168 – June 17
“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”—Guillaume Appollinaire
Not everyone thinks life is about being happy. I do. And it is not a function of money. Studies have shown that beyond the subsistence level, more and more money does not equal more and more happiness. Happiness is a choice.
Decide to be happy. Take joy in every pleasurable thing around you. Have lots of “I can hardly waits.” In my workshop, I ask everyone to play “The Glad Game;” to make a list of things they are grateful for. Most people write a few things easily, then stop to think. One woman, Lee Killian, wrote furiously for the entire time we did this exercise and completely covered her page with notes. Everyone knew Lee was a happy person—she always had a bright smile that lit up the room. You always looked forward to seeing her, because you knew her happy energy would lift you up. I asked her for a copy of her list, which included: “Me, my health, my kids, my mom, friends, home, car, movies, music, dancing, beach, trees, animals, desert, snow, rain, sun, sleep time, telephones, dry cleaners, perm-a-press, pens, coffee, rainbows…” I know this list was endless.
Then I was given a book called 14,000 Things To Be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer. This woman had started making lists when she was in the sixth grade of all the things she enjoyed in life. It’s a great spirit-lifter! I love to just pick up the book and flip through pages at random. It always makes me smile. Here are a few samples: “steel drums, jazz dances, leaves in great golden drifts as crisp as beaten gold foil, flaky-crust meat loaf, hot chocolate at an outdoor café, herb roasted chicken (a lot of her choices are food), a scarecrow that does not work, blue topaz, at a 6 A.M. breakfast watching the sky perform, thirsty children kissing water from a fountain, beaver lodges, albino watermelon seeds, diamond mines, a thermos lunch, singing along to the movie Carousel, dark blue Indian cotton, apricot butterfly rolls, consuming M&Ms by color groups, being motioned to come sit by someone, the meaning of a bird’s song, Sunday papers, a riot of colors…” When was the last time you gave attention to things like that?
In their book, The 500-Year Delta, Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor give business prophesies for the future. They state that “What society has always treasured is what is scarce…Satisfaction and domestic contentment have rarity, and rarity, as always, has the greatest value…If you want status, walk into a room and announce that, amidst the ambient chaos of our times, you’re a happy person.” One of my favorite compliments was given to me in class one day: “Chellie, you’d have fun in a paper bag all by yourself.” Yes!
Live your life today so that, if someone said that to you, it would be true.
Today’s Affirmation:
“I enjoy life and everyone around me enjoys me enjoying life!”
The World Series of Poker is being held at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas this fall. There are 80+ events, culminating in the Main Event. I’ll be going to play in the Ladies Event. It is a joy to meet up with the other women poker players from all over the world once a year for brunches, tournaments, and parties!
Before I join in all the World Series happenings, I follow along online at their web site at www.wsop.com and cheer the various winners. Here is a wonderful report of one year’s gold bracelet winners by Nolan Dala a couple of years ago that I thought was so clever I had to share it:
Help Wanted
The 2011 World Series of Poker is currently offering temporary positions for poker players. Players may earn up to $18,385 per hour. Applicants must be willing to work up to 12 hours per day. No experience is necessary.
Today, one additional player was hired. His name was Foster Hays from Dallas, TX
Hays would be the first to admit that he didn’t have much of an employment resume. He had never done this kind of work before. For instance, Hays had absolutely no previous WSOP experience. Nevertheless, he managed to be a quick learner on the joy. Hays’ primary duties and responsibilities included sitting around a series of poker tables and playing cards the entire time.
Hays worked just four days at the Rio Las Vegas, assigned to a specific poker tournament designated as the $1,500 buy-in-No-Limit-Hold’em Championship. He put in 40 total hours. He s granted several breaks, including one hour each day for dinner. He was able to wear shorts, a sweatshirt, and flip flops to work. He even got to sleep until noon during each of the four days he was employed.
Hays collected a nice-sized paycheck totaling $735,400. His salary was calculated based on working three 12-hour shifts, plus one 4-hour shift on his final day. His e0 combined hours amounted to a net income of $18,385 per hour. Hays was even permitted to bring along many of his friends to work on his final day. The friends spent most of their time at Hays’ place of employment shouting encouragement, celebrating exciting hands and drinking beer.