A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check
tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket, and he
opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without missing a beat she said,
"Sir, I need to see your ticket, not your stub."
==========
THE 7 C's of HAPPPINESS
--By Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.

The American Declaration of Independence asserts that each one of us
has the right to pursue happiness. It does not tell us how to pursue it.
The Dalai Lama writes, "I believe that the very purpose of our life is
to seek happiness...the very motion of our life is towards happiness."
He does not tell us how to move so that we fulfill that life-purpose of
happiness.

Perhaps all of your New Year's resolutions were aimed at seeking
something better in your life. All of us are seeking more happiness.
Regardless of age, ethnicity, religion or background, all of us experience
problems that naturally arise in our daily lives. All of us will confront
illness, old age and death. All of us will either overcome the daily
difficulties that are bound to occur, or we will be overwhelmed by them,
shrivel up and die. Trying to avoid them by simply not thinking about
them may provide us with some temporary relief, but there are better
methods for seeking and developing inner happiness.

What are the critical ingredients for experiencing genuine happiness?
Here are seven elements of life that I believe are essential to the
attainment of human happiness. I call them the "7 C's in the pursuit of
happiness." One is not more important than any of the others.

1) Compassion. In order to evolve into a state of happiness, you must
develop your in-born ability to care about life, to value life in all
its forms, to engage in loving, kind actions, to cultivate an attitude of
what Nobel laureate, Dr. Albert Schweitzer called "reverence for life,"
(including your own).

2) Contentment. Inner calm and peace of mind and heart does not mean
acceptance of everything that happens. It does mean letting go of fear.
When you live life fearlessly, you experience a kind of peace that
permeates every cell of your body, every thought of your mind, every emotion
of your heart, every element of your spirit.

3) Connection. Without effectively connecting to other humans, you
become less than human yourself. Connection means involving yourself in
relationship to everyone around you, connecting to your own inner life,
and becoming aware of the environment in which you live. Learn to create
high-quality relationships, and your happiness is almost guaranteed.

4) Communication. Communication is our primary method for connection.
It increases your knowledge, your understanding, and your awareness.
Language is precious. Words are the building blocks of all happiness.

5) Commitment. Oprah Winfrey says that what motivates her to get up in
the morning is "my commitment to my life and fulfilling my life
purpose." If one of your life's purposes is to enhance your happiness,
committing your life to the service of others brings more happiness than you
can imagine. Happiness requires you commit yourself to something larger
than yourself.

6) Consciousness. Most spiritual teachers believe we are living in a
sleep-like or dream state. In order to be happy, one must increase one's
awareness of life. And the single awareness that is most conducive to
happiness is: the impermanence of everything. Life is in a constant
state of flux, of change, of rhythm and of evolution.

7) Creativity. Creating your life experience by consciously choosing
your thoughts, your actions, your decisions and your attitudes will allow
you to attain personal happiness regardless of external circumstances.

The pursuit of happiness is not something you search for or attain from
outside your skin. Happiness develops from within. You were born to be
happy. You were given life to experience happiness. Pursuing it is your
right. Sail the 7 C's of happiness and the pursuit of it becomes
obvious and being alive becomes the happiest of moments.
==========
SNAPPY ANSWER #3

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but
couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a stock boy, "Do
these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am they're
dead."
==========
THE BROKEN HEART
--By Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.

It happens to us all. The pain of a loss. The ache of a rejection. The
anguish of a loved one dying. The suffering of poverty, hunger, and
loneliness. Everyone has felt sadness, anger, grief, fear, and doubt.
These emotions are very powerful, internal events. Periodically, we have
experienced them ever since we were born. They often "break our hearts."
We usually suppress powerful emotions. As our minds become more
developed, we begin to play mental games in order to lessen the felt intensity
of our painful feelings. As small children, we feel we may be
overwhelmed and even die, if we don't "do something" to lessen emotional
intensity. We learn rather quickly what activities seem to diminish the felt
"pain" of our own emotional volatility. Some of these activities include
changing our breathing patterns; moving or holding our bodies in
specific ways (e.g. strenuous movement or tensional rigidity); development of
fantasies and mental images; and conscious habit alteration (e.g.
eating patterns). These habits and mental games form hardness, a kind of
mental armoring around our naturally open hearts. We come to believe they
will defend us from intrusion. They seem to protect us from anticipated
hurt. They seem to prevent others from touching us where or when we are
most vulnerable...in our heart of hearts. In the name of defense, we
close up. We shut others out and ourselves in.

In ancient Chinese calligraphy, the symbol for the mind and the symbol
for the heart are the same... "hsin." When we close our minds, when we
close our hearts, they become the same, like the two halves of the hard
shell which surrounds a walnut. These two parts are hard, sealed
together, protecting the soft inner core...the inner nature of the
walnut...the nourishment for new life when the seed opens and sprouts. In order
for a walnut to sprout, to grow, to develop into the large tree it was
meant to be, the hard shell must break. In order for us to grow, to
develop into the persons we were meant to be, we must allow our hearts to
break open. It can be a terrifying thought...to allow our hearts to
break, to become open and vulnerable to all that living has to offer
whether it be joy or sadness, pain or pleasure, hurt or healing. A broken
heart is an open heart.

I was told of a fourteen-year-old, schizophrenic boy, mute for some
years, who began to practice yoga while listening to music in the
background. As the relaxing sounds of the music played, he approached his
teacher and spoke for the first time in years, "That music is enough to
break your heart." It was the beginning of his healing. The broken heart
is the open heart. The heart that has allowed the armoring to crack, to
break, and to fall away exposing the soft inner core. Sometimes it
takes pressure, pain, or absolutely overwhelming emotion, before a heart is
broken. Sometimes it takes a firm, caring hug. Sometimes it takes only
a thought, a memory, a mental image. Sometimes it takes an offered gift
of caring, of being there, of support. We are always being invited to
allow our hearts to crack, to break, to remain open to life. Keeping
the heart open to the physical pain of injury or illness is probably the
most difficult task we have in our desire to keep open to all of Life.
The natural tendency is to shrink back, to close up, to tense and
withdraw, to harden against further pain. Yet, to do so often leads to
greater pain, further tension, further illness. Suffering seems to result in
further hardness or it can lead to the development of compassion.

Some of the most compassionate people are the ones who have suffered
the most! Compassion means the sharing of joy and pain. Opening the
heart means allowing the usual filters of fear, loathing, anger, and hate
to soften. We can allow ourselves to take in the pain, take in the
illness, take in the suffering, and surround it with tender awareness,
compassion, gentleness, and with love. To open our hearts with a kind of
merciful curiosity about our loss, our pain, our fear, our rage, is to
open ourselves to the very heart of healing. It allows our lives to be
lived with our hearts instead of only our bodies or minds. It is sending
love to ourselves. Like the walnut, becoming open is allowing the
possibility of new growth, of freedom, of healing, of developing our human
nature. Without a broken and open heart, we remain shut out of
Life...separate and isolated from ourselves and from others. With a broken
heart, we are open to love, to healing, and to joy. Yes, with an open heart,
we are vulnerable to hurt and pain, but these are also a part of being
alive. With a broken heart, we are vulnerable to Life and all its
aspects. Life, the most precious of all gifts. In order to receive that
gift, allow your heart to break and to remain open!
==========
SNAPPY ANSWER #2

A truck driver was driving along on the freeway. A sign comes up that
reads "Low bridge ahead." Before he knows it, the bridge is right ahead
of him and he gets stuck under the bridge. Cars are backed up for
miles. Finally, a police car comes up. The cop gets out of his car and walks
around to the truck driver puts his hands on his hips & says, "Got
stuck, huh?" The truck says, "No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out
of gas."
==========
FORGIVENESS TEST

http://ndeweb.com/q1463869.htm
==========
SNAPPY ANSWER #1

A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam. "Now
class, I won't tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow. I
might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury or illness, or
a death in your immediate family but that's it, no other excuses
whatsoever!" A smart-ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and
asks, "What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete
and utter sexual exhaustion?"

The entire class does its best to stifle their laughter. When silence
is restored, the teacher smiles sympathetically at the student, shakes
her head and sweetly says, "Well, I guess you'd have to write the exam
with your other hand."