What Happiness Is… and What It is Not

To be happy, we must know what happiness is. We also need to know what it is not, so that we save time and energy chasing temporary fixes that don’t last. First, let’s look at what happiness is not. What happiness is not… 1. Happiness is not in things Many of us have learnt from […]

Time to Let Go

Letting go is something we all struggle with. What makes it even harder is knowing when to let go. We often try to deceive ourselves, finding reasons to stay when those reasons evaporated long ago. How do we know when it’s time to let go? It’s time to let go when… Your purpose no longer […]

The “Either / Or” Approach to Dealing with Uncertainty

It’s easy to fret and lose sleep when dealing with uncertainty. We worry whether a new job is going to work out, or whether a relationship is on the verge of completely breaking down. Instead of worrying endlessly over how things are going to turn out, try to simplify it this way. It will either […]

Three Challenges in Living with Commitment Phobia

Relationships or friendships in which one or both parties are living with commitment phobia can be extremely challenging. The easiest way to deal with this is, of course, to run for your life! It is easier to find someone else who is willing to commit .But if you’ve decided to stay on, here are three […]

20 Quotes From The Rules of Life

These are my favourite quotes from The Rules of Life by Richard Templar.

How to Not Judge Others

I’ve come to realise that one of the things that make me unhappy is my judgments about other people. Very often, this makes them unhappy too! How to not judge others is simple in theory, and very difficult in practice. Judgment comes to us so naturally that it takes conscious effort and a lot of practice […]

The Art of Listening: My Mother’s 3 Secrets

The art of listening is rare in our fast-paced world. Yet one of the easiest ways to show we care about a person is to listen to them. All of us want a witness to our lives, someone to tell our stories to. When it comes to the art of listening, I can think of […]

The 4 “Happy Hormones”

What are “happy hormones”? Specifically, why do some hormones make us happy, and how do we get more of these? Happy hormones refer to endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. Technically, some of these are neurotransmitters and not hormones, but we shan’t bother with those scientific details here. I’m leaving out adrenaline which stimulates a fight-or-flight […]

8 Ways to Choose Joy Everyday

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it everyday.” – Henri Nouwen One day many years ago, I was taking a short cut through a carpark. A sudden spontaneous thought came into my mind with such force that I actually said the words out loud, to no […]

Money Can Buy Happiness

The latest research suggests that money can buy happiness, but only if we spend it the right way. Common sense tells us that the lack of money is certainly no happy state. Some studies suggest that a minimum income of $75,000 increases happiness. This minimum provides shelter and food, without which it is really hard […]