Today's lessons are about happiness in life.

And every day is today. 

So simplify. And dance. And reflect. And stop, collaborate and listen.

"Whoever is happy will make others happy, too." I couldn't find the true source of this quote, which has been attributed to Mark Twain at times, Anne Frank at other times. In any case, I believe it.

There is no way to happiness. Happiness *is* the way.

I also believe that true happiness comes from within. It's one of the most important values I have learned and continue to learn. Life, the universe, and everything regularly emphasize that lesson.

When it comes to true happiness, lessons are repeated until they are learned:

• Breathe deeply. Anyone can find happiness, writes Amy Lukima.

• The Happiness Project studied everyone from Aristotle to Oprah, and found you're not happy unless you think you're happy. Also, our days are long but the years are short, says Gretchen Rubin.

• Happiness is all around us, if we take time to see. Riding the bus changes your perspective, says Snob on a Bus blogger Jacki Carr.

• If life is a game, these are the ten rules for being a human being, according to Chérie Carter-Scott.

• There are twelve things happy people do differently, according to Jacob Sokol. (Thanks seablackwithink.)

• Life is like business. It's 20 percent what happens to you, and 80 percent how you choose to react.

• Nothing stays the same. Life regularly changes things up on you. Stroke of insight is Jill Bolte Taylor's inspiring TED Talk about starting over.

• Got all that? Great. Now roll up your sleeves for some lessons on how to quickly and easily improve your life, an anthology of lessons from my favorite posterous author, Eric Barker.

I am certain I will return to these lessons -- and to this web page! -- many, many times in my life and in my tweeting. And reflecting...

For now, just dance with Bobby McFerrin: "Don't worry, be happy."

Jill Bolte Taylor's "Stroke of Insight":

Here are the comments from that post:

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity answered, “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

https://plus.google.com/107540638333054762391/posts/bCZ9s7CmhvM

Be grateful for every breath.

http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/be-grateful-for-every-breath

That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.

http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/omar-ahmad-i-miss-you

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children. ~Picasso

over 1 year agovbierschwale (Twitter) responded:

saw you on google + and was intrigued by this line. Lessons are repeated until they are learned.

I too believe that we have lost sight of that and wrote an article sometime back about just exactly that (you will need to read down to the bottom to understand what I'm referring too, and I understand if you do not have the time. Just thought I would share it with you).

http://keepamericaatwork.com/?p=100212

over 1 year agoAdam Rifkin responded:

Thank you for sharing that link. We're all in this world together.

That takes me back to eleven essential reflections on happiness:

http://ifindkarma.posterous.com/top-10-essential-reflections-on-happiness-cc

“If you live to be 100,
I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day,
so I never have to live without you. “
~ Winnie the Pooh

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/13804528251/if-you-live-to-be-100-i-hope-i-live-to-be-100

Let it go, this too shall pass.

http://pandawhale.com/post/17039/let-it-go-this-too-shall-pass

Sometimes you have to just pick yourself up and carry on...

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14189707544/sometimes-you-just-have-to-pick-yourself-up-and

Learning is a gift. Even when pain is your teacher.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14287889667/learning-is-a-gift-even-when-pain-is-your

I know that it hurts, but keep trying.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14332748423/i-know-that-it-hurts-but-keep-trying

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14332634365/its-not-whether-you-get-knocked-down-its

If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction. ~ Martin Kornfeld

http://ifindkarma.tumblr.com/post/14331993063/if-we-all-do-one-random-act-of-kindness-daily-we

"90% of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way your brain processes the world." ~Shawn Achor

http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

http://www.facebook.com/groththedaker/posts/365039313507182

The 12 Laws of Karma:

http://pandawhale.com/post/539/the-12-laws-of-karma