Live Happy: Learning by example

Humility offers you a sense of freedom

Our minds are powerful. Everything we say and do arises from our thoughts. So if you can change your thoughts, your experience of the world becomes happier.

 
The first of the16 Guidelines For Life, Humility, offers you a sense of freedom. Being open to listen, learn and understand offers you ways to know what to say or do that will help someone or at least not harm them.

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Patricia Taylor of Hamilton says, “Humility is knowing that I know nothing and come to everything like a blank slate ready to receive.”

Deborah Klassen of Burlington says, “The way we treat others and see the beauty within each person shows humility.” 

“If you have humility,” says Dave Gould of Hamilton, “you don’t seek praise and are not disappointed if you are not praised. It comes from inner strength. It allows you to think that you are no better than anyone else.” 

“Being able to feel for someone else.“ is how Susan Tesluk of Dundas explains humility.

Try this: When people speak to you, do you sometimes continue what you are doing, treating them as if they were not important enough to have your full attention? Next time someone speaks to you, stop what you are doing, make eye contact, listen carefully and note one new thing that you have learned.
Challenge: We invite you to nominate someone in your daily life who exemplifies and practices humility.

Who makes you happy?

What makes you happy? There are so many different ways you, your friends and family may choose to find happiness. But the goal is the same: We all want to be happy.

I would like to introduce Learning by Example, a community campaign that celebrates the inner qualities that help us enjoy a happy life. We have tried to identify these in 16 Guidelines For Life. You probably excel in a couple of them, perhaps more.

One individual who excels in the qualities that lead to happiness is the Dalai Lama. But his society was once rife with conflict.  

It was not until the 6th century that King Songsten Gampo helped all Tibetan society make a radical shift from violence to peace. The 16 Guidelines For Life are based on the inspirational values and principles he introduced to his people.

Now is a time when the same principles could help our society, when the world seems confused about what really leads to inner happiness and benefits those around us. These can help you and the people you love. Maybe even people in your life who you don’t really care about or even avoid.

We will introduce each of these qualities during the next 16 weeks, starting with qualities that strongly influence how we think. Our minds are powerful: if we change our minds, we can change our experience of the world.  

The challenge: As we introduce the guidelines, one each week, we ask you to look for people in your everyday life who exemplify that specific quality in a way that leads to happiness for those around them. Look for individuals in your neighbourhood, home, work, community centre, church or any where you witness a person who lives that quality.

Then we invite you to nominate them for recognition, sending us their story and what they do that generates happiness using that quality.

We will post your stories so all Hamilton area residents can celebrate their contributions to a happy society. The more we embrace the brothers and sisters who are our local heros, the more we are inspired to make our own lives meaningful and our community a happy place to be with each other.

To make an contribution to this project, click the comment link below

 

Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw, 2008 Halton Women of the Year and Director of The Centre for Compassion and Wisdom, is co-author of the book, 16 Guidelines For Life, a practical and simple tool for making life better. You can order the book at www.centreforcompassionandwisdom.com.