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Happy Life Tip of the Week, Issue #063- Act of Remembrance
May 26, 2010
Hello

Remember with gratitude the soldiers that fight for your right to pursue happiness in your own way.

Perform, then, this one act of remembrance
before this Day passes -
Remember there is an army of defense and advance
that never dies and never surrenders,
but is increasingly recruited
from the eternal sources of the American spirit
and from the generations of American youth.

W.J. Cameron

After a recent talk I gave on the benefits of happiness in business, someone wrote me to say how useless my talk was because everyone knows that Americans are the most unhappy people in the world and only poor people in Tibet and India are happy. Studies have shown that poor people in India and Tibet are often happy and that people in wealthy, developed countries like the US have been getting less happy overall as their wealth increases. However, these same studies also show that people in democratic nations are happier than non-democracies, and countries where most of the population has more than poverty level income are happier overall than poorer countries.

I think this is because those of us in wealthy, democratic nations often spend more time thinking about what we have to loose, then enjoying the benefits of what we have. I have observed that my own happiness increases significantly when I think about my freedom with gratitude, rather than fear. Even Benjamin Franklin, one of the authors of the US constitution, recognized this when he said, The constitution only gives you the right to pursue happiness, you have to catch it for yourself

I have the luxury of making this mental shift because of the heroic men and women who serve in the US military, and indeed in all the armed forces who participate in peace keeping missions around the world. The last Monday in May is Memorial Day in the US, a day when we remember the fallen soldiers who have protected our freedom. I intend to make the most of this holiday by thanking the veterans who allow me the luxury of my free and prosperous life and of being able to think about these privileges with gratitude rather than fear.

If you live in a country with a democracy that you depend on and a system of laws and law enforcement that allows your economy to prosper, then I encourage you to …

Remember with gratitude the soldiers that fight for your right to pursue happiness in your own way.



Affirmation
I take time to celebrate my good fortune. I think often of the people who help be maintain my free and prosperous life. I express my gratitude to these people frequently.

Journal or Meditation Question
Do I celebrate what I have more often than I worry about losing it? When I worry about losing civil liberties, do I take action to protect them? Do I take action to support the people who make it their business to protect my civil liberties? How could I feel grateful for these freedoms more often? How could I express that gratitude with supportive action?



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