02 Dec Five secrets to lasting happiness!
Book tells secrets to lasting happiness
What’s the secret to living well and dying happy? Dr. John Izzo says there are actually five secrets, and they’re not that hard to grasp.
Dr. Izzo, who wrote “Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die”, did research on 250 people over 60 who had found lasting happiness. He says they included town barbers, teachers, truck drivers and CEOs. Their collective life experience taught him some interesting things about the real secrets to happiness, although some of these points may be easier said than done.
His first piece of advice is to be true to yourself.
“Again and again people say to me if you wanna be happy, don’t be true to others. Be true to your own dreams,” Izzo said, giving the example of a man whose family wanted him to become a doctor. The man eventually decided to follow his own path and told Izzo it was the most important decision of his life. “You have to know who you are. Don’t listen to parents other voices or friends. Listen to yourself, and part of that is the reflection each week, asking yourself, am I living the life I want to live as opposed to what someone else wants?”
The next mantra: Leave no regrets. “If you want to go for something in your life, you have to go for it. So many people, we regret the things we did not do, not the things that we failed at. That’s what we learn. Go for the things you want in life. Don’t wait. Today is a good day to do whatever that’s important for you to do.”
It sounds a little esoteric, but the next tip on Izzo’s list is to “become love.” He says your BMV won’t visit you in the nursing home. Among his happy respondents, he says they all made love and relationships important. “More importantly, if you want to be a happy person, be a loving person. Be a kind person. It will come back to you in the form of happiness. The secret is not to get love. The secret is to be a loving person.”
Living in the moment and giving more than you take also tie into that idea.
“Be grateful and be a giver, not a taker. The other thing we consider is these people had disciplines and rituals they used to stay happy in the book, I share the simple secrets that each one of us can do to find lasting happiness,” Izzo said.
One of the stories Izzo likes to tell is about the barber he interviewed who talked about ten-minute vs. ten-hour funerals. “He said to me, there are ten-minute funerals and ten-hour funerals. In a ten-hour funeral, people want to talk about your life, the difference you made, how you touched other peple, how you lived every moment. There are ten-minute funerals where people pay their regard. Happiness will find you if you live your life for the ten-hour funeral.”