I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
Too often we make choices—what career to have, where to live, or what to make for dinner—based upon what we think other people will like. Next time you make something, anything, make it for you. Make what delights you, what makes you happy, what fills you up. Who cares if it’s good? Who cares if anyone else likes it? If we aren’t entertaining ourselves then what’s the point? Create for you.
I’ve met people who had every advantage and others who began life with less than nothing. Some of them are successful and happy; some aren’t. Talent and intelligence helps. Being organized, hard-working, and determined have incredible merits.
However, only one personality trait stands above all others as a universally common predictor of success and happiness: resourcefulness. The ability to take however much (or little, as the case my be) and squeeze every last drop of value out of it is what matters most. Every successful and happy person I know is also resourceful.
Opportunity is everywhere. It doesn’t come to those who wait, nor does it come to people who work their asses off. Opportunity, and its fruits, belong to people who see, recognize, seize, and mold it for all it’s worth. Turn over every rock and make the most of everything you find. Be resourceful.
The only essential for a good trip, an adventure that sticks with you long after it’s over, is happiness. Pack it in abundance. Seek it out, in all the people you meet, places you go, and things you do. Be a joy seeker and a smile junkie, and give both away, as much as you can possibly muster. What you’ll find is that you won’t feel spent. Instead, you’ll feel more fulfilled than you ever thought possible.
“Would you want to know when you’re going to die?”
“No.”
“But if you could, what would you do with the time you had left?”
“I’d try to figure out how to be happy.”
“Then why don’t you?” ~ From The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, one of the last films staring Robin Williams
I hear a lot of people say that finding what makes us happy and doing it is easier said than done. I used to be one of those people. Now that I’m doing what makes me happy, I realize the action of deciding to do what makes me happy is easier than anything else I’ve ever done because it’s just who I am. My heart, head, and hands are all aligned toward the same goal: to be the best writer I can be and to tell stories that help people. I figured out how to be happy and then just did it. And it feels pretty darn good. I recommend it.
In our hyper-connected, over-sharing world, it’s a good practice to regularly set aside anything and everything with a battery, cord, screen, or buttons. I’m in Florida for a few weeks with my family and happy to be able to power-down for at least a little while every day. I’m looking forward to making some memories that only exist in real-time powered by nothing more than sunshine and laugher.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the next phase of my career as I wind down my consulting work. To help me figure out which step to take next, I started creating a list by asking myself the question, “What makes me happy?” I didn’t censor nor edit myself in any way, a rare state of mind for me. Here are the first answers I found. Crank up Pharrell!:
1.) Working with others, especially creative and funny artists like the people who worked on Sing After Storms
2.) Phineas
3.) My cutie nieces
4.) Baking bread
5.) Walking through Home Goods and fantasizing about decorating my next apartment
6.) Shopping at Whole Foods, especially in the produce section
7.) Seeing old friends greet each other on the street
8.) Stretching and walking
9.) A good story in any form
10.) Seeing someone live their passion and rise to their potential
11.) Autumn
What makes you happy?
These are the people in my life who matter the most:
Throughout this crazy hunt for a new home, Carole King’s song Beautiful keeps running through my mind. “You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile in your face, and show the world all the love in your heart.” I keep smilin’ and lovin’. It’s so much better than the alternative.
Whenever I feel down on my luck, I always try to do something nice for someone else because it lifts me up to know that I’ve helped someone in a way that they couldn’t help themselves. You get what you give.
You will be presented with an opportunity and a choice: do you jump at the chance or let it pass you by? I’ve found that this is the most consistent circumstance that arises in my life. Do I hesitate and turn back or do I dive in and start pedaling like hell? And why? Hesitating and debating has never brought me much of anything I wanted. I’m happiest in action. It’s when I’m most alive, free, and grateful. In action, I am my very best me.
Christa Avampato 