Below is a rough outline of what Dr. Luskin spoke about at the Senior Assembly on Wednesday October 14th at Gunn.
Stress is wanting what you do not have.
- The perception that I do not have what I need to handle my life’s demands
- The frustration that my life would be better if it were different
Happiness is wanting what you have.
When you think about irritating stuff,
- From a biological standpoint, blood flows to the reaction/protection part of your brain
- You can’t think clearly
- If you are tense, happiness is impossible.
Picture things turning out okay
- It’s a happiness producer and a stress limiter
Breathing
- If you breathe shallowly, it’s hard to have happy thoughts.
- We breathe deeply when we feel safe, and breathing deeply can help us become less tense.
Cultural Trance
- Our culture pushes competition, material consumption, and higher status as roads to contentment, even if it doesn’t feel right to you.
- Inner vs. Outer Directed Struggle
- Inner: listening to what you want yourself
- Outer: listening to what you think others want of you
Stress Management
- Slow, full, deep belly breathing
- Generating positive emotions
- Visualizing Success, not failure
- Doing one thing at a time with attention
- Slowly tensing and relaxing body parts
Happiness
- Are able to find appreciation and goodness in life
- Be okay with what you have
- Have good relationships–people you can trust, and people who can trust you
- Having a positive purpose
- Helping others
- Ability to delay gratification
- Savoring the good
- Focus on your strengths
- Being grateful for what you have
- An endorphin rush from saying “Thank you”
Put happiness as one of your goals! =)
Quotations
But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?
–Albert Camus
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
–Albert Schweitzer
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
–Allan Chalmers
Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.
–Brother David Steindl-Rast
