Steps to happiness --"As Long as You Live, Keep Learning How to Live!!"

The tragedy in Haiti has many of us thinking, once again, about how precious life is – each and every day. As I write this article, on Monday, rescuers are still finding survivors of this horrible event. These people have a strong will to live!
What about you? Are you going through life, taking things and people for granted? If tragedy struck today, who would you call and what would you say? Why are you waiting to make such a call?

For the survivors of the quake in Haiti, as well as for the search and rescue teams, the volunteers, the medical teams and so on – it is taking confidence and courage to get through the day. Would you have what it takes?

What about your own life? Once again, I invite you to reflect on the question: what does it look like? What does it feel like? Are you happy? Are you in control?
I mentioned last week that I would be writing about the concept of time management. Well, that does fit with what is going on in the world. For the most part, we do have control over what goes on in 'our own world'.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending time with my brother and his family, to celebrate my nephew's 11th birthday. I love being included in these family events and we had a blast! I will admit that, throughout the day, I was feeling pulled in 2 different directions. I am working on a major project and knew that if I committed some time, over the weekend, to that project – and took a rain-check on the birthday outing, I would have felt more calm and in control of my work come Monday morning. However, birthday celebrations only happen 'in the moment' and I knew for certain that I did not want to miss out on that. As parents, we know all too well how quickly children grow up. I really did not want to miss out on the birthday celebration – and I didn't – and I am very happy with my time management!

Each of these situations is a reflection of building confidence and courage –

• The confidence to say 'NO' to the guilt that was building within me about the work that needed to get done
• The courage (and desire) to follow through with my decision to spend time with family
• The confidence to manage my time in such a way on Monday morning so that priorities were handled and the work got done
• The courage to battle the 'pull to the computer' on weekends when I have, in fact, already put in my fair share of work time!

When I was on my trip around the world, part of my 'job' was to write the travel blog, each and every day. The trip, unto itself, was a very full agenda so I decided to combine work and play – it's all in the way you think!

It takes courage, confidence, time management skills, focus and commitment to learn how to live life – for as long as we are living life! The good news is that, each and every day, we have the opportunity to develop those skills – to build our confidence and courage to invent the life we want.

Steps2Happiness Assignment

1. Think back to your weekend – did it turn out the way you intended?
2. What got in the way?
3. Did you try something new, exciting and challenging? Are you stretching your comfort zone?
4. What is your 'intention' for this coming weekend? Discuss it with your family and make it happen.

Do this and I will guarantee that you will take control of your life. When you try new things, and meet new people, you are developing the confidence and courage to move forward and invent the life you truly want to live.