Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Don’t we all crave to be happy at all times? I guess that is all that we want from life…coz happiness is the key to so many things. All our lives, we try to do things that could give us happiness. Although, this may vary from people to people. For some, happiness is money, success or may be family. For the others, it could be friends, relatives and parties. Thus, the happiness quotient varies from person to person, time to time, circumstance to circumstance and so on and so forth.

Five steps to happiness — 

 As one of my mentors, I’ve learned a lot from my dad through the years, but the one piece of advice that I find myself coming back to most often are are his five steps to happiness:

Live in the moment

It’s better to be loving than to be right

Be a spectator to your own thoughts, especially when you become emotional

Be grateful for at least one thing every day

Help others every chance you get

Tomorrow is never promised to anyone, so dance until your feet ache, laugh until your side hurts, say I love you to those you love, for tomorrow may never come.

I strongly follow each one of these to lead a content and satisfying life. Living in the moment makes you forget the worries of the past or the untold of what the future has in store for you. It gives you the right kick at the right time. You enjoy that specific moment to the fullest without even feeling that you have anything to worry for. You are out of the tensions of the material world and cherish what the current moment has for you.

Heart over Brain….strong debatable difference. I believe in following my heart and loving endlessly so there is nothing left to repent in life. If you get too engrossed in following what is right, then there is very less chances you love unconditionally. That is coz most of your time would be spent in evaluating what is right and you end up planning ahead of time without embracing what the life is bringing to you at the current moment.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.