Happy Hippies…

Have you ever noticed that “those hippie types” tend to be happier people than most??  I’m sure there be people who simply assume that hippies are happy because they are stoned!  To avoid starting a flame war on the pro’s vs con’s of the legalization of marijuana, let me make a statement.  I’m no stoner. 

Yes, there has been the odd time a hoot or two has been taken.  It’s been a VERY long time (February 2005 to be precise).  I find, for me personally, it’s the most effective sleeping aid there is.  Since sleep is not generally too much of a problem, there’s really no need to keep any around.  Suffice to say that although I don’t smoke it much, I AM a strong supporter of the movement to legalize it.

Being Canadian helps.  We tend to be rather liberal about a lot of things.

The concept of happiness will vary widely from one person to the next.  It’s difficult to define happiness since what brings JOY into your life is as personal an item as one’s relationship with their Creator.

What has probably had the single most profound effect on my personal happiness (and this sounds ridiculous) was a poster that was given to me in my late teens.  The title read:  “How To Be Happy, In Spite of Yourself”.

The border was bright orange and it was divided up into a number of squares.  Each contained small snippets and suggestions on simple things that could potentially bring happiness.  The poster itself was lost somewhere along the way, but the little tidbits of advice have stayed.

One section read:  “Learn to appreciate the little things”.

**warm, dry socks

**the smell of fresh nail polish

**wine, bread and cheese on a hillside (any hillside will do)

Another section was entitled:  “Devote yourself to something OUTSIDE of yourself”

**helping out at an animal shelter

**serving soup to others

**study the life and times of Dorian Gray

It took me quite a while to fully understand the Dorian Gray thing…I did eventually get it.

Another thing that will contribute greatly is health.  In general “hippies” tend to lean toward a VERY healthful diet and lifestyle.  We “hippie types” pursue organics as a matter of practice whenever possible.   We putz with gardening and like to know precisely what is in the food we consume.  For me, this will eventually result in retiring to my organic fruit and vegetable farm at Summerberry, SK  ( www.summerberryorganics.com ) In the interim, its making a point of eating GOOD food.  Not complicating my life with chemical (household, personal care, etc).  Hippocrates said it best:  “Let your food be your medicine”

If you pay attention to WHAT you eat, you WILL feel better.  If you FEEL good, you’re generally a happier person.  It all works together.

Stress, or a general lack of it, will also play a major role in your personal bliss zone.  I have found that my overall stress level has pretty much vanished since making the move to small town Saskatchewan.  Grant you, MONEY stress is at an all time high, but the niggling worries have left me.  I haven’t locked my front door in over a year, I no longer require the car-alarm-from-hell.  The day-to-day frustrations that once plagued my day are gone.  POOF.  Just like that.

This was all a very personal decision.  The will to work on being self sufficient (see www.summerberryorganics.com) grew out of a need to feel better.  The need to feel better was driven by strange and irritating health problems.

I found that eliminating the cause (or what I believed to be the cause) and simply make better choices has had the biggest impact on my quality of life.

By improving diet, my body likes me better.  By making my body happier, I FEEL better.  Because I feel better, I am more energetic.  Because I have more energy I am able to embark on projects that say, five years ago, I would NEVER have concieved.

So, you see how this all fits together?

One little thing at a time.  Cause and effect.  Little bit, by little bit causes fall away and are replaced by the effect.  The end result being HAPPINESS.  It’s all a matter of finding the small things that make the biggest difference.

Now if I could just figure out a way to make money being happy!!

Rational, Positive, Creative!

Tabby