# Home Recipes for Happiness



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I remember reading this article earlier in the year:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11486397/13-ways-to-happiness...-and-beyond.html

I love collecting nuggets of wisdom - pity I don't apply them! 

My faith gives me my own serious road map for happiness - but I'm hoping this thread will simply be things you've found have worked *for you* (on a personal & practical level) when trying to be more content/ serene/ happy etc - *methods free of ideological content. *

Wit, jokes and repartee are very acceptable - as are serious and practical ways.

Thanks in advance for any replies! :tiphat:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*My own tip is* *the scent of roses*, *which is calm and beautiful and helps both body and mind.
Rose water - scent spray - rose pillows - roses in the house and garden...
*
*Lavender is good too, but can be a bit too obvious, or soporific. Roses have the fragrance of a secret almost grasped:*


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2015)

Damn, I thought this was going to be about cakes. Oh well. Buddhist practice (inc. reading) has probably created my roadmap as much as anything else.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Cakes might be one recipe for happiness!


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Couples need their individual space at times. Now that my wife has retired from the 40/hr work week, we are both home 24/7 and although we have similar interests we also are able to do things separately too, like for instance, my church work as an organist and her quest for reading books/novels. 

I retired in mid 2006 so I've been home alone during the day and have my own semi-set routine, but have been able to make adjustments since she left the work scene. Marriage is a two way street - it's a struggle to keep a relationship alive, but the efforts are rewarded by having a loving partner in life and being able to do things together, like vacation travels. 

So, one can have their cake and eat it too ... :lol:


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## Guest (Jun 19, 2015)

Enough with the cake already!


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## Clayton (Nov 10, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> *My own tip is* *the scent of roses*, *which is calm and beautiful and helps both body and mind...
> *


*

My tip for this tip...

Jacques Cartier, super elegant scent, beautiful bloom, lovely leaves
Mainzer fatnacht, beautiful classical frangrance from a modern hybrid tea
Mildred Scheel, again a fantastic perfume from a modern hybrid tea with gorgeous deep crimson petals

all three are strong and only require a little love (a bag of free fertilizer from your local stable) and in return will shower you with pure delight of spectacle and fragrance for a couple of months each year...

*


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Best thing my wife and I have found is to spend time together every day. At a minimum we try to have a little time together before I leave for work and then take a walk after work.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

An annoyingly incomplete pattern in the words in bold:
*A*ccepting ourselves
*B*elonging
*C*haracter
*D*iscipline
*E*mpathise
Single *f*ocus
Minimise our pain
*H*ealth
*I*nquiry
Inner *j*ourney
*K*arma
*L*iturgies
Quiet *m*ind

The lack of a g annoys me much more than it should...


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Authenticity: grasping who I am by sticking to my values and boundaries.

Home: my own personal sanctuary, a place of simplicity and beauty, free from disturbances and stresses.

Hedonism: simple and real food, varied reading, listening to music and taking time away from it, regular exercise, meditation, adequate rest, motorcycle and automobile road trips, making my own colognes that are a heady olfactory indulgence free from ambiguity and straight out manly.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Exercise in general, and running in particular. It clears the head and energizes me for the whole day.

Also meditation, though I have not been so diligent about this of late...


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Magnesium powder.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Morimur said:


> Magnesium powder.


Why is that? I know my parents take magnesium as a dietary supplement.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Interesting thread, I shall read more than I can contribute from wise members.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

As it happens, I take magnesium too (in tablet form) - the best thing they do is to help stop foot cramps, which used to keep me awake at night. I have IBS, which they also also help with. So I second Morimur's proposal! 
_(You bright young things may not need these remedies, though...)_


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2015)

Balthazar said:


> Exercise in general, and running in particular. It clears the head and energizes me for the whole day.


Then hello to a fellow runner! (my "cross training" is swimming; yoga didn't suit me)


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

Small, small words and action of Love everyday make the home into Heaven and Life into comfort. This is from a tapestry that hangs prominently in our home.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Two words: *charity shops -*

1. Touring them makes a nice walk, whether in your own town, or in one you're visiting.
2. Buying from them is fun - not much money spent, indulge your shop-aholic whims virtuously, and you find things (china - scarves - trinkets) - that you just can't pick up any more in the regular shops. For example, wine glasses of a sensible smaller size. 
3. Decluttering your house and taking a pile of stuff to your local charity shops is also fun.

*Charity shops -* what a fabulous invention!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

^ I love them for donating. I dislike throwing things away, so charity shops provide me with a means to give back to the community and to help the environment. I almost never buy from them, however


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

MoonlightSonata said:


> An annoyingly incomplete pattern in the words in bold:
> *A*ccepting ourselves
> *B*elonging
> *C*haracter
> ...


I'd never noticed the pattern - thank you! :tiphat:

PS - Don't be annoyed. There_ is_ a *g*. It goes from Single *f*ocus to 'Decide whether ... to minimise our pain... or to *g*ive our time and talents to help others.'


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

"Home Recipes for Happiness"Happiness is as dangerous as alcohol. An immoderate dose is 'cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Fresh-processed strawberries on real vanilla icecream is as happy-high as I wish to get. If I hit the lottery big... well, I won't worry about it until it happens. Maybe I should keep a bottle of castor oil on hand to counteract that high?


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

ArtMusic said:


> Why is that? I know my parents take magnesium as a dietary supplement.


Most humans beings are short on magenesium. If only they knew how important it really is-it's even useful in treating autism.

Just don't buy the crap at the local health food store-the quality is terrible and it won't do you any good.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> I'd never noticed the pattern - thank you! :tiphat:
> 
> PS - Don't be annoyed. There_ is_ a *g*. It goes from Single *f*ocus to 'Decide whether ... to minimise our pain... or to *g*ive our time and talents to help others.'


Ooooh, that's quite a relief.

It is a lovely list.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

I would say sleep. Often I go to bed feeling agitated, but I have greater clarity when I wake up - I just wish I could find a way to keep it throughout the day....


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

*Farmers Markets!*

You can get the freshest, most delicious produce at the height of the season, often picked that very morning. You can also support your local farmers and have some fun at the same time. I am fortunate to have two great year-round farmers markets nearby - yesterday I picked up some baby bok choi, young sweet broccoli leaves, rhubarb, and several eggplant and pepper plants for the garden.

If you're a person who eats food, you should be able to find some happiness at the farmers market.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Nature and music. Pardon me for not elaborating further, because I have already elaborated about these things, and the particular nature of the joy I find in them, all over the forum.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Sushi once a month.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Sushi once a month.


Or in my case, 'Sushi never'!


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Alright kiddies - 

Eat healthy, workout and spend time outside in the sunshine. 

Oh, and preferably don't ever waste your time on trivialities like 99% of the human race. 

That about it.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

So what are we all doing on here?


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

There's no recipe for happiness... Everything leads inevitably to sadness, decay, and death... We are all doomed.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2015)

Dim7 said:


> There's no recipe for happiness... Everything leads inevitably to sadness, decay, and death... We are all doomed.


I get no party invitations either.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Dim7 said:


> There's no recipe for happiness... Everything leads inevitably to sadness, decay, and death... We are all doomed.


Doom is for atheists and believers in Hell. Not sure who that leaves besides me...


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Dim7 said:


> There's no recipe for happiness... Everything leads inevitably to sadness, decay, and death... We are all doomed.


It's your choice whether to die sad or to die laughing, you know.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

my road to happiness? weeeeeell
some home recipes and some slightly out of it

1. lying on the couch and looking at the ceiling (the world famous ceiling therapy) 

2. dancing at Brahms sonata no 3, but only played by Leonidas kavakos or Nathan Milstein

3. feeling the sea breeze at the specific time when the sun coincides with the line of the horizon

4. reading the poetry of Robert Burns, William Blake, Walt Whitman, Paul Celan, Jack Kerouac, 
Dante Alighieri, G. Apollinaire, Ezra Pound, Alexander Pushkin, Anna Ahmatova, 
Arthur Rimbaud..... for hours and hours

5. exploring the powers of mind through the masterpieces of Fyodor Dostoevsky

that was part 1


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Dim7 said:


> There's no recipe for happiness... Everything leads inevitably to sadness, decay, and death... We are all doomed.


All the more reason to enjoy it while it lasts!
That's why the Romans used to decorate their dining rooms with mosaic skeletons.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> So what are we all doing on here?


Hiding from the sun.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

clara s said:


> my road to happiness? weeeeeell
> some home recipes and some slightly out of it
> 
> 1. lying on the couch and looking at the ceiling (the world famous ceiling therapy)
> ...


Can't wait for part 2.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

For the positive? I'm not convinced Bob. That leaves the other road... equally unpromising. I'll take the middle then.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Morimur said:


> Hiding from the sun.


Or basking in the darkness?


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> Can't wait for part 2.
> 
> Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
> I took the one less traveled by,
> ...


wonderful poem
Robert Frost follows just after Rimbaud...

middle road is for weak characters, try to avoid it

Midway upon the journey of our life 
I found myself within a forest dark, 
For the straightforward pathway had been lost. 
Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say 
What was the forest savage, rough, and stern, 
Which in the very thought renews the fear. 
So bitter is it, death is little more.

part 2 is coming soon


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Going for a long bike ride around the city always cheers me up.

Also getting enough SLEEP - I've finally understood how important this is after years of neglecting it.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

ArtMusic said:


> Why is that? I know my parents take magnesium as a dietary supplement.


Wouldn't it be easier to eat more fruits and vegetables?



brotagonist said:


> ...motorcycle...


Yeah, if only there were not so many distracted drivers. I used to ride but gave it up. I was a bit too crazy on the motorcycle, but these days of touchscreen automobile control centers, texting, etc, I just don't want to chance it. They are a lot of fun though.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

isorhythm said:


> Going for a long bike ride around the city always cheers me up.
> 
> Also getting enough SLEEP - I've finally understood how important this is after years of neglecting it.


I struggled with insomnia for many years and I am not exaggerating when I say it was sheer torture-I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I Thank God that I am able to sleep nowadays.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Florestan said:


> Wouldn't it be easier to eat more fruits and vegetables?


My understanding is that due to modern farming practices and sub-optimal soil management, the amount of magnesium in most fruits and vegetables today is a small fraction of what it was even 100 years ago.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Magnesium doesn't just help relieve constipation; it also works well against cramps, and helps people sleep. I get cramp far less often now than I did. I do eat plenty of fruit & veg, but it's not always as simple as that with ibs. 
Why is she writing in that small size font, you may wonder - but not for long. She's *embarrassed*, that's why!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Ingélou said:


> Magnesium doesn't just help relieve constipation; it also works well against cramps, and helps people sleep. I get cramp far less often now than I did. I do eat plenty of fruit & veg, but it's not always as simple as that with ibs.
> Why is she writing in that small size font, you may wonder - but not for long. She's *embarrassed*, that's why!


I was getting cramps in my legs in the night, but they have subsided considerably since I started taking calcium supplements (at a chiropractor's recommendation), but maybe magnesium is the way to go.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Florestan said:


> Yeah, if only there were not so many distracted drivers. I used to ride but gave it up. I was a bit too crazy on the motorcycle, but these days of touchscreen automobile control centers, texting, etc, I just don't want to chance it. They are a lot of fun though.


The last I've heard, Google is working on self-driving cars. Just type in where you need to go, and you can go on texting and twittering until you arrive, no need to watch the road. Wake up on High Street, Los Angeles instead of High Street, New York.... oh well, it is all Google's fault...


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Morimur said:


> I struggled with insomnia for many years and I am not exaggerating when I say it was sheer torture-I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I Thank God that I am able to sleep nowadays.


As someone who has barely slept for a year straight and has wound up in rehabilitation for things I won't even mention - I can tell you it is PURE HELL.

Everyday getting more and more desperate yet more and more anxious, as slumber slips yet further away. Total destruction of mind, spirit and body. I don't wish to stress anyone so sorry if this too much, just take it from me

GET GOOD SLEEP. IT'S WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF IT TRUST ME.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Ingélou said:


> Magnesium doesn't just help relieve constipation; it also works well against cramps, and helps people sleep. I get cramp far less often now than I did. I do eat plenty of fruit & veg, but it's not always as simple as that with ibs.
> Why is she writing in that small size font, you may wonder - but not for long. She's *embarrassed*, that's why!


Nothing to be embarrassed about. Magnesium is a very powerful relaxant among the minerals, maybe the most. Also, Calcium is good. I say, gotta do what you gotta do, and heads held up high!

As for constipation, I'm not ashamed to say that carrots, olive oil and dried fruits do wonders!


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Morimur said:


> I struggled with insomnia for many years and I am not exaggerating when I say it was sheer torture-I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I Thank God that I am able to sleep nowadays.


Don't I know it. I've never been a good sleeper but there was a period of a few months in my early 20s when I had severe insomnia and it was, as you say, torture.

The "little" things - sleep, diet, exercise, sunlight, friendly conversation - are often more important to happiness than big picture, meaning of life type stuff, I've found.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> As someone who has barely slept for a year straight and has wound up in rehabilitation for things I won't even mention - I can tell you it is PURE HELL.
> 
> Everyday getting more and more desperate yet more and more anxious, as slumber slips yet further away. Total destruction of mind, spirit and body. I don't wish to stress anyone so sorry if this too much, just take it from me
> 
> GET GOOD SLEEP. IT'S WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF IT TRUST ME.


This does sound dreadful. Do the doctors know the root of your trouble? And I expect that anything I suggest, you will already have tried and found pitifully inadequate.

All the same, I'll mention one thing that's helped me. My tinnitus has caused insomnia in the past, but at present I manage to sleep quite well with a white noise machine tuned to 'waves breaking' or 'waterfall'; and sometimes I top it up with YouTube Eight hour videos by johnnielawson featuring water sounds and birdsong 



 or rain and thunder help too - though I try to use them towards dawn, as sometimes there's a nasty advert embedded that will wake me up after six hours.

As I say, probably no good at all, but I can only imagine your torture, and hope that a solution will be found soon.
Very best wishes. :tiphat:


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Here's a recipe for happiness, my own pork roulade:

Pumpernickel, sourdough & buttermilk bread soaked in eggs and buttermilk, with a bit of fresh gala apple and cranberry. Wrap it in pork chops inside of a 9 by 13 pan, and then pour in equal parts cream of mushroom and french onion soup with butter gently whisked in. Add sage, rosemary, fresh ground salt and pepper, and bay leaves. Cook the chops however you like in the oven, so long as the internal temperature of the meat is correct of course. I like to serve it with risotto and a spinach salad.

Now that is how you blow your taste buds away and swoon them ladies too, so it's happy time at home all right.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> As someone who has barely slept for a year straight and has wound up in rehabilitation for things I won't even mention - I can tell you it is PURE HELL.
> 
> Everyday getting more and more desperate yet more and more anxious, as slumber slips yet further away. Total destruction of mind, spirit and body. I don't wish to stress anyone so sorry if this too much, just take it from me
> 
> GET GOOD SLEEP. IT'S WORTH EVERY MINUTE OF IT TRUST ME.


God, you're in the same kind of hell too it seems. Seriously glad that it's been a long time since I've been in an institution myself, and I will certainly pray that you begin to get some sorely needed sleep.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

Relax guys, I'm sleeping now! 

(Well, at least what I call sleep) 

But let's not derail this thread into my medical troubles - for all purposes, I can breath, think and function. That's more then enough luck for me 

recipe for happiness:Meditation. Some of the Eastern philosophy guys really know their stuff, and if you're a competitive, overworked entrepreneur - try it out. 


Well, Clara, where's part 2? I've been trying out some of that therapeutic ceiling staring - wonderfully refreshing


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

part 2 of happiness recipes in and out of house

1.	enjoying a hot chocolate soufflé with ice cream vanilla 
2.	standing in front of Klimt’s “the kiss” in the Belvedere, and thinking how big our small world is
3.	listening to Anton’s eighth, a starry night in the veranda, with the scents of the night flower in the air
4.	being on a rocky coast, in a windy evening, looking at the huge waves, without thinking anything, 
but just travelling through the spirals in the caves of my mind
5.	watching Antonio Baderas in “take the lead” or Keanu Reeves in “the lake house”

part 3 will finalise my happiness recipes list

ps ceiling staring is a whole philosophy...
only few selected can be initiated in this hahaha


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Practice things that hone your _sensitivity_ and your _willpower._ Avoid anything that _dulls the senses_ (dulling the senses is extremely selfish!) and confront _confusing_ things only when you have the mental capacity to navigate yourself out. Then, you'll be able to behave _consistently_ and _selflessly_ while still remaining happy, due to your high _sensitivity._

Or in other words: when you are keen enough to notice that what is _outside_ of you is really no more distant to you than what is _inside_ of you, and lucid enough to always do what you really want to do, you can unfailingly work for that outside so that it completely satisfies the inside.

Or far more elegantly: _ora et labora._

An' that's my philosophy of life, folks!


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2015)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> recipe for happiness:Meditation.


There's a recent interview with Kenneth Branagh in the Guardian in which he says he meditates twice a day for half an hour a time "to calm that racing mind." It gave me the nudge that my own practice has dropped off in the last 1 to 2 years. This happened because of the very same reason why I should have continued with it: I felt there was too much going on in my life to spare the regular time for such a frippery. So duly reminded by Mr Branagh, I shall endeavour to once again incorporate regular periods of just sitting, to "calm that racing mind."


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Hail, dogen! :tiphat:
I am not very good at 'just sitting', but a week or two back, I tried doing it in the garden, where it comes more naturally, and I did feel the benefit almost at once.
Once I've actually done a few tasks, like mowed the crying-out-for-it lawn, I must try it again.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

dogen said:


> There's a recent interview with Kenneth Branagh in the Guardian in which he says he meditates twice a day for half an hour a time "to calm that racing mind." It gave me the nudge that my own practice has dropped off in the last 1 to 2 years. This happened because of the very same reason why I should have continued with it: I felt there was too much going on in my life to spare the regular time for such a frippery. So duly reminded by Mr Branagh, I shall endeavour to once again incorporate regular periods of just sitting, to "calm that racing mind."


Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2015)

Ingélou said:


> Hail, dogen! :tiphat:
> I am not very good at 'just sitting', but a week or two back, I tried doing it in the garden, where it comes more naturally, and I did feel the benefit almost at once.
> Once I've actually done a few tasks, like mowed the crying-out-for-it lawn, I must try it again.


Hail 2U2!

Yes, it can be almost immediate! Which just shows how much the world keeps annoying the bees in our head.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> Practice things that hone your _sensitivity_ and your _willpower._ *Avoid anything that dulls the senses (dulling the senses is extremely selfish!)*


Does beer count?


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Ingélou said:


> I remember reading this article earlier in the year:
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11486397/13-ways-to-happiness...-and-beyond.html
> 
> I love collecting nuggets of wisdom - pity I don't apply them!
> ...


I came across this excellent thread by Ingelou & thought it deserved resurrection  .....
hoping to see many more *Recipes for Happiness* added!


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Laurie, I'm glad you did; I really need this thread right now, because I am finding happiness elusive. Combine the crass and superficial materialism and self-absorption of so many in the First World, and the horrific suffering of so many more in the Third World, and I find that _my_ mind is having trouble settling into the idea of personal happiness for myself. Now, it has been made clear to me, in a transcendental manner (I _really_ won't say more), that it is not any of my damn business to save the entire world, or to suffer for it; I need to be looking close about me instead. Therefore, many of your suggestions have been beautiful, and I need to think on them and practice some.

Probably, it boils down to "love my neighbor as myself" - and _that_ has personal implications for, well...myself.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

A good talk with my other half and my parents will do fine, as does seeing how our own garden is becoming like a whole new one again each year .That kind of things makes me happy.
( And music of course)


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Do as you are told = happiness


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Dan Ante said:


> Do as you are told = happiness


Also, don't tell people what to do = happiness


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bettina said:


> Also, don't tell people what to do = happiness


Let's make that the house rule on TC.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Bettina said:


> Also, don't tell people what to do = happiness


That is for sure.....


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Doing things that take you out of yourself are a great way of alleviating worry & unhappiness.

The best thing is to volunteer to help others - so I've *read*.
Hospital-visiting, helping at a charity event - that's what has helped people to get real satisfaction from their retirement, surveys have found. 
I have yet to try that, and no doubt should. 

On the less-saintly level, *dancing* is a good thing - in Scottish Dancing, you have to concentrate or you'll mess up the set for everyone else. And the music is a huge lift, of course.

I play my fiddle for one to two hours every day, and that helps me forget some of the stressful incidents that have taken place in my life lately. *My fiddle my joy* - my signature - is perfectly true.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Recently, when I had to clear & sell my mother's house to finance her care, I found that making a list of things to do every day to work toward that goal gave me a great sense of satisfaction ticking them off. So much so that I rather missed ticking off tasks once we actually completed the sale.

So getting a project into your life that you can *work towards* is obviously one way to go.

Like others who've posted above, I find that getting to sleep is a problem - particularly waking in the night and then finding my brain obsessing about my problems. What I do is to play a birdsong mp3 on my computer, rather on the soft side, and I stretch out in bed and say to myself as a kind of mantra, *'Deliciously comfortable!'* 
It can take an hour or so, but it usually works.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Dan Ante said:


> Do as you are told = happiness


Goodness, I'm in deep trouble then


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