Happiness

How do you feel right now?  Are you happy?  If not it is time to make some changes.

The psychological and philosophical pursuit of happiness began in China, India and Greece nearly 2,500 years ago with Confucius, Buddha, Socrates, and Aristotle. We can find remarkable similarities between the insights of these thinkers and the modern “Science of Happiness.” – Source http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org

Let’s face it, if we are not happy then we are wasting our time aren’t we?

I grew up in the greatest place on the planet, Hongoeka Marae.  Every one of my cousins that I grew up with will tell you the same thing.  We certainly did not come from families with money but we did come from a community that loved and cared for each other.  As kids, we were enabled to explore our talents, we were encouraged to get outside and play, we all had a roof over our heads and food in our belly’s.  We learnt from all our whanau (in my case my Mum, Nana, Poppa, Nane and many Uncles and Aunties who lived in Hongoeka Bay). We were very happy and that is what everyone wanted for everyone (well most of the time anyway).

When I was older and study organisation and management I discovered Maslow’s Theory and the first thing they came to my mind was that we had all the elements of his pyramid.  We may have not had much money but we did not even realise this because we were rich in all the elements that create a great life – We were happy.

Maslow’s Theory

As you can see from the image above there is no mention of Money.

In January 2015 I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, luckily it was benign and it would be removed via brain surgery in June 2015.  The next three years I have been recovering from this surgery which has resulted in an expected complication, damage to my pituitary stalk. This means I take a number of drugs on a daily basis to help replace the hormones which would normally be regulated from this area.

I am the father of four, my wife works but her salary alone does not cover all the bills.  Our savings and insurance claim ran out within 18 months and we were struggling.

I was not happy nor was the rest of my family.  At Fifty Four years old I have made the biggest decision in my life, to return to the happiness formula I knew so well when I was younger.

First things first.  Get as fit and healthy as I can.  Gym five days per week and eat healthy for at least six days per week.  Build a business I love (Personal Coaching and Digital Marketing) I love technology and using it to help people grow.

Create experiences and memories and spend time with both my loved ones and my wider whanau and friends.  Meditate. Help others in my community as much as I can and be grateful for the skills I have and the people around me.  Collect experiences not things. Grow. Try new things and just enjoy myself.

I am back on track, I hit Fifty-five years old this month, with the rest of my life ahead of me.  I have a plan and its foundation is happiness.  I have ambition and will make more than enough to pay off the credit cards and reduce the mortgage which has been leveraged to help us get by.  But money is not my driver – Happiness is.

 

I hope you find this helpful.

 

Tony Cutting

Personal Coach /Digital Marketer