During the last few days I have been pondering about something I want to change in my life. I’ve become keenly aware of an important motivational factor and source of self-worth on which I’ve been relying since I was very young. I refer to my desire to be seen in a good light by others, to receive praise, recognition, adulation etc. I have been aware of this for a long time, but only now do I begin to see that this has no place in my life.
Posts Tagged happiness
Sources of self-worth
Jan 26
A true love story
Dec 3
People often ask me how I met Anne-Marie, my wife since September 2000. They are curious because I am French and she is Australian. They would like to know who was visiting which country when we met. In this rather lengthy blog entry, I hope to elucidate these questions and entertain, surprise and move you. Our story is unique, as all true love stories are.
Today I had a very enriching discussion with a good friend of mine, Penny Leach. We talked about culture, social molds, addiction and happiness. The central theme behind my comments was the conundrum of pleasure-seeking vs happiness-seeking.
I am convinced that everyone seeks to be happy, but we all have trouble discerning between pleasure and happiness.
Learn every day
Jun 16
Life can get tedious. We can get so caught up in the daily, weekly and monthly routines that we can forget why we even do them. Without something new and exciting coming to our attention on a daily basis, we lose focus and interest, and we tend to become dissatisfied with ourselves or with our life.
Striving for excellence
May 19
Today at Church I was listening to a friend reading from a talk by Elder Stephen E. Snow on the topic of service. The story about the cancer-ridden, dying mother, whose last words were «I wish I had served more [...] I could have done more», really touched me.
We are dynamic beings. That often means we are attracted to the paths of least resistance, the easy roads, the familiar places, the old habits and traditions. We cling to prejudices and stereotypes, to save ourselves the hassle and effort of having to figure everything out anew, every day, hour, minute and second. In a way this property of our existence keeps us sane. But often it deprives us of amazing learning experiences.
The search for truth
Jan 1
I recently came to an important conclusion:
It is the duty of all sentient beings to search for truth, to accept it once it is found, and to conform to it in thought and in deed.
Unconditional love
Apr 24
There is no possible doubt: unconditional love is the ultimate human virtue, the single most needed attribute in this world, the principle from which all other desirable human traits naturally flow. But what does it really mean?
To love without condition renders the following sentence rather meaningless:
«I love this person because he is/has/does ...»
