Category Archives: Positive Living

My First Passion


Soccer was my first passion and #7 was my number. My Facebook friend Sylvia made this cartoon of me.

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Love Songs to Inspire


After 32 days of non-stop work on a development project in Kona, Hawaii and an EB-5 Regional Center based in Hawaii, I’m typing my 15th draft of my first novel that I started in October 2006 that currently consists of nearly 80,000 words, a love story between a young male protagonist and a dead girl that brings forward our fears of being alone, not finding true love in our lifetime, losing the battle against negative people, and dying without resolving the pain resulting from heartbreak and broken families. This weekend, I’m also going to continue working on my novel based in Iraq during the U.S. occupation – a love story that is sure to draw controversy because it is surrounded by violence, something you may either understand or disagree with, depending on where you stand on certain political issues. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that love can guide us through anger, death, and our darkest moments. I began writing my second story in May 2013 and it has just under 44,973 words.

The song “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry describes the emotional depth that the characters in my novels have with with each other despite their flaws and all the craziness around them. Even if the world is burning around them and their fate seems doomed, you yearn for their love to succeed. This music video has a ballroom scene. Likewise, my first story has a climax chapter with a ballroom scene. Such a powerful song.

 

Today, I just listened to the song below “Graduate” by Handsome Ghost and I immediately liked it.  The song connects to my stories because the characters in my novels have enormous obstacles that’s preventing them from being together.

 

“Swept Away” by Christoper Cross is one of my all-time favorite love songs ever, so much so that I wrote it into my first novel. Every time I listen to it, it brings out this warm feeling in my chest, and when I’m alone or writing a love story, it bring so much emotions out of me.

 

“Seeing for the First Time” by Britt Nicole is another song that represents the love that the characters in my novels have for one another.

I hope you enjoyed this entry and the songs!  Take care and may happiness be with you always.

With Warmest Aloha,

Jon Riki Karamatsu

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If they judge you by extraordinary standards, then live super extraordinary lives.


With innovation, hard work, relationship-building, and a relentless pursuit of success, comes a higher level of jealousy, envy, and scrutiny. It doesn’t matter how good our intentions are. We are often told that we knew what we were getting into. The message is clear: If we wanted to avoid such negativity, we should’ve settled with an average life. But that message goes against everything that our parents and teachers taught us – that we can go as far as we want to go.

I believe that we should continue to pursue our dreams and develop friendships that last a lifetime. We must keep working hard to create products and services through our ideas. If others want to judge us by extraordinary standards, then we just have to live super extraordinary lives.

Though I’m no longer serving in the public sector, I will do my best to help Hawaii and America’s economy through the companies that I’m a partner of. In the spirit of the music events business that I’m involved with, here is an uplifting song “We Don’t Stop” by Kaskade that encourages us to keep doing the best we can in our pursuit of happiness.

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Into the Light of Happiness.


At times, our greatest enemy is ourselves. Our negative thoughts push aside our positive ones, which in turn, affects our actions and everything around us. We get hard on ourselves for our failures when there was so much that we gained from taking that journey. We dwell on the past and what we don’t have, when the future is so bright with endless possibilities. We mourn the dead even though they never did leave us. Meanwhile, there are so many people who love us, and many more who are cheering us on to make our next move. So why stay still and let the darkness consume us? We have to make our move, and then another, and then many, many more. The future is relying on what we do now. To maximize what’s ahead of us, we need to be alive in the here and now. By practicing gratitude and compassion, we can transcend past our fears and into the light of happiness.

Below is a song called “Spirits” by the Strumbellas that reflect my feelings in my journal entry above.

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I will comfort you in that realm of inner peace.


I will comfort you in that realm of inner peace where it doesn’t matter if we’re awake or not.

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Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.


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“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

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The Truth May Not Always Win.


“The truth may not always win physically, but standing by it is always a win spiritually.” – Jon Riki Karamatsu, March 17, 2016.

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Truth


The truth is only relevant if it is believed, but it will always exist, with or without the believers. In a world of imperfection, we must never lose faith in it. – Jon Riki Karamatsu (March 5, 2016).

These thoughts came to me just now as I’m eating with my immediate family and observing my 3-year-old niece and baby niece.

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Gratitude & Compassion Will Fire Our Engines Through the Darkness.


In our toughest times all we can do is try our best to be the best person we can be. Sometimes only our ancestors know what really happened during our darkest hours when the truth gets lost in the weave of conflict.  We mustn’t be sad or angry by the negative outcome, but strive forward through gratitude and compassion, which will fire our engines to transcend us to a higher level of love.

On Sunday February 28, 2016, as President of  Jodo Shu Hawaii, I made a speech thanking our Fujinkai, an organization of women within Jodo Shu Hawaii, many of whom are in their golden years and were friends with my grandma.  As I thanked them for all the love and compassion they have given to their loved ones and to our organization, I held back my tears that were welling up in my eyes.  I told them how influential grandmas, mothers and sisters are in our lives.  I mentioned about the single mothers who are doing their best to make the most of their difficult situation and instill the values into their children that you – you’re generation have taught them.

Today, after a tough day, I told my mom how much I loved her.  Since I was young, she made me believe that anything is possible.  I also appreciate my dad, who shaped me through his strict style, but yet taught me compassion through all the volunteer work he did for my sisters and I, as well as our community.  I’m also lucky to have my younger sisters who have caring hearts and have been with me through the ups and downs.  Through my family, I’m able to strive for big goals, withstand my failures, and reinvent myself with new goals. It’s this appreciation of how lucky I am to have them that keeps me moving forward.

I dedicate the song below to you:

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Words.


Writing words down is a way to be present forever.

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The Years of Life.


The years of life are like a gift each one of us can use to make a difference in the world in any way we choose.

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Moving but yet so still.


Today, I met my close friend and immediately noticed that she was pregnant. I was so surprised. She kept this fact from me until now. I’m happy for her. She’s moving forward with her boyfriend, while other friends of mine are separating or are trying to carry on with a life away from their former significant other as they try to deal with sharing time with their child or children. I’ve read many articles and studied the statistics on successful and unsuccessful relationships and also its impact on children. We make decisions because of the feelings we get and the pressures of time and expectation. Maybe I’m analyzing relationships and the family structure too much – Romanticized with a vision that only exists with about half of our nation’s families, as blended families, single parenthood, and a single life such as mine is a norm of our time period, in comparison to the days of our grandparents.

I know happiness is what we make of our lives, as we embrace gratitude for the good things we have. I understand this, and continue to move forward and evolve with time, but yet when I look within me, there is a dark corner where I am so still.

 

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The Heartbroken and the Lonely.


I’ll write millions of words until my story is no longer mine, as I wish it will touch your heart and somehow give you hope, if not in this world, then in the next.

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Time


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“Time is what we make of it. Fill it with everything that lifts our soul: Loved ones, projects of our greatest passion, and dreams that make the world stop for a moment.” – Jon Riki Karamatsu, December 28, 2015.

The tone of this song describes the sentiment I’m feeling.

imageMy niece Sophie at 9 months old on 12/27/2015.

imageMy niece Elyse at 3 years old on 12/28/2015.

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Hug it Out for Oxytocin!


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Oxytocin creates intimacy, trust, and builds healthy relationships. It’s released by men and women during orgasm, and by mothers during childbirth and breastfeeding. Often referred to as the cuddle hormone, a simple way to keep oxytocin flowing is to give someone a hug. Intimacy or even several hugs a day is what we need. Having human touch is critical, but for those of us who are single and live alone, we don’t get much of this. With this issue in mind, in 2008, when I was in the Hawaii State Legislature, I joked with my close friends that I wanted to create the legal guidelines for a cuddling program where the private sector can provide cuddling services called “Cuddle Care” for adults 18 and over and “Snuggle Care” for seniors 65 and older at a discounted rate. Ironically, in 2012, Japan launched its first “cuddle cafe” where customers can pay to cuddle with a professional cuddler. Hmm? Anyone up for some Cuddle Care and Snuggle Care legislation?

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Positive Living Practice #1: Reducing Stress in a Positive Way


As I mentioned in my “Positive Living Practice and Stages Practice” post, I’m creating a Positive Living Practice series that highlights products and services that can help us with our health, wealth, and happiness so that we can live a happy and fulfilling life. By “health,” I mean good physical, mental, and spiritual health. For “wealth,” I define it as time, knowledge, and ideas. And “happiness” is the wonderful joy we get from gratitude, compassion, and love.

Today, I’m discussing a challenge that we all face within our lives – “Stress.” Have you ever received another person’s wrath because of that person’s weakness in not being able to handle his or her stress? Or worse, have you ever directed your anger at another person and blamed your bad behavior because of the stress your were going through?

How often we experience stress is within our control. I personally believe that 99% of all challenges we face are either minor or can be resolved. In regards to the 1% of challenges that we can’t control, we can become stronger by accepting it, learning from it, and moving on.

Studies have shown that stress can cause us emotional and physical problems. Further, if we manage it in the wrong way, we could hurt our relationships and reputation. Instead of handling stress in a destructive way that hurts ourselves and others, we can address it in a positive way that spreads waves of positive energy to others. In this post, I will share with you my strategies to reduce stress. I also include a poster on how to beat stress and boost happiness by Happify, a company that helps you to develop happiness skills through its online activities and articles. You can check out Happify at http://www.happify.com.

If we can reduce stress, we will be healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually; and be stronger in our practice of gratitude, compassion, and love. With good health and happiness, we can make the best use of our time, absorb more knowledge, and come up with more ideas.

The following are some of the things that I like to do to reduce stress:

  1. Exercise: Run indoors or outdoors and lift weights.
  2. Dream of what I want to achieve.
  3. Type my ideas.
  4. Write down and update my goals.
  5. Envision the outcome of my goals.
  6. Listen to music.
  7. Spend time with my family.
  8. Be around positive people.
  9. Have gratitude for all the good things I have in my life.
  10. Meditate.
  11. Self-Reflect.
  12. See the positive in every failure.
  13. Try to get a good sleep and take a nap when I need a boost.
  14. Listen to podcast shows that highlight positive and successful people.
  15. Write fictional stories.
  16. Read novels.
  17. Learn through reading or practice.
  18. Watch a television show or movie that inspires me.
  19. Sensory Therapy – Sight: Vision boards, posters, & light from candles.
  20. Sensory Therapy – Sound: Music and sounds of nature.
  21. Sensory Therapy – Aroma: Scented candles and oil diffusers.
  22. Sensory Therapy – Touch: Shower or bath, swimming in the ocean or a pool, or a massage.
  23. Network.
  24. Enjoy events.
  25. Appreciate the beauty of nature.

Here is a poster from Happify that shows us how to take on stress in a positive way.

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#happy #stress #stressrelief #stressreduction #mindfulness #gratitude #empathy #compassion #mentalhealth #health #positivity #positiveliving #happiness #joy

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Positive Living Practice and Stages Practice


Dear Friends,

I’m posting a series called the Positive Living Practice to highlight services or products by individuals, organizations, or companies that can help us to achieve a more happy and fulfilling life. These services or products can be incorporated into our Positive Living Practice of health, wealth, and happiness. By “health,” I mean good physical, mental, and spiritual health. For “wealth,” I define it as time, knowledge, and ideas. And “happiness” is the wonderful joy we get from gratitude, compassion, and love.

I use the Positive Living Practice together with a practice I created for myself while I was in college to help me in achieving my goals. Until now, I didn’t have a name for it, so I’ll name it now as the “Stages Practice” in which my life is categorized by major stages in development in a timeline. Each year is listed under a stage number and under each year, I have all the major things I’ve learned, experienced, accomplished, or failed. Under future years, I list all my biggest goals. Basically, the “Stages program” is my plan for my entire life. In a separate document I list my New Year’s Resolutions, which are goals that help me to reach my largest goals in my “Stages Practice.” To achieve my New Year’s Resolutions, I have a task list that I have for each day of the year, and I calendar my tasks in my daily schedule. To encourage myself to achieve tasks, yearly resolutions, and stage goals, I reward myself with something when I achieve a certain percentage of my yearly resolutions. Within the yearly resolutions, I have quarterly benchmarks and special benchmarks to encourage me to keep working hard towards those yearly resolutions. I reward myself for reaching quarterly or special benchmarks. For example, right now I’m working hard on a special benchmark I created, and I will reward myself with a haircut if I achieve it.

Basically, the Positive Living Practice and Stages Practice is a practice that I try hard to do every day. From a young age, I understood, the Stages Practice, but I’ll be honest, I’m still trying to be better at the Positive Living Practice. Reaching our goals isn’t that special without happiness, and failure of course is more bearable when you have a positive outlook on life. One day I feel like I’m on top of the world, then another day, I’m trying to figure it out. In life, there will be ups and downs. The strategy I’m sharing with you has helped me withstand the “downs” and bring me back up. Succeeding forward and failing forward are equally powerful in our quest for health, wealth, and happiness.

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Reducing Stress in a Positive Way


Stress can cause us emotional and physical problems. Managing it in the wrong way can also affect our relationships and reputation. We can handle it in a destructive way that hurts ourselves and others or we can address it in a positive way. Here is a poster that shows us how to take on stress in a positive way.

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