A Poem On Happiness

A Poem On Happiness

By Kenny Felderstein

What it happiness?

Is it the opposite of unhappiness

Is it a smile on your face

Or is it hidden in a deeper place

A smile on your face is not where happiness lies

That same place could be where happiness dies

The fact is true happiness resides in your heart

If you don't have it you can be torn apart

Oh, you can project happiness from your facade

But, if you don't feel it in your heart you're being a fraud

When you truly feel it inside

Your words and body will express it with pride

The actions you take today should make you happy

Don't take actions that make you unhappy

The people you embrace should make you happy

Divorce the ones that make you unhappy 

Believe that happiness is something you can control

Believe that happiness will enrich your soul

So, happiness should be your primary focus

If you make it a priority you get a fantastic bonus

Always remember the people who love you want you to love life

Always believe the happier you are the more you'll get out of life

Always believe the people who love you want you to be happy

Always believe the happier you are the more they will be happy

Make happiness your goal

If you succeed you'll feel it in your heart and soul

If you succeed life will be a lot more fun

If you succeed you've WON

I Stand Up For The American Flag

I Stand Up For The American Flag

Many of you are unaware that a football Quarterback has decided to stop standing up for the American flag during the pre-game National Anthem. His reasoning is that he can't support a United States flag until America stops being racist.   

I agree there is a problem with racism in America and we need to work harder to change the minds and the actions of those few. However, I refuse to believe the over 250 million people in America are racist. My America is a great Country. Millions have died to protect our freedom. Millions stand up today for racial change.

However, this Quarterback's position is that America is rotten to the core. What he refuses to realize is that America is just one of a few Countries that give him the freedom of speech to state his position publicly. There are over ten Countries in the world that would lock him up or something even worse for speaking out.

I totally agree to verbally attack the racists. I totally disagree to verbally attack America because there are racists in this great Country. His actions do nothing to change the situation. We Americans know racism exists and speak-out against it. Actions are being taken even if it's not happening as fast as we all would like

Sooo, my question is, would he fight for the freedoms America gives him? If not, why doesn't he give his American dream of playing football and move to another Country? OOOH, I know the reason, where the hell would he go that's better than this?

I say, keep the many, many millions of dollars the National Football League has given you, continue to be vocal against racism, but:

Never Stop Loving This Wonderful America And Stand Up For The American Flag

The Eyes Have It

The Eyes Have It

Look into my eyes and count backwards from 100 to 1. You're feeling sleepy. You're going into a deep sleep. I'm going to ask you a few questions. When I'm done, I will snap my finger you won't remember anything that happened and you will feel like you had the best sleep of your life. 

Why is it they never say look at my elbow? The reason is because the eyes have it. Great actors can make you believe almost anything just with their eyes. They can convince you they're sleepy, angry, sick, scared, in pain, happy, sad, jealous, etc., etc. How are they able to pull it off - because The Eyes Have It?

Unless I'm with a great actor, I usually can tell what's going on with a person just by paying attention to their eyes. People can hide a lot of stuff, but if you stop listening to their words and focus your attention on their eyes, you'll usually know what's going on.

The key words here are to focus your attention on their eyes. It's much easier to look at their body language. It's much easier to listen to the words that come out of their mouth. It's just harder to ignore those things and focus on their eyes. If you're able to do that, you'll see the truth.

I didn't understand this until I was around forty. I was very good at it when it came to business or playing games, but I sucked at it when it came to my social circle. Would I have married my first two wives if I accepted The Eyes Have It - I'll never know?

I do know this, the first time I met my Ellen, I focused on her eyes. Her eyes told me she was a happy, honest, loving and giving person. Well, guess what, thirty plus years later she has proven to be a happy, honest, loving and giving person.

If you want to be successful in business (especially in negotiations), look into their eyes. If you want to be a professional gambler, stare into their eyes. If you want to choose the right people to hang out with or marry, focus on their eyes.  

Please accept my seventy plus years of learning that:

The Eyes Have It

How Often Do You Smile

How Often Do You Smile

I have a theory that people who usually have a smile on their face attract other people. The other side of that coin is that people who usually have a frown on their face repel other people. I believe the reason for that is the way the brain works.

I believe the brain is looking for positive feedback. Negative feedback puts people and animals in defensive mode. A smiley face (even on an animal) makes you feel happy and safe. A frown or angry face makes you feel unhappy and unsafe.

I didn't get this attitude from books. Maybe I'm just making this shit up, but it's how I've felt my entire life. Hanging out with a frowning face makes me less likely to have a good time. Hanging out with someone who constantly has a smile on their face, energies me.

The cynic believes people who smile most of the time must be hiding something. They believe nobody with Cancer could live life with a smile on their face. They believe nobody who has lost a love one could continue to believe in a positive future with a smile on their face. They believe poor people who smile are really unhappy people.

All anyone has to do is look at me. I have a six inch bar in my neck, two ruptured disks in my back and an operation on my knee. I hurt all the time, but I still believe life is beautiful and wonderful and that puts a smile on my face.

I don't smile to please anyone else. I smile to please me. Finding everyday things to smile about makes me feel good inside. When I feel good inside I'm a happy camper. When I see others less fortunate than I smile that really makes my day.

Sooo, how often do you smile? If the answer is not a lot, think about the benefit you're getting from frowning Vs. the benefit you'll get from smiling. Frowning is not serving YOU!

Smiling Is A Gift You Can Give Yourself

Letting Go Of STUFF

Letting Go Of STUFF

It's hard to let go of the things you love. For me it's hard to let go of anything. My wife isn't as bad as me but, if she would just let go of her forty year old Boggle game it would make my day. On the other hand I have STUFF that I'll never use, but just can't let go of them. 

I found a solution for my old clothes - Ellen. If it wasn't for her, I would still have shirts, pants and shoes that date back to the Disco days. What's interesting is I don't have anything I cherish so much that I won't let it go. I'm just not sentimental about STUFF. 

I keep STUFF because it's out of the way and I don't feel the need to do spring cleaning. However, should I need the space, the STUFF has to go. Sometimes a person needs to move to a smaller home or apartment to force them to suck it up and get rid of all that unneeded, unusable and discussing STUFF.

With all that said, I understand people who have things that have deep meaning for them. It may be from their childhood or it may be from an accomplishment in life or it may be part of a loved ones' life. For many people, letting go of those things is like making a hole in their being.

Sooo, when is the right time to let go? The most obvious time is when you need the space the STUFF is taking up. Another good time is when the STUFF is worth something and you could use that money to live a better and happier life. 

However, the most important time is when the STUFF is not letting you go on with your life. Memories are great, but when they feel painful or are holding you back from living the life you deserve, you've got to let them go.

I know it's hard, but if you value your life and happiness that STUFF has to go because it's filling a negative hole in you. 

By letting it go you'll give yourself time to refill that hole with positive STUFF.

How Do You Rate The Future

How Do You Rate The Future

From one to ten I give the future a ten. I'm not just talking about my future; I'm talking about the world's future. At seventy one my future is what I can make of it. That means what I can control not what I can't control.

I can't control my health, but I can do things to minimize the damage. In the end we all die of something. Don't believe the bullshit that some of us will die of old age. The fact is we will all die of something - heart disease, Cancer, car accident, etc. etc. etc. The older we get the chance of something killing us is assured.

Therefore, I choose to focus on the things I can control. The most important one is my happiness. I can choose to continue loving life even if my bad back gets worse. I can choose to continue loving life even if I get Cancer. I can choose to continue loving life even if I get too old to do all the things I can do today.

The thing that makes the future so wonderful is that technology will enable me to do whatever I want to do as long as my brain is working. You see, I can travel using virtual reality even if I physically can't be there. You see, in the future I will be able to control many things in my life just from my thoughts. 

The goal is to live long enough so that technology can enable me to be happy, healthy with quality of life for more years than a future without technology. I guess I won't live long enough to see all the wonderful things technology will bring me, but please believe me the world will benefit from it.

I believe technology will cure many of the life threatening diseases that exist today and tomorrow. I believe technology will enable us to lose a limb and replace it with one that is the same as the one we lost. I believe technology will eliminate war. 

Many people only see problems in the future. They see technology as a threat not a hope (negative energy begets negative energy - positive energy begets positive energy). They don't see their children and their children's children living a much better life then they live. They want that, but they don't see it.

I say, if you don't give the future at least an eight, you're not a happy person. I say, if you give the future a two, you've lost hope and are depressed. I say, if you give the future a five, you're still trying to figure out your life.

We're all faced with barriers. The old saying: life's a bitch and then you die," is a shit way to live your life. Starting today, write down your rating of the future. I say, if you want to be happy for the rest of your life write down;

8, 9 or 10

You're In My Heart You're In My Soul

You're In My Heart You're In My Soul

 Ellen and I just saw Rod Stewart in concert at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.  The show was fantastic and Rod was at his best even though he's my age - which is old.  It's always hard to say what you feel to someone. One of Rod's songs has beautiful lyrics that say everything I feel about the woman I love so dearly. Below are those lyrics:
 

I didn't know what day it was
when you walked into the room
I said hello unnoticed
You said goodbye too soon
Breezing through the clientele
spinning yarns that were so lyrical
I really must confess right here
the attraction was purely physical
I took all those habits of yours
that in the beginning were hard to accept
Your fashion sense, Beardsly prints
I put down to experience
The big bosomed lady with the Dutch accent
who tried to change my point of view
Her ad lib lines were well rehearsed
but my heart cried out for you
Chorus:
You're in my heart, you're in my soul
You'll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you're my best friend
You're in my soul
My love for you is immeasurable
My respect for you immense
You're ageless, timeless, lace and fineness
You're beauty and elegance
You're a rhapsody, a comedy
You're a symphony and a play
You're every love song ever written
But honey what do you see in me
(Chorus)

You're in my heart, you're in my soul
You'll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you're my best friend
You're in my soul
You're an essay in glamour
Please pardon the grammar
but you're every schoolboy's dream
You're Celtic, United, but baby I've decided
You're the best team I've ever seen
(Chorus)

You're in my heart, you're in my soul
You'll be my breath should I grow old
You are my lover, you're my best friend
You're in my soul

 

I wish everyone who reads this blog has someone they want to share these lyrics with.

 

 Ellen, You're In My Heart You're In My Soul