Concierge and VIP Life.

Travel is something we do to enhance our lives, recharge, learn and be happy. It is great to have the opportunity to travel and experience new things but what about the other days of your life? Travel is one of the things we do for a richer and happier life and this blog is about all the rest of our lives.

Over the years I have written on forums, those I participated in and a couple I started, written articles for magazines and websites plus participated in several groups, all with one underlying theme, People.

What makes some people happy or successful and other not. Why are some people able bounce back from setbacks, even critical illnesses? Is there something beyond what we see in our own reality and if so, what is it and where is it.

I guess you could say I have been interested in the answers to questions that are unanswerable, which is why this subject and travel have been the two passions in my life.

Some may shake their head and wonder why would a travel site include anything about these elusive, some may say strange, topics?

It is all the same thing, I think travel is another way we try to obtain happiness or peace and even an escape. It expands our minds to see different places and cultures and it puts things in a different perspective. It helps reduce stress which is good for our health, physical and mental. In fact, travel is only one form of an overall theme, everyone searches for, to be happy.

If this has been my lifelong passion and interest, is there a magic formula for happiness? I would say there is and I have found it.

If you know me well, you may look at my life and circumstances and not only shake your head but think I may be delusional at best but most likely crazy.

This is the magic formula, in a nutshell. Happiness isn't something we get or achieve it is a state of being. Happiness doesn't come when we are problem free and have everything we want and dreamed of because that isn't living, that is stagnation.

The formula is, happiness is our decision and it's individual. If I use travel as an example, the perfect vacation for a client I am working with now is to experience adventure, thrills, and experience pushing the limits physically. Climbing a mountain and propelling down is exhilarating, like a jolt of life pulsing through them. They want to challenge their limits and experience this in places that are unique or at least as different as possible from their day to day life.

I can see how awesome this would be and I can even feel that "jolt" as if I was there and appreciate it. I have taken on that emotion almost and it's what helps plan an experience that matches what my client wants.

On the other hand, as much as I could imagine it and even experience it in my mind and feel the rush and enjoy that, it's not my ideal vacation. I want to relax, I want luxury and to not have to worry about anything or wait in line or anything except peace and relaxation. I want someplace that has natural beauty but so I can relax in it, not be part of it, in the way my client wants.

This is the same idea as happiness and I think it's where we get stuck. There is this societal view of happiness and success and I believe that we measure ourselves to this view or standard the world has agreed on regardless of whether or not you want it.

I am happy because I am doing what I love to do, every day. It doesn't mean I don't struggle with things or get upset or sad sometimes or feel overwhelmed. It means that I understand life is full of opportunities to grow and expand and it is through the difficulties that we all do so.

So, the secret magic formula for being happy is:

1. Forget about what the world perceives as happiness or success and find out what is your personal happiness point is and what your idea of success is.

2. Understand that life is full of cycles and ups and downs and these are the times that we grow the most and learn the most. There isn't a point of life that is free of "problems" but we can change how we see life and the problems are no longer our source of hopelessness or feeling defeated.

3. Knowing that what we feel and what we need, emotionally, can only be gained by understanding it is within us. By looking outside or to others for our basic emotional needs, we are fulfilled only as long as the person or thing doesn't change. Because everything changes and evolves, we are in a state of worry, depending on something else and when we lose it, we are devastated.

If all of these things are able to be accomplished and learned, the world would be happier.

The problem is, we sabotage ourselves by repeating patterns that hurt us and our minds work in strange but fantastic ways but can work against us also. We are also a product of our upbringing and our parent's upbringing and all that baggage and belief systems. Figuring out how all these works is fascinating and never-ending and it is what this blog is about but ultimately creating a better life.