Unstoppable Joy Blog

Ed here again…

Barry Schwartz, a Professor at Swarthmore College, has written a marvelous book titled The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, which provides an amazing strategy to get happy.

He urges people to stop being maximizers and start being satisficers. No that is not a misspelling - he uses the term satisficer. So what is a maximizer and a satisficer?

Schwartz says these are two main strategies for how to live. If you’re a maximizer you want the absolute best and will not settle for anything less. If you’re a satisficer you’re happy with what’s good enough, and once you find it you feel no urge to comb through and evaluate every available option.

With the huge abundance of choices in modern America evaluating all the available options before deciding can easily overwhelm anyone.

Schwartz notes that the rate of serious depression in the U.S. has tripled over the past two generations. This happened at the same time that Americans in general experienced dramatic increases in income and consumer spending.

How could that increased choices bring suffering and depression?

The process of choosing and purchasing these things causes maximizers to suffer because they want to always acquire the best.

That requires a great deal of thought, research, time and energy into making your choices.

Maximizers give up time they could have spent much more enjoyably on other things like taking a stroll, spending time with a friend, reading a good book, sight seeing, seeing a movie or playing a game of golf or tennis.

On the other hand The satisficer isn’t obsessed with choosing the absolute best. They are happy with what’s good enough so they are able to spend much more of their time doing things that bring them real pleasure and satisfaction.

So next time you obsess about researching anything you are choosing, realize that the time you spend on this will be time you will never be able to get back.

Maybe better to make a quick decisiont and go do something you really enjoy.

Joy, Abundance, Peace and Healing

Ed Osworth
The Joy Professor
Author “Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simple Steps”

Experts from fields ranging from neuroscience and philosophy to psychology and theology will gather to discuss the latest insights on living happier lives at the meeting in Sydney, Australia.

Drawn to workshops with titles like The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness and Practical Tools for Positive Relationships, more than 2,000 participants are expected to attend the conference.

Full Story at CNN

Growth or insanity - that is the question.

In the past few years I’ve noticed many radical changes that have developed in my lifestyle.

My friends and acquaintances are quite amused by a lot of this because so many of these changes go against what I call the normal grain of our society.

And as I look at these changes I am pleased but a bit perplexed.

So for my own sanity I’m going to list them in this article and review them.

I used to love or watch movies. Like many of us I accumulated a collection of my favorites.

And of course a nice flat screen 32 inch TV to watch them on.

I realized a few weeks back that I hadn’t even turned my television on in over a month. I actually have it covered with a beautiful a batik so I don’t have to stare at the big black empty space.

I gave up watching television programming years ago but I continued to watch movies and rent them on a regular basis. I had a subscription with Netflix so there were always two or three new movies sitting around.

I gave up my Netflix subscription over a year ago. I remember how I would go look at the selection and realize there really was nothing else I wanted to see.

I still grab a major movie down at Redbox when something special comes out. But the amount of times I can get excited enough even go rent one has dwindled down to about once a month at most.

It’s because when I want to relax there are so many more beautiful things to contemplate then a television screen. The surrounding scenery, the trees, the birds, the moon, the clouds, and all of the rest of the beautiful natural phenomena in the world.

So I no longer limit visual stimulation to the light patterns emanating from a television screen.

In the evening I replaced my television with candles. I love the flickering of the candlelight and the peace it brings to my soul.

I used to love to listen to music all night through my wonderful hi-fi system.

Now I look at those giant speakers as they sit silent most of the time. It’s not that I don’t love music. I love it more now than I ever have any time in my life.

The difference is I hear music all around me now. I hear it in the wind, I hear it in the birds, I hear it in the laughter of little children, I even hear it in the buzz in the middle of the city.

The divine goddess created all of the sounds around me and they are all part of an infinite Symphony of perfection.

So I no longer limit music to the sound patterns that I choose to come from a set of speakers.

I used be willing to drive all day to get to a beautiful location.

I packed all my goodies and a lunch and headed out for places that I knew would make me feel so special.

The beach, the river, anywhere as long as it was beautiful.

.But now I find that I am always in a beautiful location. If I’m not in the city I am overwhelmed by the beauty of nature around me.

If I’m in the city or a crowded place I am overwhelmed by the beauty of love that I see people expressing towards each other. Parents and children. Mothers and babies. Young lovers. Strangers giving money to the poor. Church groups feeding hungry people. And strangers simply giving another stranger a helping hand.

Love is everywhere if you simply open your eyes and look for it. Everywhere, that is, except for the unforgiving thoughts in your mind.

I no longer limit beauty to places that fit my old limited definition of what beauty is.

And all of the wonderful possessions that I’ve accumulated over the decades are looking less like rewards and more like anchors holding me back.

So perhaps I am going insane.

Or maybe for the first time in my life sanity has finally opened my eyes.

“The sky is falling..the sky is falling” Chicken Little

2009 is gonna be Divine.

When you hear all the nay sayers in the mass media trying to raise your stress level by predicting economic chaos be sure to consider this. There are about 14,000 paid professional economists in this country.  Out of those 14,000 only 4 to 10 saw the Oct surprise coming. All those other 13,990 are still at work - and it is their predictions that these mass media stories are based on.

Logic dictates that their models are seriously flawed.

Instead of planning and creating our future based on the whims of Wall Street, let’s all get creative, get to work, start reaching out and helping each other and make 2009 the best and most prosperous year ever.

Real prosperity - not prosperity built on some third parties opinion of what a piece of paper with a white male president’s picture on it is worth.

Let us create a new bull market of Joy.

The real prosperity of community and joy. The prosperity of celebrating under the full moon together.

The prosperity of being human enough to offer help where needed and the abundance of asking for help when you are in need.

The financial security of knowing that when needs arise - a community will be there to help you, as you have helped them.

Let us build new communities of creative folks who use a new economy.

The economy of  the “golden parachute” of supporting our elders in their old age and utilizing them for their wisdom, not to greet folks at Wal Mart.

The “investment strategy” of seeing children and their needs as sacred and never ignoring a hungry child.

The “options” of seeing women and men as 2 sides of the exact same coin.

The “killer deal” of recognizing that ancient wisdom, techniques and healing arts have thousands of years of experience and real world testing.

The “portfolio diversity” of accepting all religions, faiths, orientations and beliefs into the community so we all benefit from multiple perspectives.

The “blue chip stock” of nurturing and supporting our artists and creative folks and watching out minds and community bloom with beauty.

A new economy of love - not gold and silver.

I know - it’s a big project. There are a zillion obstacles.

And I say to you.

If not now…when? If not us…who?

“To dream the impossible dream…to fight the unbeatable foe….to go where no one will dare going…”

So do we cower and grovel at the feet of the false prophets of economists?

Or do we dream impossible dreams and reach out for the unreachable star of a new world where all are fed and healed with or without the poker chips of money? Where every human sleeps secure and well fed whether 6 months old or 109?

You know which one I choose.

You are all invited to join me.

Blessings and Joy

Ed Osworth

Author of “Unstoppable Joy -
A Happier You in 12 Simple Steps”

UnstoppableJoy.com