Every Day Is A New Day, A New Dawn

https://joyfulpursuitoflife.wordpress.com/2016/11/27/a-new-day-a-new-dawn/

The Joy of Being an Elephant (Even When Not In The Wild) 🐘🌾🍃🌿☀️🎶

Never forget to dance along to the beat of life, I mean look at this elephant. This magnificent creature is massive and It's been around so much longer than any of us and is built to destroy things many times our size. It's natural tusks are so valuable that they have put the elephant on the endangered species list and threatens to keep them there until they simply cease to exist. I don't know how the LA Zoo aquires and conserves animals but I know that these people and handlers can be trusted. These elephants needed a home and found one here, where they are well taken care of and don't have to worry about poachers or drought or predators. This Establishment has the backing of many very influential and honorable people. I could go on and on, but the point is that while the Zoo is not the ideal spot for the elephants to live it is the best and safest place for them to be right now and at least while they are here we can make sure that they are taken care of in the best manner possible so as to make them happy and make their life most like how it would be if they were home in the wild.

Being here allows them to safely and peacefully live their lives and to be happy as well. Human beings aren't the only living creatures capable of happiness and Joy. All living creatures are capable of love and joy to some form or extent. Look at this beautiful elephant, those amazingly rare and deadly tusks. Yet such a gentle demeanor from an animal not threatened by poachers or rifles. Granted they are still wild animals, but by being rescued we domesticate them to an extant (the least amount as possible) in order to help them acclimate and ultimately survive. They don't get all the same things they would if they were outside the zoo, but they get the extra benefits over the risks. I don't know if this elephant was bred, captured or rescued or whether or not he has ever even seen the wild, but I do know one thing - he doesn't care right now. He is enjoying being alive. Human beings must have invented stress and worry for ourselves because it serves no point except to sabotage our own lives; animals don't seem to be stressing about what their lives will be like in ten years. They live in the here and now because they have to. While we can't necessarily live life without thinking of the future at all we have quite a bit we can learn. This guy floored me, mesmerized me. I couldn't look away and the whole time I was grinning, smiling and laughing along with everyone else there. I was already complaining about odd things throughout the day and look at this elephant here who had more to complain about than me and he was saying screw it, let's make the best of it. It almost made me feel like a fool. 

At this certain point there were about twenty or so people gathered looking out over a meter-high barrier standing between the elephant enclosure and the outside zoo. The elephant seemed to know he had an audience because, as you can see in the video, he looks over many times smiling and keeps going as if to play. In the warm springtime sun he seems to dance to his own tune and rhythm, in sync with whatever is running through his head. He keeps cool by backing into the water from the waterfall and plays around once more by climbing the hill to dance around some more and wave with a smile to his adoring bystanders. It was one of those moments in the zoo when you completely forget about time and everything else and get lost in the sheer Joy of witnessing anther animal not only find its Joy but share it with others. Joy truly is all around us. We have to constantly remind ourselves to be like Mr. Elephant and simply blow off the sand and dirt of troubles and dance away the stiffness and ache of life. Live in the present moment and enjoy what is going on right now, even when your situation is less than ideal work with what you have and make the best of it. You will never get another today again; a tomorrow maybe, but we don't know about that either. Since we can't be sure lets make sure to focus on finding those things of Joy in our life and truly enjoying them once we find them. Once we do that sharing becomes an easy next step as it pretty much happens on its own as you become a becon outward of your own Joy. So play in the dirt and the water, get messy and have fun - sing and dance like there's no tomorrow, because today is all we are guaranteed. 

Sometimes Being "Happier" Leads You Down the Path of Joy

If there is one thing I could credit for my newfound insight and drive to enjoy this one life I have it would be my loving partner. He has taught me so much and encourages me all the time. The one tool I can credit with helping me get to where I am so far is something I never expected. Social media has pretty much taken over our lives and the rest of the world. There is no escaping it. It is everywhere all the time. Smartphones have only made the takeover that much easier. Don't get me wrong, I love using Facebook on my new iPhone 6, but at the end of the day lying in bed at night it leaves me feeling empty and even more disconnected. Our lives have begun to revolve around our postings and walls and online interactions. Companies are now all on Facebook, it has become cemented in advertising and I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon. Then on top of Facebook comes Tumblr, Blogger, Instagram, Twitter, Four Square, Pinterest..... on and on the list goes, growing even more every day. There is one social interaction that I found to actually be helpful instead of a hindrance. I remember just stumbling over the application in the App Store last year while I was lying in bed and watching TV. Downloading it I was excited to play around with something new, little did I know that it would become a permanent marker in my daily life.
I truly believe that this application is something that can transform your life and your attitude. The support it provides has proven to be immeasurable. It is quite simply called "Happier." The icon is a white "H" on an orange background, orange representing the ongoing theme of happiness. You get a profile of course, but only with a small picture and a few short lines to write a quick summary about you and your life. Each posting is a happy moment in your day, accompanied by a picture if you would like. Happy moments and that's it. You categorize each one whether about family, friends, being happy, hobbies, going to the movies and on and on as the possibilities are endless. That makes it kind of cool to go back to my "Collections" at any time and look at everything about my partner or all the encouraging words I have posted. It is refreshing to only see happy moments on my feed instead of complaints or whining or any of the other annoying things I hate. The whole point is to get you thinking positive throughout the day and posting the positive things that make you happy. In turn you help spread others happiness as well as spreading your own to a welcoming and inviting community. As you read others postings you can leave comments or "smile" instead of like, no posting on someones wall or messaging someone. It's really neat to post something that has really excited you and then get to see that it also made forty other people smile. That is a feeling you can carry with you all day long. The strength I gain from just one glance at my notifications makes it more than worth it. I have hundreds of friends on there from all over the world and we comment on each other's all the time. To so easily and simply connect with someone on the other side of the world in order to help you both think happier and more positively is amazingly profound. More and more people follow me every day, and every day I go exploring and go through friends of friends of friends meeting new people along the way. I have made friends over these last several months, I am up to over 500 moments now, that have stayed by my side to be a support and source of strength. Sometimes meet ups are even arranged, say for anyone in Long Beach we will be meeting at this restaurant this Saturday at 5:00 and anyone who can come is welcome. Just an example, another way for a community of real people to cast aside doubt, fear, anger and anxiety and focus on the happy things in life that help guide them. We are our own source of strength, if we can't be strong no one else can make us strong. We have to decide to be happy, to be joyful and to realize that life will always have ups and downs and focusing on the positive is the only way to survive.
Every morning when I wake up I check my Happier page, it has become a hallmark of my daily routines. All day long I post the things making me happy which forces me to focus on the positive and keeps it in the forefront of my mind all throughout my day. It may not help everyone, but it has helped me tremendously and it has helped so many people I know. My partner is just as hopelessly addicted as I am. It's free, just download it and explore. Try it out, it's in both the iTunes and the Android store. For a free application this one proves to be a goldmine for nothing at all. Try focusing on the positive things in your day, it will help remind you in those down times of the things that help keep you running. Seeing both the good and the bad and choosing to focus on the good is the active form of being joyful. There are many tools out there to help out, keep trying all of them until you find the one that fits perfect and works for you. For each of us this is different. Here is a free tool you can try that has proven to be successful and provides more than a social community but a support network as well. Try it today, think "happy" and keep reminding yourself all day that it's ok to cherish the things that make you smile and use them for strength when life happens to be down for the moment or well - any other time at all. Being joyful means actively taking an interest in your happiness and contentment, pick up that mantle today and try "Happier." I promise you it is worth it, in more ways than I can possibly explain here.

Be positive, stay Joyful! 

iTunes App Store Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/happier/id499033500?mt=8