What you see in this gif is a myosin protein dragging an endorphin along a filament to the inner part of the brain’s parietal cortex which creates happiness. Happiness. You’re looking at happiness.
Happiness
Happiness!
This is a speech ascribed to Pope Francis, my friend posted it on her FB page. Is it Pope Francis? I don’t know, but whether it is or not, the message is incredibly beautiful and clear! It’s poetic, yet illustrative of how to be happy and loving. I’m so glad I saw this and read it, thank you Cata for posting it! I’d like to dedicate this to all my friends and family 🙂
“You can have flaws, be anxious and live irritated sometimes, but don’t forget that your life is the largest company in the world. Only you can prevent that it goes in decline. There are many who appreciate you, admire and love you. I’d like to remember that being happy is not having a sky without storms, path without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments. Being happy is finding strength in forgiveness, hope in the battles, security at the stage of fear, love in the disagreements.
Being happy is not only enhance the smile, but also reflect on the sadness. It’s not only to commemorate the success, but to learn lessons in the failures.
It’s not only to learn how to have joy with applause, but to have joy in anonymity. Being happy is to recognize that it is worthwhile to live life, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings and periods of crisis. Being happy is not an inevitability of fate, but a conquest for he who knows how to travel to the inside of his own being. Being happy is to stop being victims of the problems and become an actor of one’s own story. It is to cross deserts outside of if, but to be able to find an oasis in the recesses of our soul. It is to thank god every morning for the miracle of life.
Being happy is not to be afraid of one’s own feelings, it is to know how to talk of himself. It is to have the courage to hear a “no”. It is to have security to receive criticism, even if it is unfair. It is to kiss the children, to pamper the parents, have poetic moments with friends, even though they hurt us. Being happy is let the live creature free, cheerful and simple, that lives in each and every one of us. It is to have the maturity to say ‘I was wrong’. Is to have the audacity to say ‘forgive me’. It is to have sensitivity to express ‘I need you’.
It is to have the capacity to say ‘I love you’. That your life becomes a garden of opportunities to be happy… That in your springs be mistress of the joy. That in your winters be friends of wisdom.
And that when you’re wrong on the way, you start all over again, because then you will be more passionate about the perfect life!
Use the tears to irrigate the tolerance. Use the losses to refine patience. Use the failures to sculpt serenity. Use the pain to store the pleasure. Use the obstacles to open the windows of intelligence.
Never give up…. Never give up on the people you love. Never give up on being happy, because life is an incredible show!”
Exceptional year!
This year has been exceptional in that the spike of mania that comes in the Fall/Winter for me has not come! I’ve been having minor ups and downs, mostly downs, but the major spike that I have experienced every Fall/Winter since 1986 did not happen. This involved severe mood upheaval, including anger, depression, off the charts anxiety, major weight loss (that one I miss haha) sleeplessness, total dysfunction, not being able to go to work, school, outside the house for at least a month. This year it didn’t happen! My 900 mg of Lithium Carbonate, and (now) 100 mg of Seroquel saved me this year. Yes I have side effects, tremor in my right hand, weight gain due to water retention because of Lithium, muscle weakness and tendonitis due to Seroquel. But I can live with these. The most bothersome to me is the 4 lb weight gain. I do live in our weight obsessed culture don’t I? But I am so lucky that these side effects are nothing compared to some other drugs called antipsychotics, used for schizophrenia. In fact over Thanksgiving weekend, in NYC, my sister and I went to visit a friend I’d made in 2009, in Columbia Presbyterian, when we were both hospitalized there. He has schizophrenia, he is in his twenties and smart as a whip. Last week, we visited him in his home, it was difficult for me to sit with him because of the uncontrolled movements due to tardive dyskinesia (a side effect of antipsychotics) he had. God I am so incredibly thankful I am not on Risperdal! I could not tolerate it! My friend is having his doctor wean him off the Risperdal and put him on Clozaril, which apparently, at least in his case, doesn’t cause tardive dyskinesia.that is so severe.
Anyway, I digress.. I wish my friend the best in his life and with his treatment of course. But this post is about how amazing it is that I stayed pretty much normal throughout the Fall and Winter this year. How the evil beasts called mania and psychosis (being out of touch with reality) did not visit me. And believe me, I didn’t miss them, not one iota! I am thrilled beyond belief, and if 900 mg of Lithium is what it takes to stay pretty much in the normal mood range, then 900 mg it is.
Hello NORMAL, productive, happy life!
Happy Living :-))
My son Aral ❤
Being grateful for all the good in my life :-))
Spending time with my loved ones.
Sending love to my family and friends :-))
Good conversation.
Singing and acting! Yikes, I have to learn my lines!!!
Puppies/dogs and kittens/cats :-))
Knowledge.
Music.
Flowers.
Dancing.
Reading.
Zumba.
Yoga.
Meditation.
Walks in beautiful green places.
Writing poetry and prose.
Taking photographs.
Baking.
Traveling.
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