Spirit of Eagles

THIS REALLY HIT HOME!
December 10, 2025

A close friend and I were having coffee together recently. This man is as fine a person as one could hope, and we enjoy thoroughly each other’s company. During our visit we raised a subject about which we strongly disagree, though, as we always do, we listened carefully and respectfully to each other’s point of view.
It became clear to me that we each had a significantly different set of facts about the subject. Also, we both realized it was impossible for us to ever be sure that either one of us could have a completely accurate set of facts to support our position. What I realized about this conversation cemented an important “knowing” I vow to remember in the future. Here is my realization: If both of us had the exact same set of accurate facts, we would have had the same response. I’m certain we both would want the best outcome for everyone in any situation arising, Content always affects context.
This confirmed for me an important understanding. Unless I have an iron-clad accurate understanding of any situation, it is wise to refrain from taking a position on any topic. And how often can we be sure we have “all the facts” in any situation. Almost never!
In fact, a respected expert in emotional intelligence and self-awareness once said, “To take a rigid position or point of view, on any subject is virtually always a non-integrous decision.” I believe if each of us could remain respectful and open-minded regarding any discussion or situation, much of what divides and frustrates us could be eliminated+-.

RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS
November 10, 2025
Happy people secrete into their circulatory systems endorphins, Oxytocin, Dopamine and Serotonin. These hormones in sufficient amounts give us a sense of well-being, happiness and joy. Obviously getting these hormones into our system while minimizing the secretion of cortisol, a strong stress hormone is very desirable.
Here are some ways to promote this result.
• Exercising regularly helps secrete these hormones
• Participate in activities that you enjoy
• Be with a close friend (friends) regularly
• Hug your family and friends
• Meditate
• Have a relationship with the Divine, a Higher Power
• Sing, Dance, Laugh
• Maintain a good sense of humor; expose yourself to funny material and situations
• Be optimistic
• Eat healthy food (foods high in tryptophan such as fish, turkey, peanuts, almonds, bananas, and in moderation milk, butter, eggs
• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Keep a list of inspiring, humorous, loving events in your life and refer to that list often
• Be kind to everyone, including yourself always
• Listen to enjoyable and inspiring music often
• Expose yourself to positive material before bed and let go of any frustrating or angry feelings

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON HAPPINESS
November 3, 2025

One of the most powerful statements I’ve ever read is attributed to George Washington. I can’t begin to estimate how many times I’ve quoted this.
Here it is: “Be Courteous to all, intimate with few, and of them let them be well tried before you give them your trust.”
I’ve made a few edits to add meaning for us in today’s language. “Act with integrity and kindness to all, but confide in few. Let these few prove themselves steadfast and faithful before relying on them and giving them your trust.”
Think how often people you encounter, especially in politics, saying all the things we want to hear, yet do nothing to back them up with their behaviors. One well-known U.S Senator once said, speaking metaphorically, “In taking the high road in Washington you’ll encounter little traffic.”
I know a man who is one such person. He is fun to be with and engaging, an attractive conversationalist. In his business and personal dealings he is completely unreliable. As long as I don’t expect anything beyond lively conversation and a few laughs, I enjoy his company. Yet I don’t ever seek him out for companionship. There is far too much distance between his words and his actions.
George Washington’s advice has saved me much disappointment in life. I have tried my best to live by his example.
Tom Searcy

HAPPINESS HELPER
October 23, 2025

Finding easier ways to improve our lives. Now wouldn’t that be something worth exploring! I read recently of a wonderful and important discovery to do just that. A small human aid organization working in Vietnam was given a small grant to tackle a huge problem… minimizing the severe food shortage and malnourishment crisis in rural communities throughout the country. The problem was widespread.
Someone in the organization formulated what turned out to be a brilliant plan. They had their small team spread throughout the rural communities to find those places experiencing little or no malnourishment due to food shortages. Their investigation exposed communities with little or no malnourishment among adults or children, even though their environment, their economic and natural resources differed little from communities experiencing significant food shortages.
The human aid organization teams identified the successful food production practices (farming, hunting, etc.), food gathering and harvesting methods, division of labor devoted to food processing, and distribution of food supplies throughout the communities. The human aid organization then simply went from community to community teaching them how to duplicate the successful practices of these other successful communities so that they could adequately feed their own communities and also teach other communities to do the same. The project was wildly successful in eliminating much of the rural food and health problems in Viet Nam.
Think how easy it would be for any of us in our efforts to build our skills and abilities, to copy and implement the skills and practices of those who are doing well in what we need to do. What are we missing to get this accomplished? Maybe we aren’t fully utilizing mentoring, or forming or joining groups devoted to passing on the learning of vital skills and abilities (like trade unions, guilds and apprenticing). If virtually everyone was in community sharing the critical learning and skills others need in all aspects of life, how much easier our lives could be. Think about it.

Pathways To Happiness
October 2, 2025

Two very effective decisions to enhance real happiness happen to be somewhat difficult to master. I’ve referred to these topics before, and they bear repeating.
First, watch, listen to, and read only material that inspires you, entertains you in a positive way, or makes you laugh. DO NOT listen to television, radio or internet news commentary. Especially now, these sources of news are uniformly negative and disturbing. These broadcasts are designed to upset us and disturb our emotional balance.
Very little of the information (news) coming from these sources directly affects you. Most often you have no ability to change anything reported from these sources. Getting worked up over this info isn’t helpful to you at all. Often this information isn’t accurate!
It is a fact that this negative information impairs your decision-making. It impairs your physical and emotional health by raising your levels of stress and damaging cortisol levels.
Secondly, accept the negative situations and events happening in your life with no judgment or resistance. I know that’s a tall order. If an event or situation requires a response or action from you, anger, frustration, or anxiety simply impair your ability to respond effectively and creatively to it. By simply accepting the negative situations and events in life, (and there are plenty that come along large and small) your ability to learn from them and solve the problems they create improves.

HAPPINESS ASSURED

I was reading something the other day from one of my inspirational texts. It was a message from a spiritual master yet seemed a perfect reminder for us in our professional or business lives.
“Know Thyself! The difference between the masters and you and me, while we may have strongly held beliefs, the masters knew everything that happened in their lives was for the highest good, helpful to them in transcending every challenge. They welcomed every situation and event happening in their lives as helpful and good. There is a subtle yet significant difference between believing something and knowing something.
Masters weren’t arrogant in this knowing. They were simply aware of their strengths, their purpose, their self-worth, their intent to help and serve. They had the evidence to know they were on the right track.
I’ll give an example. I recently reviewed a list of over 200 commonly held biases. One very prevalent bias is known as the Dunning-Kruger Bias. This bias states that when a person is very ignorant about a subject, that person almost always overestimates their knowledge about that subject, often to a large degree. Conversely, when a person is really an expert about a subject, they almost always underestimate their knowledge about it.
The more we are open to feedback, close trusting open relationships and self-reflection, the more we are self-aware, closer to mastery. Masters most often are very happy people.

ON THE PATH TO HAPPINESS AND JOY
A tiny per centage of us find a calling to become religious or spiritual renunciants, giving up many of the pleasures - food, drink, entertainment – to lead a far more spartan life. I admire people who do this, even if I know it isn’t for me.
But far more relevant to many of us is a different form of renouncing and still very effective in helping us live a happy and satisfying life. This involves renouncing negative habits and actions we KNOW are detrimental to our happiness and health, and instead focus on embracing positive and helpful habits of thought and action.
Let’s look at some examples. What lights you up emotionally?…do that. Don’t listen to the news or negative messages on the internet or podcasts that anger or frustrate you. Instead, listen to uplifting messages, TED talks, inspiring and uplifting music, messages of hope, motivation and creativeness.
I’ve written before how expressions of gratitude two or three times a day stimulate your mood and your health.
A positive idea once expressed by inspirational speaker Wayne Dyer was this: If you believe you were created by God, the God of Divine Love and Perfection, then how can you believe that God of Perfection and Divine Love created you to be less than a magnificent, powerful completely loveable being? And if you are a magnificent, powerful completely loveable being why would YOU believe you were limited and less than a magnificently capable and creative soul?
More of us are understanding today that what we focus on is what we attract. I suggest we focus on our good, on our wonderful capabilities to create so much good in our lives.

August 18, 2025

HAPPINESS IS ALL IN THE HEAD

One of the most powerful emotional/psychological tools we have at our disposal is positive thinking, and positive intention. Back in the early 1900’s Werner Heisenberg developed what is known as “The Uncertainty Principle” of quantum mechanics. Basically he postulated that matter is changed just by our observation of it. A multitude of research proves this is confirmed fact. Today, we know this as “The law of attraction”.
This concept has a “new age” sort of reputation, yet it has gained a level of authenticity in the last few decades. The gist of the concept is what we focus on we attract. Heisenberg put it this way. We all live in a field of infinite potential, and things tend to manifest when conditions are right. Our thinking, our intentions strongly impact those “right conditions”.
How this impacts us depends on our thinking. Positive thoughts frequently bring about positive occurrences in our lives; negative thoughts often bring about negative occurrences. Go into any bookstore and you will find countless books dealing with exactly this subject. Two of the older books on the topic, published over seventy-five years ago, are “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill and “the Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale. The two books have sold many millions of copies.
Virtually every leadership program taught anywhere focuses heavily on positive thinking. We have all heard of the “Placebo Effect” in medicine. The “Nocebo Effect” occurs when a patient has worsening health primarily attributed to their negative expectations for the outcome of a medical procedure. Many surgeons won’t operate on a person who is pessimistic about the outcome of a planned surgery.
Gratitude, optimism, thankfulness, trusting behaviors are all attitudes that have proven to bring about beneficial results for people who practice positive thinking. With so much evidence accumulated over the past few decades confirming the benefits of positive thinking , wouldn’t developing an unfailing happy disposition serve us better in so many ways than an unhappy disposition?

LETTING GO OF DESIRED OUTCOMES – ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF HAPPINESS
This little piece of magic is as counterintuitive as anything I’ve ever discovered. Please be open to its value in your life.
If you have an important specific result in mind, consider these three steps.
1. Write down the ideal result of goal, including all aspects in precise detail. How do I see myself pursuing the results. Write down what I see as the benefits of the ideal result; what comments will I hear once the ideal result has come about; how do I feel personally about the ideal result occurring. How committed to the process am I? How inspired do I feel working toward an ideal result.
2. Continue to go as far as I can on achieving the result I envision.
3. Finally, and so important to your process…totally let go of all desire for actually achieving a specific outcome or result. Yes, maintain the commitment and enjoy the process. But in the end, it is so clearly to our highest good to adopt a “Let go and let God” attitude about the result. Keep a positive attitude no matter what!
As I list these three steps, I am reminded of Thomas Edison’s efforts in creating a workable electric light bulb. He kept at the process, trying out hundreds of filaments to create the resistance, durability and effectiveness for a successful light bulb. Carbonized bamboo provided the answer. Each effort in the process led him closer to success.
In contrast, Tesla’s efforts to create “free energy” were stymied by limitations of funding, lack of needed technical knowledge of the era and lack of a clear understanding of the commercial uses of such technology, all conditions beyond his control and which caused him to abandon his project. He just couldn’t go further with his work.

WHAT HAPPY, HEALTHY PEOPLE DON’T DO

Most of us have seen the following list of things happy, healthy people avoid, yet this list provides valuable rules to live by. Think about adding it to the list of things happy people do from last week.
Don’t waste time feeling sorry for yourself. Blaming, feeling jealous, being resentful, making excuses, simply lead to self-imposed powerlessness.
Don’t resist change. Welcome it (or at least accept it as inevitable). Change stimulates growth, a process that helps us maintain our optimism, happiness and vitality.
Don’t waste energy trying to change things you can’t control. Remember the prayer, “ God, grant me the serenity to change the things I can change, the courage to accept the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Avoid trying to please others. Do what inspires you and makes you pleased with yourself. Serve others in ways that energize you. Do as little as possible of what drains you and drags you down.
Don’t shy away from taking informed, calculated risks.
Don’t dwell on past mistakes. In fact, mistakes and failures are the inevitable result of brave, bold behavior. Mistakes help us gain wisdom.
Don’t resent other people’s success. Your resentment simply shows you as inadequate and a victim. These are costly negative false emotions.
Don’t give up. Persevere. Thomas Edison failed over 1,000 times while trying to invent a workable electric lightbulb. Nothing feeds success like the wisdom gained from temporary mistakes overcome by perseverance.
Don’t feel the world owes you anything. You were created magnificent, with gifts aplenty to carve out a successful life’s journey. Use them.

A LITTLE LIST
July 28, 2025

We’ve all seen lists like this. I thought I’d print this list of principles I try to live by. The more often I “get it right”, the happier I am with me.

Love yourself unconditionally
Stand up for yourself and your highest good
Don’t settle. It always leads to disappointment
Do what you love…what inspires you
Kindness is real power
Show respect – demand respect
Learn to say “No”
Beauty fades, Character stays
Failures are life lessens if you let yourself learn from them
Claim your self-worth daily
Wisdom is always beautiful
Choose friends carefully; who do you look up to and admire
Speak the truth as best you know it; live with integrity
Remain at peace as often as possible

HAPPINESS REQUIRES SAFTEY AND FREEDOM
July 15, 2025
In his book The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt wrote of the research of John Bowlby and Harry Harlow Indicating that maximizing a child’s thriving and development depends almost entirely on two things...feeling complete safety in their physical and emotional environment, while enjoying the freedom to explore the world around them and play to their heart’s content, how, when and with whatever they choose.
This relates to material I’ve included in previous articles I’ve published, especially about pursuing what you love and what excites you in life (passions).
Haidt is talking about children’ development, yet this relates to people of all ages enjoying life, feeling satisfied and happy about circumstances in life. When parents carry through with the concepts of safety and freedom for their children, we get exceptional kids making wonderful advances in life. The same is true for adults. When adults are free to pursue their passion, we find highly creative and productive adults. Most important, we find Happy people.
So you might ask yourself if you are now feeling very safe in your environment and free to pursue those things in life that excite and satisfy you in both the personal and professional areas of your life. You might include spouses and children in the discussion, working toward a happier life for all.