Intention & Pursuit

“Our actions should have an intention, and the outcome of an affair is its intention and pursuit. Those who pursue materialism will get it, or pursue a woman will nail her.”

“The outcome is determined by the intention and pursuit.”

Our actions could be pointless because our intention was not clear.

Many times we strive only to find it pointless with no outcome, the reason is because we have no set intention for the outcome.

Other times we know what we want but don't even get out of our comfort zone or even bed to pursue our goals.

To obtain the best outcome of an affair is a clear intention before any action, and the diligent pursuit  with action.

By Jana Sharaf

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

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

Zimbardo

“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”  Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by psychologist professor Philip Zimbardo and colleagues. Aimed to investigate the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a simulated prison environment. The experiment was supposed to last two weeks but was ended abruptly just six days later, after a string of mental breakdowns, an outbreak of sadism and a hunger strike.

The research team placed newspaper advertisements in the Palo Alto Times and The Stanford Daily offering $15/day to male college students for a study on the psychology of imprisonment: 24 students, predominantly white, middle-class, were chosen: 12 to role play prisoners and 12 to role play guards. These students had no prior record of criminal arrests, medical conditions, or psychological disorders.

The local Palo Alto police department conducted surprise arrests at the home of “prisoners”. Students were handcuffed, searched, read their rights, and driven in a squad car to the police station for booking and fingerprinting and were charged with robbery.

The guards were given only a brief orientation telling them to maintain law and order, avoid physical violence, and prevent prisoner escapes. They were provided with wooden batons in order to establish their status, clothing similar to that of an actual prison guard and mirrored sunglasses to prevent eye contact.  Prisoners wore uncomfortable ill-fitting smocks and stocking caps, as well as a chain around one ankle. Guards were instructed to call prisoners by their assigned numbers, sewn on their uniforms, instead of by name.

As mentioned by Prof Zimbardo, "the first day they came there it was a little prison set up in a basement with fake cell doors and by the second day it was a real prison created in the minds of each prisoner, each guard and also of the staff". The simulation became so real, and the guards became so abusive, that the experiment had to be shut down after only 6 days rather than the two weeks planned. "Suddenly, the whole dynamic changed as they believed they were dealing with dangerous prisoners, and at that point it was no longer an experiment," said Prof Zimbardo.

Abusive guard behavior appears to have been triggered by features of the situation rather than by the personality of guards. Zimbardo argued that both prisoner and guards had internalized their roles. None of them were forced to behave in certain ways and were free to withdraw from the experiment at any time. However, none of the guards left the experiment earlier, while half of the prisoners were released early due to severe emotional or cognitive reactions.

Results of the experiment suggest that the situation, rather than individual personalities, caused the participant’s behavior.

"The study is the classic demonstration o

f the power of situations and systems to overwhelm good intentions of participants and transform ordinary, normal young men into sadistic guards or for those playing prisoners to have emotional breakdowns," said Prof Zimbardo.

Zimbardo offers psychological interpretation of how ordinary people sometimes commit unexpected acts and what are the possible ways of preventing it. He argues that moral behavior can be cultivated in early life by rewarding positive behavior.

He highlights some ideas that we can bring into our own lives and those of our children.

He also gives a set of general advice of how to become more influence savvy.

If we consider some of these general psychological principles, we can accentuate the good and eliminate the negatives in our lives.  At the end of the day, regardless of our ethnical, social or religious background, “Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is” (Albert Camus).

Dr. Anastasia Burelomova
Counseling Psychologist

I am jealous- Help me!

When I was asked about jealousy 2 weeks ago, I started to write an article which is now long gone in the trash. The 1st version was too philosophical & the 2nd too academic. I did not feel like I had anything to say to this person that needed my help! I truly prayed to be able to help this person, and fortunately God answered my prayers. I now write from my heart, and the tools to overcome it come from experience  making them effective.

Jealousy is a deep rooted feeling of insecurity telling you that you are not good enough. The mind starts to protect itself to be able to hide the vulnerability of “not enough” creating more emptiness.The problem is its ALL A LIE,  lies only create an imaginary situation that does not exist, will never manifest and you are only empowering a power that does not exist.

The feeling of wanting something but the fear that you will not have it is an illusion, it's not reality for you need to know that you have, and will have everything you need in order to grow, become a better person and ultimately live a better life.

Deeper Factors of Jealousy:

Where does this fear of ‘not enough’ (emptiness) stem from, the truth is simple: from prior experience. It might not be the same situation on the surface and initially it might not even seem related, but somewhere along the lines you experienced loss or felt that something was taken from you. This feeling generated a strong thought and thus the linear working mind decided to start creating ways to protect itself.

STEPS 2 Recovery

The bright side is everything in life is desire, if you are willing to put enough effort in the right way you can change your jealousy by awareness and rearranging the content of your mind.

STEP 1:

When you feel any negative emotion, observe if it is coming from fear and lack, if it is... then withdraw and let the thought go.

STEP 2:

Connect to this particular idea, and come to believe it.

“The outcome of all affairs is determines by Divine decree. If something is meant to go elsewhere, it shall never come your way, but if it is yours by destiny from you it cannot flee”

Connecting to this simple truth can help you elevate from jealousy and take a path to your own ability and purpose in life.

Imitate Me:

Unaware reactive behavior causes a person to act on auto pilot, meaning that everything he does in action is predetermined by an over thinking mind which is not reality. This reactive mind causes you to imitate other people, wishing you had their life,creating more dissatisfaction as you are not the leader but an effect. This diminishes your power, making you more jealous, unhappy and the longer you refuse to change the more unhappy you will become..

I sincerely hope this article helps those in need, and may we be helped by divine grace to overcome this challenge.

By Jana Sharaf

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