Is pain and suffering almost always caused by selfish minds? It appears so.

That appears to be one main cause of suffering as many people think they are going without so take from others.Take a look at any selfish or 'evil'/'bad' person. They are always selfish and dont realise that they could give others happiness if they took time to step back and look at their life. Instead they think there is no time to look at their life (takes 5 minutes) so miss the chance to make their life happy and content.

I keep forgetting to appreciate what i have and keep getting wound up by life's little problems based around things like my Career.
All of these anxieties come from comparing myself to others so it is inevitable that i am unhappy at least 50% of the time as i (and everyone else) expects to be getting at least above average out of life if not to at least 90%! (meaning i am unhappy 90% of the time!!!).

Several different people suggested going for a walk whenever I feel bad (which works amazingly) and also to look on life not as a task but as a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to see how many other people we can help and make happy. After all if you make someone else happy it makes you feel good so that can only be good. One other way is to look back at the simple things in life that I HAVE rather than look forward at the things i think i want. When i forget to appreciate these things i look up a video of someone who does not have one of these or try to find someone in the street who is missing one of these and try to help them a little. Below is a list of these things (if you cant do one move on to the next please)...

I can Breathe (breath in and out 10 times slowly concentrating on the air flowing into and out of your lounges) [hold your breath for a bit]
I can Touch (move one part of your body very slowly and concentrate on the sense) [sit still then move a tiny part of your body]
I can See (look at one small object or your hand and enjoy being able to see this) [close then open your eyes]
I can Hear (close your eyes and listen to the quietest sounds and enjoy them) [put your fingers in your ears;p]
I can Smell (breath in slowly through your nose and see what you can smell) [breath in through your mouth then nose]
I can Taste (What does your mouth taste like, the air or your skin?) [Eat something tasty]
I can Give (find someone who needs something and give it to them...Hug, Kiss...) [Dont forget to give yourself something too by hugging others]

 Do you know any other ways to remind yourself to control your EGO so you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on helping others who are  less (and more) fortunate than you are? Please share this information and any other ways to enjoy life (no matter how obvious) to http://www.FREEHUG.org

We are also looking for people to collaborate on this project. Are you interested?

 

Books that give lots of great advice on this are listed below as are lots of GREAT TED talks which explain about the benefits of selflessness (it makes YOU happy:) plus lots of free books can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg htt://www.gutenberg.org/