Simply being aware of how a loved one prefers little things and doing it their way is one way to show your respect and awareness. Just as in meditation to be successful, you must do more than observe in love.

Successful meditation, as in love, requires you to become completely available, to be intimate, and be vulnerable.

Avoiding hard decisions 

Accepting the first thought that comes to mind, rather than using data for making decisions could be one sign you lack self-awareness. Have you found yourself thinking, “They’ll think less of me if I suggest a different option” so you plainly accept their suggestion? Or perhaps your motivation is rarely elevated and you push things off until a future date?

Try this next time you have a hard decision to make. Rather than accepting the first thought, examine the thought and see how it compares to the data you have available to you.

Remember, people who tend to be self-aware do a lot of psychological experimenting.

Try it, test things out.

“As with any emotional experience, you can never reach a permanent state of happiness…” Mary Hoang

Have you ever realized we aren’t taught how to be happy?

Something to strive for is unconditional happiness.  So many of us place conditions on when we will be happy.  If only my kids behaved, my wife loved me, I lost weight, I got a new client, etc.  The list can go on indefinitely.  The reality is happiness is more about the process than the destination.

One thing to consider during  your pursuit of happiness is being aware of all the other emotions that you can encounter during the course of a day, week or month.  Don’t punish yourself because you aren’t always happy.  Be aware and accept where you are today.

Nearly every time you see him, he’s laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He’s the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and a hugely sought-after speaker and statesman. Why is he so popular? Even after spending only a few minutes in his presence you can’t help feeling happier. 

If you ask him if he’s happy, even though he’s suffered the loss of his country, the Dalai Lama will give you an unconditional yes. What’s more, he’ll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that the very motion of our life is toward happiness. How to get there has always been the question. He’s tried to answer it before, but he’s never had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we can easily understand. 

The Art of Happiness is the book that started the genre of happiness books, and it remains the cornerstone of the field of positive psychology. 

Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Howard Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life’s obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace. Based on 2,500 years of Buddhist meditations mixed with a healthy dose of common sense, The Art of Happiness is a book that crosses the boundaries of traditions to help readers with difficulties common to all human beings. After being in print for ten years, this book has touched countless lives and uplifted spirits around the world.