Do you believe in magic?
By
admin
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Published
February 9, 2010
Do you believe in luck?
 If you do, then you probably also still believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and magic spells….
A long time ago, back when I was young and vibrant, I served with the military. The military is the ultimate place when it comes to rumors. Part of the reason for this is the fact that for the majority of the time enlisted men are treated like mushrooms: Kept in the dark and fed on crap.
One particular day a favorable rumor started in regards to a deployment to Kenya, Africa, but only for a handful of our guys. Of course, the rumor stated that only the most senior guys would be considered and all others should just forget about it…
That didn’t sit well with me as I really wanted this deployment and visit a place I might never get a chance to go to again – and get paid for doing it.
I didn’t even mention my interest to my mates. Most of them would have enjoyed going every bit as much as I would, but they had already stated they didn’t stand a chance and resigned themselves to failure before even trying: I loved that!!
The problem with the military is, it thinks of itself as some sort of dictatorship and everyone should follow the rules. I’m in favor of the system in war time because second guessing orders gets men killed, more often than not.
But during peace time, I believe the rules should be approached a tad more open minded…
Plus telling me not to do something is pretty much a freaking guarantee that I’ll do it. That’s what got me into the Commandos in the first place. Even my own Father didn’t think I could make it. Everyone said you’re crazy, they’ll beat the crap out of you and fail you, and then what’ll you do?
 As if the risk of not making it should be enough to deter one from even trying? WTH?
A plan started to form in my mind: A plan of audacity, rule bending and just a hint of rebelling against the system. But one must be careful. The military doesn’t take kindly to individual free thinking souls – unless they come with a smile and truck loads of charm and persistence. Of which I am amply blessed when my mind is set to achieve something.
My war of persistence began in a very low key and unassuming manner. The day after the rumor began, I showed up at the Sergeants’ office and off handedly remarked that if there were to be a trip to Kenya, I would be willing to deploy, even on short notice.
Did you notice how I twisted it around a bit? Now the trip didn’t sound so much like the glory trip it might have seemed initially. I was actually doing him a favor by letting him know that no matter what happened, I was his go-to-guy if things looked dicey for putting boots on the ground.
It didn’t work – exactly, “Vaughan, you’re a wanker. And that little line making the whole thing sound like you’re helping me out here, that’s ballsy…”
OK. I know. Not the most auspicious of beginnings, but here’s where lesser men would have tucked tail and walked away. I was just getting started.
So for the next two weeks here is how it went for my poor sergeant:
Every morning, after every lunch, last thing in the afternoon, I would “show up” and see what was going on at the office. After a few days of my becoming a regular at his office, he began to relent. I knew I was winning the first time he said he’d put me on the standby list, if anyone couldn’t go due to injury, sickness or whatever, I would be top of the back-up list.
Believe me, that was a victory. The war wasn’t won yet, but I’d certainly let the enemy know he was in for a tough uphill battle. Time to up the ante…
Now I started making tea runs for him, whether he needed a cuppa or not. Or runs to the Naffy, (the on base military shop selling T-shirts, coke, candy bars and other assorted merchandise the boys might need).
I let folks think I was in real trouble and having to do some running around to make it all OK again with the sergeant. Of course eventually he’d had enough, more than enough. He saw me coming and I could see the color drain from his face.
I always smiled, I always managed to make him laugh, but I was also driving him crazy. After two weeks he’d reached his limit.
“Vaughan, if you don’t quit bugging me the only place you’ll be getting deployed to is Arbroath!” Arbroath is a town in Scotland where no one wants to be, not even the Scots who live there… Everything was on the line now. Should I continue or accept defeat?
I rolled the dice. “But, sergeant, this would stop today if you’d give me a shot and put me on that deployment. Do you know how much paperwork is going to be involved with actually re-assigning me to 45 Commando? Sending me to a whole new unit? (Believe me it’s worth mentioning that if there’s one thing warriors hate, its paperwork – and this guy was a soldiers, soldier). I hit a nerve.
What I was saying in not so many words was, this will not stop. I will do this until you re-assign me to another unit, or put me on the list for Kenya. And I said it without actually saying it. I would never overtly threaten a senior rank, especially not his guy, I liked him!
I saw the doubt in his eyes. It was time to seal the deal.
“I’ll not bother you with anything again, ever, if you’ll do me a solid and put me on the list.”
“FINE! Now leave me the hell alone…” He tried to sound angry, but he was already chuckling as he began walking away. He added this as he left,
“If anyone else had worked as hard as you for this I’d have hung myself a week ago… Hell, if the whole Commando Brigade was as stubborn as you I could rule the freaking world…..” I believed him.
Three weeks later the personnel list for Kenya was posted, and would you Christmas Eve it, my name was on the list. Guess what I heard for the next few weeks,
“Vaughan’s so freaking lucky. How the hell did he get on the list?”
“Some blokes have all the luck. It’s just not fair.”
Typically these sorts of comments came from those that had quit trying before it ever began.
Success of any sort isn’t about luck. Luck is something that happens to us. But this line of reasoning means you are at the whim of chance. Something, or someone, has the power to rule your life.
It also means that when bad things happen, when “bad luck” strikes, your mindset is all wrong. You take on the attitude that of course something bad has happened, you knew your luck couldn’t last forever. Right?
Horsepucky!
If you don’t believe in luck, then whatever happens isn’t about the wind changing and your good/bad fortune suddenly slapping you in the face. It’s just what happens. Life happens. There is no good or bad, there are just things.
How you choose to look at them is all a mindset. Saying, “it’s just bad luck” gives the power for your life over to an age old superstition.
If you are stuck on the side of a mountain, lost after a long hike and it suddenly starts to rain, guess what? Mother Nature isn’t kicking sand in your face. She’s just doing what she does, watering the plants. You just happen to be standing in the garden when she does.
When you succeed at something and everyone around you is saying, oh you’re so lucky, nothing like that ever happens to me… Guess what? It wasn’t luck, it was work. It was putting yourself out there and taking calculated chances. It was at least having the balls to try. - follow this link to find out more about creating your own luck.
 You won’t always get the outcome you desire. So what? You’ll still have more than you did before embarking on the journey, even if it’s more experience…
The biggest regrets you’ll ever have in life will be the ones where you didn’t even get in the game in the first place. You didn’t even try.
Life is not a spectator sport.
And it won’t play out the way you want it to if you don’t at least start taking charge of its direction. TAKE ACTION!
Stop using “Bad luck” as an excuse for why you didn’t even try! Make your own luck by working hard and being in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons, and watch what happens.
The situation I mentioned earlier about being stuck on the side of a mountain when the rain begins, well I’m betting half of you said, “What the hell would I be doing on the side of a mountain?”
I have news for you. You’re already on the side of a mountain. That’s where life is played out. Those that succeed and make the biggest contribution to their own happiness are the ones that can say, “Well, I won’t be thirsty tonight” the second it starts to pour.
They didn’t start saying things like, “Isn’t this typical. My bad luck just keeps getting worse and now here comes the rain”…. It might not be what you asked for. It might be a different result than the one you were trying for.
But at least you are trying!
Keep trying and it’s only a matter of time before your luck changes! Hahaha!!
Cheers, Terry
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged beautiful women, changing you out look on life, changing your luck, changing your outlook, charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, community teambuilding, countdown to flash mob, dance, do you feel lucky, energetic, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, flash mob dance, funny speakers, get lucky, happy at work, High Intensity, High Intensity Teambuilding, hot women, im not an aussie, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, motivational speakers, Oprah, Public speaker, public speaking, sick of the bad luck, T-mobile, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, ways to make yourself happy, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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…I could have died…
By
admin
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Published
February 8, 2010
Instead, I just burnt my thumb…
Hello gang, nice to be back and I hope you lot had a dandy weekend.
We are going to be having a look at a few close calls; a few, “I nearly died” incidents; even a few close calls that others have experienced and then see what benefit these brushes with the reaper can be to all of us.
 I’ll start with one instance where we were deployed somewhere hot and sticky (Royal Marines) and had been tasked with putting on a firepower display using 51mm mortar. We were a small cog in a big wheel that day and our “out of the box” (straight out of Officer training at Commando training center) 2nd Lieutenant was keen as mustard to prove what he could do taking charge of our fire-team. He was determined he could set a new record for the amount of H.E. (high explosive) rounds we could have airborne at the same time…
I wonder how many stupid mistakes have been made throughout history by someone trying to impress someone else and all for the wrong reasons? I’m going to be conservative and say probably just a few.
Anyhoow, we had set up the mortars, had opened several boxes of explosives and were now standing by to start dropping them in on an area about 600 meters away.
So far so good…
The order to commence firing came over the radio and so it began. Three of us had a system that went something like this:
One man would pull the tape off the rounds (and extract the safety pin which was a bit like the pin used on hand grenades) before handing them to -
Man number 2 would then feed the round into the top of the mortar tube, before -
Man number three pulled the firing handle at the base of the tube, ”launching’ the projectile down range – tadaaa!
Normal rate of fire for these things is 6 – 8 rounds per minute. Accept if you’re a new officer ready to re-invent the wheel. This guy thought that if he harassed us enough we could send enough of these things into the air it would be as if it were raining rounds…
Bad things happen when the man in charge let’s his ego start dictating protocol.
So there was a nice rhythmic popping soundeach time a mortar round left the tube, only interrupted by the constant babble of the officer behind us insisting we,
“Do it faster..”
I wanted to reply, “that’s what she said” - but of course I didn’t, I didn’t have time…
So we, ”went faster”. As is nearly always the case a wise and well respected Sargeant wandered over from near the high powered gathering of Brass a short distance away, in order to bestow some wise words of caution upon our benevolent leader. Bare in mind, the three of us lowly grunts were already exchanging worried glances about various safety issues that increasing the rate of fire was having. Including heating the mortar tube barrel up dangerously high. Mortars tend not to leave deformed, overheated tubes, in the unfettered state they were intended.
The 2nd Lt. of course ignored the mother hen sargeant and insisted we actually increase speed further.
I now found myself holding a mortar in each hand, pin removed, and trying to drop the explosive into the tube as soon as the earlier bomb had cleared it. Tensions were running high and we were starting to snap at each other when we weren’t performing our individual tasks fast enough.
It was during one of these exchanges that it happened…
The guy pulling the safety pins asked me if the last round he handed to me had the pin still in it. This of course meant I had to turn my head to check, meanwhile, unseen by me, the guy holding the mortar tube and pulling the firing lever, was having trouble getting the arm pulled down to strike the base of the round, already in the tube.
During this heated and rapid discussion the 2nd Lt didn’t approve of our slowing down and yelled over all of us to hurry the hell up; “people” were watching.
I quit trying to talk and feed ammo into the tube at the same time. I began lining up the next mortar round over the opening of the tube, poised to release it, when I had a flash of doubt as to whether I had heard the tell-tale sound of the previous round firing. I withdrew the new round out of the line of fire as the old round left the tube.
In terms of how close we come to spreading ourselves all over the firing line, let me say this, the launched round burnt the thumb holding the new round I was about to drop as it passed. If the two high explosive rounds had met, there wouldn’t have been enough meat left from our fire team to put into a plastic sack.
 For a few seconds all firing ceased. Oddly enough, no-one complained. The “new” officer withdrew, leaving command in the “capable” hands of the sargeant while he went in search of other pressing matters on which to focus his attention. The color had drained completely from all of our faces. In a typically cool tone the sargeant suggested we continue, only this time placing only one round in the tube at a time.
No one on the team felt inclined to contradict him.
The whole exchange only took a few seconds and then we were back to firing at the approved rate of speed. This time the comforting sound of mortars leaving the tube was interlaced with sporadic giggling as we all took stock of how close we’d come to blowing ourselves up.
 Over the next couple of days we’ll have a look at leadership, ego, humor, and how much more effective we all are when the guy in charge has a cool head!
Cheers, Terry.
P.S. “One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.” – James Russell Lowell
www.highintensityteambuilding.com
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged a career in proctology, accidents will happen, after dinner speaker, beating egotistical leadership, beautiful women, beauty, charlotte speakers, commando, community, community team building, community teambuilding, cool under pressure, egotistical leadership, energetic, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, explosives, flash mob, flash mob dance, funny speakers, grow participation, High Intensity, High Intensity Teambuilding, hip hop, how big, how to stay cool under pressure, I could have died, I nearly blew myself up, I nearly died, im not an aussie, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lessons in leadership, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, Oprah, proctologist, Public speaker, public speaking, stupid people, T-mobile, team building, teambuilding, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, why not to impress, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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Friday Fiasco here again!
By
admin
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Published
February 5, 2010
Hello mates,
Have you ever been this tired..?
This should help remind the fellas about their anniversaries….(click anniversaries to follow the link.)
“He’s never been very successful. When oppurtunity knocks, he complains about the noise..” – Unknown.
This video is like a VERY weird train wreck – strange….but you’ll find your foot tappping along anyway about three minutes in..LOL
Lady Gaga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I
Jk: The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
“Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, He’s a doctor.’ A small voice at the back of the room rang out, “And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.”
…taking multitasking to a whole new level…
Jk. A guy walks out of a store and sees a traffic cop writing a parking ticket. He rushes over and says to the Officer,
“Come on mate, how about cutting a guy a break and tearing that up?”
The officer ignores the man competely and finishes up by sticking the ticket under the windshield wiper.
The mad gets mad and starts insulting the cop.
“You’d think with a face like yours, you’d be a bit more forgiving of the rest of us! Even your Mother is probably hard pressed to love that disaster…”
The officer smiles and begins writing another ticket, this time for bald tires.
“Shouldn’t you be somewhere else eating a dozen donuts? It must have been at least ten minutes since your last snack, fatty!”
This infuriates the traffic cop and he starts writing another ticket for a cracked winshield.
“Even out here I can smell your breath – when was the last time you laid anything other farm animals?”
For the next twenty minutes the exchange continues, until there is at least 11 tickets under the windshield of the car.
Then the man smiles, walks another fifty feet to his own car, and leaves….
Etrade is rocking it out with the “baby” commercials and this is a pretty good compilation of the “outtakes”… Watch long enough to hear the Wilderbeast reference… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHPg262Kr9c&feature=topvideos
Some funny quotes:
“My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.”
Jimmy Duran
“My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.”
Rodney Dangerfield
“We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.”
Will Rogers
“Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. . as you grow older, it will avoid you.”
Winston Churchill
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.”
Groucho Marx
….of course I’m happy Dear..
I hadn’t heard about this festival in Japan until this morning, but these sculptures are amazing and well worth a look! http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/02/05/8275886.html
Jk: A man left for work one Friday morning but, being a pay-day, instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend, partying with the boys and spending his entire pay check.
When he finally appeared at home Sunday night, he was confronted by a very angry wife and was barraged for nearly two hours with a tirade befitting his actions. Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said “How would you like it if you didn’t see me for two or three days?”
To which he replied with a ”That would be fine with me.”
I don’t know what happened next but Monday went by and he didn’t see his wife. Tuesday and then Wednesday came and went with the same results. But on Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye..! - The Fun Hunt.com
True Story…. A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To: My loving wife
Subject: I’ve arrived Date: April 6, 2006
I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. sure is freaking hot down here!!!!! – The Fun Hunt.com
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “The average American is someone who deplores violence in the street and has seen High Noon five times…” – And I quote. Thomas Dunn Books, ST. Martin’s Press.
Posted in Friday Fiasco, Keynote Speaking
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Tagged always tired, anniversaries, anniversary, charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, community teambuilding, computer, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, Etrade, Etrade commercials, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, funny speakers, getting out of a parking ticket, Groucho Marx, help me, I need more energy, im not an aussie, japan, Jimmy Duran, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lady Gaga, lions, media, media cameras, more energy, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, multi-tasking, Oprah flash mob, parking ticket, pictures of lions, Public speaker, public speaking, remembering your anniversary, Rodney Dangerfield, snow festival, T-mobile, teacher, teaching, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, tigers, toilet, tokyo snow festival, Will Rogers, Winston Churchill, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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Danes and their happiness – the common theme and GO YACS!
By
admin
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Published
February 3, 2010
G’day. 
Have any of you had trouble moving past the tax rate thing in Denmark?
 I decided to deal with the issue another way; like a Dane in fact. I asked myself would I still do my job if I had to pay 68% of the money it made to the government, and the answer was yes. This, in fact, is what most Danes say too!
There is much less hang up in Denmark over what you do for a living, and more emphasis on whether you enjoy what you do. The way they have achieved this is to tax their citizens so highly that everyone earns about the same amount, no matter what line of work you’re in.
So, if you don’t fancy making Mom and Dad happy by becoming an attorney, you’ll earn about the same working as a truck driver, with less responsibilities and potentially more “alone” time. Of course, Denmark might be the only country in the world where your parents might still talk to you, after you tell them you are ditching Law School and going to learn how to haul big-rigs.
It’s certainly not for us to second guess a system that seems to be working. They are, after all, very happy folks. So what seems to be the common theme?
If we start to list things it becomes clearer as to why they might be such a cheery bunch:
1 Education spending is one of the highest in the world – they really do put their money where their mouths are when it comes to, “our children are our future.” This also includes further education, too. Yep, college (university) is practically free as well. I wonder if this system would help American families…?
2 More is spent on the elderly than any other country in the world too. It must be nice knowing the bills you are accruing in a nursing home are already covered…can you say missing Social Security Funds?
3 There is a major emphasis placed on social networking and social groups – both of which promote well above and beyond normal levels of interaction. If you want to develop lasting relations it’s important for people to see firsthand how much they have in common with their counterparts; this applies to neighbors, work colleagues, and community.
4 Health care is also provided and from what I have read their system is working fine. I know that on a personal level health insurance is one of the most expensive monthly costs for me and my family – and we are a relatively healthy bunch. I second guess going to the Docs ever, just in case he finds something really wrong and we can’t afford to fix it. At least if an illness finishes me off, there is my life insurance policy to sustain my family’s livelihood, while I get to feeding the grubs…
Some of life’s biggest hurdles and stressors are already taken care of in Danish society. As these things make up a large portion of what we as individuals are most likely to be concerned with, maybe paying such a tax rate wouldn’t be so bad – if you could actually trust your government to do what it promises to do with your money…… That, it seems, is the common theme.
Stress relief….sounds terrible doesn’t it? 
This week’s Blog isn’t meant to be a gripe about all that is wrong over here, in comparison to, “over there..” It was supposed to illuminate legitimate reasons for the Danes general level of happiness.
If being happy was just a simple case of getting out of bed every morning and telling yourself today was going to be a good day, wouldn’t we all be doing it?
.I don’t believe we would Even if all the things that are wrong over here were right, some folks would still manage to find something to complain about.
It’s human nature to want to improve your lot in life and want the best for our offspring. Unfortunately, those that seem to complain the loudest are also the ones least likely to actually take action and do anything about it.
 I would like to revisit something I mentioned earlier in regards to career. I immediately dumbed down the career choice of someone that declined going to law school in favor of being a truck driver, because there’s no money in being a lawyer.
What about the flip side of that? If money isn’t the driving force behind a young person’s choice towards any particular career, doesn’t that mean that those who choose to commit their lives to a particular line of work, do so for the noblest of reasons?
I know I risk coming off as some age old romantic here, and that’s not easy for me to do, but it seems to me that if you just want a career based on nothing but the merits of the profession itself, wouldn’t that attract the best kind of person to do that job?
Obviously they are passionate about their choice. Why go through all that work to do a job that pays the same as your neighbor the welder, or trash collector?
We all know passionate people are the most inspiring. If what you do fires you up each and every morning, you’re sure as hell a lot easier to be around than some grumpy old ass that drags him or herself to work every morning, looking like the sky is falling in around them.
The power of passion can never be under-estimated as a driving force towards becoming successful and happy.
** Take Steven Spielberg for example; legend has it that as a young man he took a tour of Universal Studios at age 17 and upon realizing he was only getting half the story in regards to movie making, snuck away from the tour group and found his way to a sound stage to watch the production of a “real” movie.
His interest was now well beyond just piqued. In fact the next day he put on his best suit, borrowed his father’s briefcase and walked confidently straight past the security gate and onto the Studios lot, once again. He located an empty trailer and used plastic letters to put his name and self appointed title, “Director” on the door.
He then spent the remainder of his summer chatting with anyone he could find in movie making; directors, editors, special effects people, script writers, sound people, literally anyone he could learn from.
At age 20, having become a regular on the Studio lot, he won a seven year contract to make movies on the back of a modest movie he had put together in his spare time. He was off and running.
That’s the power of passion!
Would you go to such lengths for your current career? If not, what would you go to those lengths to do?
I want you to memorize this acronym:
GO YACS.
I’m not going to tell you what it stands for until tomorrow, just start memorizing it for now, and when you say it in your mind, or out loud for that matter, say it loud and powerfully.
Lift your chin, inflate your chest, pull your shoulders back and project it – LOUDLY.
Until tomorrow team members,
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact!” – Bertrand Russell.
** Information in reference to Steven Spielberg was originally garnered from Anthony Robbins National Bestseller “Unlimited Power” – I love this book by the way. And yes, I read an awful lot of books. For all those of you that had me pinged as a knuckle dragging Neanderthal, occasionally I pick ‘em up off the floor and try deciphering all the letters….Hahaha
Posted in Keynote Speaking
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Tagged anthony robbins, being happy, bunnie suit, career choice, career development, cash, charlotte speakers, college costs, college girls, commando, engaging speaker, enjoy your job, enjoying your job, enjoyment, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, fun, fun at work, funds, funny speakers, go yacks, grumpy, health care, health care reform, High Intensity Teambuilding, im not an aussie, lessening the cost of college, missing funds, missing social security, money, motivational speakers nc, movie clips, movie maker, movies, networking, Oprah, passion, pleasure, professional development, Public speaker, public speaking, social networking, social security, Steven Spielberg, stop being grumpy, stress, stress reduction, success, successful, tax, teambuilding, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, where is the money, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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Happiness….it’s only 3227 miles away – or is it?!
By
admin
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Published
February 2, 2010
The “pursuit of happiness” is one of the “unalienable rights” of people enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, along with “life” and “liberty.” “The right to pursue any lawful business or vocation, in any manner not inconsistent with the equal rights of others, which may increase their prosperity or develop their faculties, so as to give them their highest enjoyment.” Butchers’ Co. v. Crescent City Co., 111 U.S. 746, 757, (1884.)
Because the right is not set forth in the U. S. Constitution, it is not enforceable by the courts. However, the right to the pursuit of happiness is often raised in arguments against government regulations, because its mention in the Declaration of Independence gives it a degree of forcefulness. Barron’s Law Dictionary, 2nd Ed, pg.378.
“The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Hello mates!
Why don’t we start here today. Happiness obviously isn’t something someone else can provide you.
And no, the fact that the Danes seem to be the happiest people on Earth doesn’t mean they are all wandering around grinning from ear to ear like a bunch of demented lemmings, either.
It would probably be more accurate to say that the Danish people are more content with life, generally. They feel like their government cares; as indicated by the fact that their elected officials spend more money on children and old people than any other place in the world.
So, if you aren’t particularly worried about retirement, and your kids receive the best education possible without it costing you an arm and a leg, wouldn’t that purge folks of a large portion of their stressors?
Of course it does actually cost the Danes an arm and a leg. They pay more in taxes than anyone else of Earth:
In fact the income tax rate for the highest earners in Denmark is 68%!!!
The base rate for everyone else is 42%….
How in the hell can a community be paying those kinds of taxes and be anywhere near happy with their lives…?
Part of it probably resides with the fact that HealthCare is totally covered. I’m assuming their healthcare system doesn’t have anything in common with the English National Health care “fiasco”- because if it did, they would quickly drop down to number 43 on the list of happiest people on Earth neighboring the Brits. National Health Care is an oxymoron.
So presuming that they really are actually taken care of, by real doctors, and in a timely enough fashion that they don’t die before receiving the required treatment, I can begin to see why they might be so happy…but honestly, I’m still getting stuck on that exorbitant tax rate.
So what else do they have?
What about the fact that over 80% of Danes that believe in God, adhere to the same religious faith. Maybe that’s it?
But if that were a major contributing factor in being number one on the world scale of happiness, then the US would rank a pretty close second. We are predominantly a Christian based society with over 76% of the population subscribing to that belief system
- Christianity. Note that in the NSRI and ARIS studies, based on self-identification, Christianity includes: Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, Methodist/Wesleyan, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal/Charismatic, Episcopalian/Anglican, Mormon/Latter-day Saints/LDS, Churches of Christ, Jehovah’s Witness, Seventh-Day Adventist, Assemblies of God, Holiness/Holy, Congregational/United Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarine, Church of God, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelical, Mennonite, Christian Science, Church of the Brethren, Born Again, Nondenominational Christians, Disciples of Christ, Reformed/Dutch Reformed, Apostolic/New Apostolic, Quaker, Full Gospel, Christian Reform, Foursquare Gospel, Fundamentalist, Salvation Army, Independent Christian Church, Covenant Church, Jewish Christians, plus 240,000 adults classified as “other” (who did not fall into the preceding groups).
In my opinion there is more trouble caused by religion than ever will be solved by it, but that doesn’t change the fact that we as a society tend to want to mix with people like us, and that includes a belief and value system similar to our own. The more we have in-common with each other the easier it is for us to “gel” with our neighbors.
After our last house move, I was scared: scared that we would buy a home and end up living next to some asshole who insisted on playing his drum set at 0300 in the morning. Or possibly partying it up until the cops arrived, four times a week, like some adolescent simpleton – this, by the way, was what we contended with at our last home.
It is a miracle that I am still free to walk the streets and not incarcerated in some maximum security facility for the criminally insane.
I really, really, wanted to hurt those people.
When I did finally meet my new neighbor I could see in his eyes the same concerns that were in mine. We both breathed a huge sigh of relief when it became apparent that we were both on the same page.
He insulted my English heritage by asking which part of Australia I was from, and after I corrected him insulted me further by saying if I didn’t have such a stupid confusing accent he wouldn’t have made the mistake. Then he laughed, long and heartily.
Why did this make me happy?
 Because folks, if you don’t have a decent sense of humor, you will become exactly the sort of person that needs to still be running around the streets at three in the morning (while their kids aged 3+6 were still up with them) thinking you’re funny because you’ve drank 12 pints again.
No thanks. It turns out my current neighbor is the same sort of sarcastic ass I am, he makes no apologies for it, and I wouldn’t expect any friend of mine to have to. Also, he goes to bed every night nearly as early as I do – which is another bonus! LOL.
My point is, it is important that we understand where our neighbors are coming from. If they walk and talk like a duck, and you also just-so-happen to reside in a beautifully serene pond, well then, you should be a couple of happy ducks.
Religion by itself couldn’t achieve this placid state commonalities do. Things like upbringing, values, humor, sense of purpose and understanding, that’s what garners such community feelings.
The Danish government understands this too. They promote and encourage citizens to join, start, and belong to any organization that makes them happy. Over 90% of Danes belong to some sort of social club. If there isn’t a club for your particular interest, then start one and the government will help you finance getting it off the ground.
I wasn’t sure there was going to be a common under current to this when I started researching it last week; but there is. Here’s a couple more clues:
They also are a very trusting group of people. It’s not an uncommon sight to see strollers outside of coffee shops…with the babies still in them, sleeping.
Or bicycles left in stands without the three obligatory 2 inch thick chains securing them to the bars. Crime rates in Denmark are moderate in comparison to other industrialized countries.
As with just about everywhere on earth, crime rates were highest among young men (16-25) living in urban areas.
When was the last time you considered leaving something unlocked, anywhere? I can’t walk away from my truck without pushing the auto-lock key fob enough times to give me carpal tunnel syndrome…
It’s possible that a combination of factors comes into play simultaneously and that together they make up the happy numbers: But I’m still having trouble with the tax rate… J
So how do they do it?
I think I’ve already discovered the common theme linking most of what we’ve chatted about – tomorrow we’ll see if we can tie all the loose ends together and see if you agree with me…. It should be fun.
 Cheers, Terry
P.S. “Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar, and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns.
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged Benjamin Franklin, charlotte speakers, christianity, commando, community, community team building, community teambuilding, constitution, content, criminally insane, demented, ducks, energetic, engaging speaker, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, funny speakers, im not an aussie, income tax, income tax rate, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lemmings, media, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, national health care, neighbors, Oprah, Public speaker, public speaking, religion, religious beliefs, sarcasm, social clubs, stress, stressors, talks like a duck, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, US Constitution, values, violence, violent crime, walks like a duck, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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