Love My Neugroove

There has been a lot of discussion on the responsibility of social media platforms to take responsibility for the content posted by their users.  The Constitution provides some regulation on free speech and there are limits, but is it the responsibility of the social media platform to act as the free speech police?  Should a social media platform allow users to post anything, regardless of the content?

 

What if the users were to accept the responsibility for what they post AND for what they read?

Do you live your life based on the doctrine of “I have the right, so I should,” or do you live a more thoughtful life by considering how your actions affect others? 

What does it really mean to have the “right” to do something and who decides what our “rights” are within our societal group?  Are we given greater rights if we share the same gender, ethnicity, level of education, economic class, and ideas as those who determine our rights?

Life is uncertain and there is an impermanence to everything.  There is an impermanence to a river, as it can only be crossed one time before it changes.  As the water flows, the river is ever-changing, and each crossing is through new water – there is no permanence to the river.

Are morals, values, and ethics essentially the same with the defining factor being subjective to the person in question?  Do the standards and principles that a person uses to determine their own behavior depend on the situation?  Does our need for self-preservation override our morals, values, and ethics so we justify our behavior to align with what we think is acceptable to our peer groups?

When was the last time someone said to you, “So much has happened, I just didn’t have time to get to that yet...”? No matter what the actual time delay, they are sending you a clear message about their priorities, personal time management and generally how they approach life.

I confess…. I didn’t exactly think of three things to explore about myself in the next 12 months like I had intended on the International Day of Happiness.  I had one reoccurring thought on feelings and emotions and if there is anything at the top of a list for my own self-improvement it would be improving upon my ability to express feelings and emotions with words.  What if feelings are being impacted by the potential response of others? 

It’s hard for me to understand advice such as “just be happier.”  That’s good advice, but how?  Where can I get some?  Can I put a little in a box and save it for later? 

I’ve made a few changes recently and I definitely feel happier.  Some of the changes were difficult and scary, but I felt they were necessary.  I made a choice to actively work on my mental health, much like I did to improve my physical health.

I did a little research about my introversion justification to avoid social interaction. According to the science, the more social interaction a person avoids, the less happy they are. More social interaction, even with strangers, leads to happier people. I've got a lot to work on...

My life changed when I learned something new 25 years ago. It was super hard to hear then, because I was still frequently staring down depression from under the covers. And had been, for 10 years leading up to that life-changing conversation.

This life-long evolution is why I started Neugroove. To celebrate new ways of being, thinking, and living. 

So what does happiness mean to you, today? Today, this is what “be happy” means to me...

Is happiness a non-renewable resource?  If something great happens to a friend, does that take away from some limited potential happiness that you might receive?  Probably not.  What if something great happens to a person that you don’t know, or a person you don’t think is deserving?  Does that take away from the happiness available to everyone else. No, of course not.

Lucky us, our shared adventure starts in Costa Rica, March 6-8! Yep, in just 2 weeks, I am leading a workshop at the Gross Global Happiness Summit, an Executive event at the University for Peace in San Jose! "UPEACE" is an institution established by the General Assembly of the United Nations...