Jack’s Winning Words 3/8/17
“A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe.”  (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)  Mihaly Whatizname is a real person, a former professor at the University of Chicago.  He’s known for his study of happiness and positive psychology.  “People are happiest when completely absorbed in what they’re doing.”  …like someone in a jazz combo  …like a scientist in his lab.  Is there some task that completely absorbs you, that gives you joy?    ;-)  Jack

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  life must be pretty darned bad for most people or why would we be barraged w/all the "be happy" tips everywhere we turn? "life sucks, & then you die" perhaps is more accurate than we care to admit...====JACK:  Your response caused me to look up "Why people are unhappy."  A list started with these three, and it seemed to make sense. 1) We worry..about a lot of things.  2) We feel that there is so much that we can't control.  3) We continue to hold grudges. ====LIZ:  i worry non-stop... exhausting!====JACK:  Sometimes songs, like "Don't Worry, be Happy," don't seem to cut it.  (pause)  I decided to look up the composer of that song, Bob Marley, and saw that he lived with cancer for four years before his death.  I can see how someone in his situation might write such a song.  It is said that he tried to connect a  spiritual meaning with his songs.  How about taking "cuteness" out of that song and making it a kind of "hymn?"  Don't worry, be happy, because God is always with you...good times and bad.  Marley's final words to his son were: "Money can't buy life."

FROM STARRY KNIGHT:  Singing and Music. I'm going home later this mirth for (my mom's) Birthday 💗 i miss home.====JACK:  One of my favorite lines from The Wizard of Oz is:  "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."  There's so much good in that movie!

FROM TARMART REV:  When I awake every morning!!====JACK:  An old song that I like
starts with these words..."Roll out of bed in the morning with a great big smile and a good, good morning.  Get up with a grin.  There's a new day a-tumbl-in' in."

FROM HONEST JOHN:  Many things I do completely absorb me....which probably has helped me to have a fulfilling life.....preaching....teaching....woodworking....gardening....reading....writing.....TV tends to bore me so my mind rests during those times.....====JACK:  I suppose that works with listening to some sermons...and political speeches, too.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Working with the poor and homeless tend to give you an insight into why some are beset with anxiety and unhappiness!  Completely absorbed in trying to survive!  I love to get absorbed in a really good book, or bridge game, or music concert, and loving family gatherings! . Because my life has been so blessed, I tend to be optimistic and happy, but of course "into each life some rain must fall", so thankful for a faith that sees me through....I'm wondering who was brave enough to become MRS. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi! Quite a moniker!====JACK:  Beethoven was one of those self-absorbed obsessive people.  I enjoy his music, but I didn't know...he counted out 60 coffee beans (exactly!) each morning for his cup of coffee, and developed his compositions through walking and obsessive bathing. 

FROM MT IN PENNSYLVANIA:  So true!  Even though I really miss making artwork that serves others, I’m happy every day because our technology and methods (Teamability) can serve millions, and we are making more progress than ever towards that goal. In January, the global accounting/auditing/management consulting firm Ernst & Young (previously our biggest client) began selling pilot Teamability projects to its own clients. And yesterday we began a working relationship with the MLB San Francisco Giants organization.  Interestingly, Mihaly C’s comment is fully aligned with concepts that underlie what we are doing. The word ‘creation’ is of particular significance because, in order to be healthy and happy, one needs to be continually adapting and adjusting to changing perceptions, situations, and relationships. That’s an act of creation, and it has infinite possibilities. So, where personality tests (Myers Briggs, DISC, etc.) usually identify 16 different personality types, the online Teamability exercise captures variations numbering in excess of 10 to the 40th power! It then aligns a person’s desire to team with (to serve) one of 10 different fundamental team needs. This mode of teaming, called ‘Role', is further influenced by other measured qualities, called Coherence and Teaming Characteristics.  So indeed…there are many guiding principles, but no fixed recipe!====JACK:  It's interesting that you now have an actual team, the SF Giants buying into your team concept.  The Univ of Michigan's football coach, Jim Harbaugh, is an innovative person.  Maybe he'd be interested in hearing about teamability, or maybe it could be part of an academic course for athletes.  You never know.  

FROM FM IN WISCONSIN:  With my wife still ill – work around our apartment, like cleaning, doing the wash and ironing!====JACK:  ",,,in sickness and in health."

FROM GUSTIE MARLYS:  I know a Medical Dr. that has had conferences on “laughing”!  He is affectionately called “The Laugh Dr.”  He passes out smiles.  It is so true!  Laughter is good for the soul!====JACK:  People are often identifiable by their laughs.  Clem had a great laugh.  He and I really shared some laughable experiences when I was in St. Paul.  Even now, as I think back, I smile as I remember those times...you and he singing a duet in a service that I conducted in an old people's home.


FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  Singing, gardening====JACK:  Here's a song to sing while you work in your garden...
"Inch by inch
Row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch
Row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
Til the rain comes tumbling down" 

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Does completely absorbed is an ice cream Sundae count?====JACK:  Did you know that ice cream concoction that you wrote about was originally called, an "Ice Cream Sunday."  The city of Evanston, Illinois, outlawed its sale on Sundays, so those who were selling them simply changed the spelling of Sunday to Sundae, and it became legal.