The document discusses seven keys to living an optimistic and happy life: 1) Have a purpose, 2) Take action and be bold, 3) Honor yourself, 4) Forgive others, 5) Forgive yourself, 6) Have gratitude for all of life, and 7) Be of service to others. The author argues that being of service to others, whether through raising children, caring for others, or developing products to help people, is perhaps the single greatest secret to happiness, as it allows people to live beyond themselves and leave a lasting positive impact. Choosing a life of purpose that incorporates service to others can lead to great satisfaction and lasting happiness.

1. Living An optimistic and Happy Life
Monday, November 04,
2013
LIVING AN OPTIMISTIC
AND HAPPY LIFE
By Winfred Mugabirwe Jones
An Intern student at Ugafin LTD
P O Box 26191,Kampala
Tel:+256774997285
Email:mwinfredjones@gmail.com

2. Living An optimistic and Happy Life
• Are you often less than fully happy with your life? Or with yourself?
Do you wonder what it would take to become happier? Is there a
single true secret of happiness?
Learn how to be happy with yourself
by mastering the secret of happiness.

3. Living An optimistic and Happy Life
There are a number of important factors in your
happiness
Your happiness with life and your happiness
with yourself. Here are some of the most
important choices you can make to live a
happier - or less happy - life.
• The single most important key to your
happiness - perhaps THE secret of happiness
- is listed last.

4. She looks happy

5. 1. Have a Purpose
 If a man does not know what port he is
steering for, no wind is favorable to him.
This implies that he or she ought to bring the
meaning of life, depending on how he or she
ascribes it to be.
Logically to me life is being alive
•
Your life doesn't have a purpose until you
choose your life purpose. So make that choice,
and choose well. There is a very high
correlation between lives of high purpose and
joyful lives. There is also a high correlation
between lives without purpose and unhappy
lives. Create purpose in your life not as a moral
dictum, but as a key element of a happy life.

6. 2. Take Action - Be Bold

Whatever you can do or dream you can, Begin it on. Boldness
has genius, power and magic in it, Begin it now. You ought to have
Faith too;
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole
staircase. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
 A life lived in fear is a life half lived and Life isn't about finding
yourself but it’s about is creating yourself. (George Bernard Shaw)
for example my Dad, who graduated with a very nice degree in
forestry but ended up in another filed of job not even related to
what he studied, he keeps lecturing me about not giving up my
dreams even when your goals are starting to change or moving in
another direction.
 But once you know where you are going, get started. A life of
action is almost always happier than a life of procrastination and
inaction. Even if you are unsure about what to do next, do the best
you can. Make some progress every day, and celebrate even your
smallest accomplishments.

7. HE’S BOLD

8. 3. Honor Yourself
 Love Yourself as You Are,*to thine own self be true.* - William
Shakespeare
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate
version of somebody else. For example I usually have get
comparison issues with my mum, at times with her or other people
but I usually console her to be fine and not worry because* That’s
them and I am me, and I promise to even be better in God’s timing
 Honor, self respect, and self love are crucial to your happiness.
Don't confuse these essential attributes with pride - in the biblical
sense of pride. You have to respect and love yourself in order to
stand any chance for a happy life. You are perfect exactly as you
are - whatever anyone else may say about you. If you sometimes
choose to make changes in how you live, great. But you never have
to change anything in order to be a perfect person - a perfect
creation.

9. WE LOVE OURSELVES

10. 4. Forgive Others
• Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does
enlarge the future.(got that during in some night
prayers I attended in Bukalago).Holding on to anger is
like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at
someone else don’t forget that you are the one who is
getting burnt. Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
Holding on to resentments, anger, and hatred only hurts
yourself - and robs your life of its joy and happiness. For
your own sake - for the sake of your happiness - forgive
everyone for everything that they have ever done - or
failed to do - that caused you pain or upset.
It is sometimes very hard to forgive, but total
unconditional forgiveness is one of the great keys to
your own happiness.

11. 5. Forgive Yourself
Regret is an appalling waste of energy, you can't build
on it .What's done is done, and let by goons be by
goons and start Living with intention...Choose with no
regrets...(Princess Diaries movie).Put in mind that no
one is so perfect and whoever points a finger at you,
three of his fingers are point back at him(Father Safari
on Sunday mass)
Always do your best - your very best - every time. But
after it is over, let it be done - whatever the outcome.
Learn lessons from your failures, but never label
yourself as a failure. Forgive yourself for everything you
have ever done - or failed to do - that didn't work out
the way you intended.

12. 6. Have Gratitude for All of Life
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have
into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to
clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a
stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow.(harry Potter movies)
We also have the choice of celebrating life - all of life. We can
be profoundly grateful for everything we have. However
little we have, it is so much more than nothing. Our very
existence is a daily miracle which deserves constant
gratitude. Make the choice to be constantly grateful for all of
life, not because you are supposed to be grateful, but
because you will live a much happier life if you have a
grateful attitude.

13. 7. Be of Service to Others
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you
doing for others?"(Martin Luther King, Jr.)Implying what is
your purpose to the community you live in???
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion and
what you feel can change your community (family) to good,
better and best.
The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more
he gives to others, the more he has for his own. - Lao Tzu
When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our
own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic
transformation of consciousness(courtesy of my parents
doing good to people)
What we have done for ourselves alone dies with
us;(mbwenushi abatu bakwijukire hali ki??
What we have done for others and the world remains and is
immortal.

14. Of all the keys to happiness, Service
to Others is the big one
- perhaps THE secret of happiness. Without
purpose we have no reason to live.
Without taking action on that purpose we
are impotent. What is the characteristic of
a life purpose that creates satisfaction with
life and genuine lasting happiness? - Being
of Service to others.

15. NOTE:
• There are many ways to be of service - and
they are all wonderful as long as they are
sincere. Being of service can be raising
children with love, caring for an ill relative,
volunteering with the Red Cross, or it can be
developing a new pharmaceutical or even
selling a product that you truly believe will
greatly help people. Being of service is the
attitude rather than the action. One could be
a physician for the money, or one could dig
graves as a service to others. Note that being
of service is completely different from
attempting to please everyone - which is
foolish and a path to great unhappiness.

16. THUS
Being of service allows us to live a larger
life, to live beyond ourselves, to leave a
lasting legacy.
Consider including service as a key
element of your statement of life
purpose, and taking purpose. You will be
happier for it. Y

17. THANK YOU