My son started University recently and as I watched all the new students alighting from cars and trains, dragging suitcases, duvets and buying pillows en masse from their new local Lidl, I did think about how much courage, resourcefulness and joy are involved in their new challenging lives as Undergraduates.
There was a feeling of adventure and curiosity about the city and it did not seem too much of a hyperbole to feel that they were the explorers and adventurers of today!! Indeed the sound of their wheeled cases made me smile and feel intensely emotional too at their hopeful aliveness.
And now this afternoon I have found these different thoughts of Robert Louis Stevenson( Mr Tusitala himself..and very much an explorer in heart and deed!) on an excellent site devoted to confidence. So here they are, VERY TRUE and very RESONANT!
How To Be Happy
by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894)
1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.
2. Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.
3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortune that befalls other people.
4. You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.
5. Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.
6. Do the things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.
7. Never borrow trouble. Imaginary things are harder to bear than real ones.
8. Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish jealousy, enmity, grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.
9. Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.
10. Don’t hold post-mortems. Don’t spend your time brooding over sorrows or mistakes. Don’t be one who never gets over things.
11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.
12. Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.
Read more: http://www.life-with-confidence.com/how-to-be-happy-stevenson.html#ixzz2fnfQPb5n
Love this !!!