The Mindset of Happiness and Success

The only thing you truly have control over is how you react to situations.

Your outlook on life, how you interact with others and, ultimately, your happiness and perception of success all come back to how you think and how you feel.

Obviously there are events and situations that lend themselves to a particular emotion – just keep in mind: You are in charge of your emotions, they are not in charge of you. I came across this this morning and drew inspiration.

“Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something [special] in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”

By Christian D. Larson; Your Forces and How to Use Them.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Defend Yourself Ethics

No rational personal wants to be in a violent confrontation.
That being said, ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away.

Aside from learning effective physical counter-measures, a vital aspect of responsible self defence training must include mental preparedness and an ethical perspective.

It is up to the instructor to provide an ethical framework for the practitioner to use as a launch-pad for developing their own set of values to use when faced with violence. Even if the eventual position of the practitioner is ‘anything goes’ the instructor has not been the one to make that decision.

The ethical exercise for the practitioner is not for altruistic reasons alone.
The idea is that the defender has thought deeply about the types of possible confrontation, motivations of the attacker(s) and consequences of the various responses (physical injury or death to themselves or to others, property damage, psychological repercussions and involvement of the authorities).

This way, the practitioner can have made a rational and ethical decision ahead of time as to the appropriate response for the scenario in which they find themselves. This eliminates a snap decision in the heat of the moment while under physical attack and psychological pressure which may have life-long consequences.

What is the situation? How serious is it? What am I prepared to do? What am I absolutely NOT prepared to do?