اليوم العالمي للسعادة

في يوم الـ 20 من مارس ، يحتفل العالم باليوم العالمي للسعادة ليس فقط كحدث ، ولكن كنوع من التقاليد التي ينبغي أن نكرمها في كل يوم من حياتنا.

ان مملكة بوتان ، المعروفة باعتماد السعادة الوطنية الاجمالية و باعتبارها مقياس الازدهار لشعبها، قد بدأت بمبادرة الأمم المتحدة لتكريس يوم للسعادة. ثم ، في حزيران 2012، أعلنت الجمعية العامة الـ 20  من مارس ليكون اليوم العالمي للسعادة . وهذا يعني ان في حياتنا نحن ندرك أهمية أنه بغض النظر عن مكانك الجغرافي أو جنسيتك أو حالتك الثقافية فحياتك ستعاش ، وأنت حر للاحتفال بالسعادة كحق غير قابل للتصرف.

كل منا يمكنه الاحتفال باليوم العالمي للسعادة من خلال تعبيره عن كيف نتشارك السعادة في دوائر علاقاتنا. يمكننا أن نجعل العالم مكانا أكثر سعادة ! فانها تبدأ بنا وتتدفق الى حياة الآخرين في موجة من التغيير الإيجابي في جميع أنحاء العالم.

خذ وحيك من تأثير قدرتك الخاصة. و قم بزيارة مشروع اللطف أو قم ببناء حائط السعادة الخاص بك في مجتمعك المحلي. دع العالم يكتشف اين اخذك سعيك لتحقيق السعادة ، و اجلب معك الآخرين!

أفعال اللطف العالمية تشجع لحياة أكثر سعادة. و ان يعيش المرء سعيدا لا يعتبر فقط بالشيء الصحيح الذي ينبغي القيام به ، وإنما هو الشيء الذكي الذي يجب فعله من أجل صحتك ، وعلاقاتك ونجاحك في حياتك المهنية . البحث المكثف يثبت أن اختيارك بعيش حياة سعيدة تؤثر في قناعتك مع الحياة. انها نبوءة تتحقق ذاتيا.

السبب في أن نقف في صالح جعل أعمال البر جزءا متعمدا من أيامنا لهذا فان مشاركتنا أعمال اللطف لا تجعلنا أكثر سعادةً فحسب, بل ستجعلنا نتشارك السعادة  مع كل شخص نلتمسه. فقد يكون لنا دوراً فعالاً في تغيير حياتهم – نحو الافضل.

بمجرد ان تفهم قوة السعادة ، فإنها ستقلب تفكيرك فتتصرف بشكل مختلف. و تتفاعل بشكل مختلف . الناس الأكثر سعادة يعيشون حياة أكثر ارتياحا. ويكسبون دخلاً أعلى. و يعالجون التوتر بشكل مختلف. ينهضون من الوضع السيء أسرع. فأنهم ببساطة يعيشون بشكل أفضل.

يمكنك مشاركة فوائد السعادة ببساطة عن طريق أداء أعمال اللطف اليومية. وأعمال اللطف التي تقوم بها يمكنها أن تصبح السبب في تموج أفعال متبادلة . تخيل أن يحدث هذا في جميع أنحاء العالم.

ندعوكم للانضمام في مغامرة تقاسم أعمال اللطف عمداً كل يوم. أو يمكنها ان تكون بسيطة كعناق .أوكلمة طيبة . أو مساعدة أحد الجيران . أو حتى فتح باب.

أعمال اللطف هي الأشياء الصغيرة – مع تأثير كبير . انها في كل يوم ، تعبيرات لطيفة يقوم الآخرون بفعلها لنا – وهي التي نقوم بها للآخرين عمداً.

لذلك ، هيا ! اجعل يوم شخص ما – و يومك ، أكثر إشراقا قليلاً.

اضغط على الرابط أدناه لمعرفة كيف يمكنك المشاركة في نشر السعادة هذا العام ( فاريل وليامز + مؤسسة الأمم المتحدة =يوم السعادة العالمي)

http://24hoursofhappiness.com

هايدي شبارو

مؤسسة "مشروع اللطف في الشرق الأوسط" ، معلمة وكاتبة

International Day of Happiness

On March 20, the world celebrates International Day of Happiness not just as an event, but as a tradition we should honor every day of our lives.

The Kingdom of Bhutan, known for adopting Gross National Happiness as a measurement of its people’s prosperity, started the U.N. initiative for a day devoted to happiness. Then, in June 2012, the General Assembly declared March 20 to be International Day of Happiness. That means in our lifetime, we recognize the importance that no matter under what geographic, nationality or cultural condition your life is lived, you are free to celebrate happiness as your unalienable right.

We can each celebrate International Day of Happiness by expressing how we share happiness in our circles of relationships. We can make the world a happier place! It starts with us and ripples into the lives of others in a wave of positive change around the world.

Be inspired by your own potential impact. Visit The Kindness Project or build your own happiness wall in your local community. Let the world know where your pursuit of happiness has taken you, and bring others along!

Intentional acts of kindness encourage happier lives. And living happy is not just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do for your health, relationships and career success. Overwhelming research proves that your choice to live a happy life impacts your satisfaction with life. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That’s why we stand in favor of making acts of kindness an intentional part of our days.

Not only will sharing acts of kindness make us each happier, but we will share happiness with everyone we touch. We can have an active part in changing their lives—for good.

Once you understand the power of happiness, it changes your thinking. You act differently. And interact differently. Happier people lead more satisfied lives. They earn higher incomes. They process stress differently. They rebound faster. They just live better.

You can share the benefits of happiness by simply performing everyday acts of kindness. And your acts of kindness can cause a ripple of reciprocal acts. Imagine that happening all around the world.

We invite you to join in the adventure of intentionally sharing acts of kindness every day. It can be as simple as a hug. A kind word. Helping a neighbor. Holding a door.

Acts of kindness are small things—with a big impact. They’re every day, thoughtful expressions that others do for us—and that we intentionally do for others.

So, come on! Make someone’s day—and yours—a little brighter.

Click the link below to find out how YOU can participate in spreading the happiness this year (Pharrell Williams + United Nations Foundation= Int'l Day of Happiness!)

http://24hoursofhappiness.com/

By Heidi Shebaro

Founder of "The Kindness Project in the Middle East", a teacher and a blogger

Reach Your Goals!

As we progress forward in life and think about the things we don’t like and fantasize about the things we do like. We form imaginary situations and fantasies that are linked to celebrity photoshopped pictures and movie scenes. We follow fantasies that lead us astray and away from our goals thus rendering us always unsatisfied and on the yo yo of up and down.

Through time we loose our objectives and look externally for satisfaction, we start to blame external circumstances for our unhappiness. What is worse we blame ourselves we are not disciplined enough, not good enough, and another battle of build your self esteem, leadership skills, I will talk more gently, I will be more submissive etc starts internally... The truth is your strengths are what you need to reach your goal your purpose in life. 

Your weaknesses/shortcomings are the challenges that will further motivate you and make you fail in order to reach your destination. Your shortcomings are the tool to perfect your journey in this life and make it worthwhile.

The weaknesses you condemn are not really an issue as they appear as indicators that  you are not following your path, you are truly unhappy and that is why weaknesses/ bad habits increase in number and in nature.

The weaknesses that you do posses that need to be overcome only show up at work, they are the things that you feel if you just push a little harder you will get to your objective, those are the real challenges that need to be overcome.

For example: You want to become a famous singer but have stage fear. This fear is what you need to push against this will make you work harder in order to cover your fear. If you want to be a singer to be famous and have a nice car and be like Beyonce you will most likely have stage fear, voice problems, trembling, and you will be tone deaf and the list will grow

Identify your objective:

“If following our objective was easy we will all be living happy fulfilled lives” Noon

• What you thought you wanted to be when you grow up
• What are the things you liked to study at school
• Area of your life that you are struggling with
• What you most talk about
• The types of movies you mostly watch
• Your resolutions what direction do they take you
• Hobby, what are you known for

If we carefully observe the answers to these we will see a very distinct pattern. The weakness that you are facing is the area that you need to invest your time in. By investing your time in an area that you are struggling with you will find your true weaknesses and opportunities for growth. By slow introspection and empowering the area of our life that needs work we will see doors that open leading us to our goal.

By Jana Sharaf

Public affairs, Philosopher, and Founder of "NOON EVE"

“Give me more.....”

It is often that we find ourselves disappointed, we want something but it is not happening. Desire is one of the things that keeps us alive and moving. Its what gives us hope, its the motivation behind all of our actions. We are driven by desire to want more, to receive more money, love, sex, beauty or what ever we think defines us in this physical world. 

Desire is a healthy state of wanting in order to survive in this physical world, and this has been an eternal battle between between the physical and spiritual. No matter how many schools of thought have tried to intellectualize the process of desire some by complete suppression some by desire to share. The reality is that the minute you intellectualize an aspect of self as vital as desire your ego takes a rooting in it. Even your best motives and your best intentions become structures and tend to loose the spiritual essence in them. 

How do you maintain the balance in your desires? How do you stop your self from being enslaved by your work, your relationship, you ego? The best way is to master the desire.

The best way to become the master is to put the outcome of your desire with the hands of Divine intelligence otherwise known as God. If Divine Intelligence and you have the same agenda then be sure that your desire will manifest. How do you discover if your desire is the same as Divine Intelligence? 

Cleansing your intentions

Cleaning your intention comes from having a clean heart and not mind. Cleansing your heart is a process that has been intellectualized through morality and ethics but few of us harbor a clean heart, so what is the best way to heart cleansing. 

Forgiveness Tool

Forgiveness is not asking people to forgive you and its not forgiving your self. Its a literal meaning of sitting in a meditative post or just before you fall asleep and truly asking for forgiveness. At the start your ego will play tricks but continue doing it and slowly you will recall what you are asking for forgiveness for.

“ Please forgive me” or “ Forgive me” followed by a second of silence best done 100 times before bed should take up 3 minutes.

Benefits of Forgiveness Meditation:

• increases sustenance
• increases humility
• increases heart to heart connections 
• cleanses the intentions
• aligns your desires with universal intelligence
• 
  

By Jana Sharaf

Political consultant, philosopher, dream analyst and founder of "NOON EVE"

My husband crushed me with his feet

Reading the middle east news in the morning as usual, I was shocked to see that post. Carine Salameh, a famous anchor on a Lebanese television was hit by her husband.

It is not acceptable anymore! Enough!! Women are not animals! Even animals shouldn't be beat up according to any religion or any moral school.

All the campaigns and movements who advocate Arab women are NOT enough. The change has to start from our manners. The way the parents raise their kids and the manners that we teach our children.. This will grow up with them and stay forever.

Yes, behind every act of violence against women, parents who didn't raise their boys well. And by "well" I don't mean prepare them food and send them to good schools. Parents who reacted harshly and negatively to their kids' aggressive acts, parents who sat bad examples, parents who continued a cycle of violence and transferred it to their kids, parents who didn't stop the gender-based stereotypes, parents who spoiled their kids...

No wonder we started 2014 with "The Kindness Project in the Middle east" campaign!! We felt and touched the need for kindness, manners, morals and etiquettes in our Arab World.

Just last week, I was chatting with a lady who has a Facebook Group, more like a religious group. And I was asking to put some kindness posts on her group to encourage acts of kindness in the Middle East. Guess what she said!! Her exact reply was: "We only put religious posts". Isn't religion about morals and kindness?! Since when religion meant just prayers and sayings. Every religion started with manners and kindness.

We will not loose hope. We will continue our kindness project. Starting with 1 person, soon we will be millions.

And until we change the way we raise our children, we will still see violence and wars in our offspring.

By Heidi Shebaro

Founder of " The Kindness Project in the Middle East", a teacher and a blogger