. It makes them be present.

Stopping your act of business or your mental rhetoric in recognition of someone else's need often changes your space, finds you recognition you were not even after, and/or awakens a spirit of warmth and unconditional love within that you may have forgotten exists.

In these ways, you are giving happiness to yourself.

Jilly, I too would like to know what makes you happy.

In addition, I ask, when you hold the door open for a senior or you rub a doggy, and you can clearly see that your action has bought them a moment of happiness, a smile, a tail wag, or a clear, precise, and sincere "thank you", doesn't that create a spark or glow inside you? Does it evoke a smile from you? Does it brighten your mood or lighten your step for even a minute?

Not really. I do 'nice' things for people because I would like them done for me. It's more a reciprocity feeling. Maybe my aspergers doesn't really let me feel that sort of sharing with others.

I also pet a dog because I like dogs, not because i want to bring them happiness.

I honestly might be missing some kind of gene for this. Lisa suggested I might have a lack of mirror neurons.

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What makes me happy? Seeing pretty things (like a sunset, or a lake), learning something interesting, a backrub, laughing, being in a flow moment, traveling, and being outdoors. Being creative or artistic. Doing something well. Good naps. That kind of thing.

People aren't part of the equation for me.

Jilly,
Given your diagnosis of Asperger's disorder, that makes total sense! Social interactions are experienced, acted on and perceived very differently.

Welcome Dr. Hershey and thanks for chiming in. A Professional opinion on such matters is absolutely appreciated.

Jilly-

I never knew you had Aspergers. Thanks for sharing.

I love the idea that you do these things, not to make others happy, that is exactly the way it should be. Many of us have lost the inclination to be "nice" over time. Our lives are hectic and all about us, where we have to get to, and what our time constraints are. We have forgotten that others exist in this world and sometimes need a little assistance.

The Happy Project is to help us reconnect, which will also bring us back to the present tense, which is where our happiness resides.

For most of us, discontent and dislike reside in the past. Those emotions are about something that has already occurred. Sometimes, anxiety and imagination of what will happen create fear, and that also keeps us disconnected.

Being present is where happiness and unconditional love reside. Your definitions of happiness, being in nature, seeing pretty things, a back rub, laughing, are all moments of presence, they just don't include people.

The Happiness Project is pretty simple. In the Happiness Project anything that makes you happy counts as our goal; to spread happiness across the globe. The more happiness each of us experiences the more it will spread.

When you check in you tell us what made you happy and eventually we hope to hear how more frequent moments of happiness are impacting your quality of life. I expect to hear miraculous and amazing results.

So, you want me to mention things that made me happy?

I had a really nice breakfast today, and did a lot of reading. I would like to have gone for a walk, and hopefully will tomorrow.

I decided to fast so, happy had a hard time finding me. I was a bit cranky. That said, my 3 year olds laughter, smiles, and kisses gave the most fabulous moments of happiness today. So, I would say, I am not certain that I did anything for anyone else, but her random and frequent gifts to me puts her in the Happiness Project. And while I am struggling through these first few days of an intense detox, I will gladly be the recipient.