Happiness - Know Limits

The Meets and Bounds of the happy life.
Moderation, the hallmark of the happy life, follows the dictates of reason. Aristotle's maxim that virtue leads to the happy life demands moderation and restraint along with caring and sharing.

The hanged man expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe. Nirvana; the mind like fire unbound.

His expression demonstrates the release of the self to a higher power. Of the three types of happiness, ecstasy must come by moderation in all things to prepare a path to altered states of consciousness.

The Happiness Myth - Jennifer Michael Hecht

Happiness - Know Thyself

Quite introspection, active study, focused effort.

Happiness - Carp Diem

Reach for this day, tomorrow is out of reach. Take what is yours, play the part, become the role and the role will take you.

My guidepost here is
BB - 10th, 11th and 12 steps
The Four Noble Truths - the metaphysical dimension of right action
The Eightfold Path - wisdom, ethics and study
Peanuts - Chas. Schultz speaks through Linus's compassion

Pack more into the stream of life. Experience is everything.

Happiness - Know Death

One must face death often for happiness in this life. Whether seen as an end or a change, I prepare for this certainty often. Our communality depends on more than superficial understanding of our ends.

Historically all people watched their loved ones die in bed -this is how death happened. Death was not a cause for celebration per se but the communality of relations and friends gathered together to memorialize the death of a kin offered a venue for catching up with relatives regarding their accomplishments and defeats.

My great grand John Holden died in the predictable circumstances - at home in bed. My maternal grandmother died in her bed at home of colon cancer under the care of a hospice nurse and her daughter Laura, an RN. My father died at home in his sleep with my brother there to watch over him.

I never held a death vigil - I should have helped my father pass but I did not. I missed my greatest experience and I have this regret still.