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The 7 Habits of Highly Happy People

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Highly happy people all share happy habits. It’s as simple as that. The happiest people I know share 7 very obvious habits. If you’re looking to expand your general happiness you may consider adopting these habits in your own life.

1. Be a Part of Something You Believe In

This could be anything. People may take an active role in their local city council, find refuge in religious faith, join a social club supporting causes they believe in, or find passion in their careers. In each case the physiological outcome is the same. They engage themselves in something they strongly believe in. This engagement brings happiness and meaning into their lives.

2. Share Time with Friends and Family

A happy life is a life shared with friends and family. The stronger the personal relationships are and the higher the frequency of interaction, the happier a person will be.

3. Reflect on the Good

Quite often people concentrate too much of their attention on negative outcomes and leave no time to positively reflect on their successes. It’s natural for a person to want to correct undesirable circumstances and focus closely on doing so, but there must be a healthy balance in the allocation of personal awareness. It is important to mindfully reflect on the good while striving diligently to correct the bad. A continuous general awareness of your daily successes can have a noticeably positive affect on your overall emotional happiness.

4. Exploit the Resources You DO Have Access To

The average person is usually astonished when they see a physically handicap person show intense signs of emotional happiness. How could someone in such a restricted physical state be so happy? The answer rests in how they use the resources they do have. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has 25 Grammy Awards to prove it.

5. Create Happy Endings Whenever Possible

The power of endings is quite remarkable. The end of any experience has a profound impact on a person’s overall perception of the experience as a whole. Think about reading a fairly well written, thought provoking novel. Now imagine the ending totally sucks. Even if the story was captivating up until the ending, would you still be happy recommending the novel to a friend? People always remember the ending. If the ending is happy, the experience creates happiness. Always tie loose ends, leave things on a good note, and create happy endings in your life whenever possible.

6. Use Personal Strengths to Get Things Done

Everyone possesses unique personal strengths. We all have different talents and skill sets. Emotional happiness comes naturally to those who use their strengths to get things done. The state of completion always creates a sense of achievement. If this achievement is based exclusively on your own personal ability to get the job done, the physiological rewards are priceless.

7. Savor the Natural Joy of Simple Pleasures

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best things in life are free. They come in the form of simple pleasures and they appear right in front of you at various locations and arbitrary times. They are governed by Mother Nature and situational circumstance and captured by mindful awareness. It’s all about taking a moment to notice the orange and pink sunset reflecting off the pond water as you hold hands with someone you love. Noticing these moments and taking part in them regularly will bring unpredictable bursts of happiness into your life.

Masi Mobin talks to Year 8

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Year 8 have recently been studying the concept of refugees in both English and Religious Education.  As part of this study, students were given the opportunity to listen to the life experiences of an Afghan refugee, Masi Mobin who has now settled in Australia.

Masi, as a child, was forced to leave his home in Afghanistan with the arrival of the Taliban.  Since that time, his story has taken many tragic turns, through being separated from his family, being smuggled between countries by boat and spending large amounts of time in detention due to his refugee status.

Masi spoke to Year 8 about his positive view on life and how he has been able to build a life for himself in Australia through educating himself, to the point of now running his own business, and immersing himself into Australian culture, where he taught himself to swim, and then to surf, just by watching those around him.

Year 8 students sat in silence and awe as they listened to Masi’s story and gained a deeper insight into how larger world issues impact the lives of the individuals involved.

Year 12 Leaders Day

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On Thursday of Week 6, the Captains and Vice Captains of St Brigid’s joined the other school captains in the diocese to learn about leadership and discuss their roles as leaders within their schools.

They attended Mass together and then were given the opportunity to speak with Bishop Anthony and Danny Casey, to learn about what it takes to be a leader at the diocesan level.  All students returned to school with a deeper understanding of their own leadership style and a vigor to implement new learnings into their role.

Year 7 Visual Arts

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In Term 4, Year 7 Visual Arts students studied the grandeur of Gothic Cathedrals and their protector – the gargoyle.

Over 6 weeks they designed, built, fired and glazed their own silly and scary ceramic gargoyles.

We think Notre Dame would be jealous but at least they didn’t take as long as the Duomo di Milano! – Ms Giblin

Karate Superstar

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Please join us in congratulating Kate of Year 8, who recently travelled to the Gold Coast to compete in the GKR Karate National Championships.

We are all extremely proud of Kate’s achievements and her commitment to training.

In addition to her own training, she is also a junior instructor for younger students.

Well done Kate!

Central Coast High School Basketball Challenge

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We do love our basketball here at the College, so much so that we entered into the Central Coast Basketball Challenge at Breakers Stadium.  What a great day it was for both our teams. This event was an Opens division, and our students did not disappoint.  Our teams were made up of mainly Year 9 & 10 students going up against Year 12 opponents most of the day.

Overall, the boys placed 5th demonstrating skill, communication and perseverance.

To our girl’s team, you were all amazing and came home with silver on the day.

We came up against St Joseph’s and it was close game, the girls played extremely well, and we could not be any prouder of the way you played, your determination, sportsmanship and teamwork.  It’s always a privilege being part of these days, win or lose, our students can always hold their heads high.

We look forward to next year’s basketball competition.

Chess News

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Congratulations to Oliver R in Year 9 who represented the College at the recent Central Coast Secondary Chess tournament.

Oliver came 14th out of 86 students.  His only losses were to higher rated opponents, and he also had three wins against higher rated opponents.

This has moved Oliver from 403 to 454 in one tournament.  The judges have said that it is rare to see such a leap.

Oliver’s next step is to now enter another competition in the Newcastle division.

Well done, Oliver!

Year 7 & 8 Girls League Tag

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Last week our Year 7 and 8 girls took part in an NRL League Tag gala day at Morry Breen Oval, Kanwal.  It was a great day for both the girls and the staff involved.

The NRL team runs amazing gala days. Their staff, expertise, and grounds are exceptional.

As always, the girls played well and displayed great sportsmanship.  This really showed when another school was down players and six of our girls joined their team to give everyone more game time.  It was a great experience for not only us but the other school, working together so everyone wins.

We look forward to the Year 9 and 10 League Tag next week and wish the Year 9 girls all the best for their gala day.

A big thank you to Mrs Brakell for the Icey Poles which she supplied for both the team and staff.  It was very much appreciated, and they went down a treat!

Safeguarding Training Coordinator vacancy

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The Safeguarding Office (Chancery & Parishes), based in the Chancery at Pennant Hills is seeking someone with a track record of delivering learning and development initiatives, coupled with a passion and drive in child protection, justice, compliance and community engagement for a permanent full-time role as Safeguarding Training Coordinator.

While the role is noted as full-time, there is flexibility with the working schedule for the right candidate.

The Safeguarding Training Coordinator is responsible for the design, development, creation and implementation of Safeguarding training programs, ensuring that our programs are current, engaging and exceed industry, educational and professional expectations and standards.

This is an exciting role providing a focus on best practice and by building the awareness and competency across the Diocese of Broken Bay.  This role requires strong relationships and connections with clergy, Chancery and parish staff to ensure Catholic Church values and principles are reflected in a safe environment for children and adults at risk. In this role you will have the opportunity to strengthen a culture of safe practices for children and adults at risk by providing education and training, sharing your expertise and contemporary knowledge of research and best practice principles adhering to compliance requirements relevant to the delivery of training while providing support to parishes with safeguarding education and awareness initiatives and commitment to continuous improvement.

Pivotal to this role is the requirement to assist with preparations for internal and external audits, providing advice on processes and offering recommendations for improvements, educating, and supporting clergy and Chancery employees to develop understanding of and compliance with NCSS requirements.

If this sound like you, or someone you know, we invite you to apply for this position by submitting your CV and a brief cover letter addressing the skillsets required via email to recruitment@bbcatholic.org.au. Applications close Friday, 8 December 2023.

There is flexibility on the commencement date – why not interview now and lock in a new role to commence in January 2024!

For more information or to obtain a copy of the position description or for further details, please contact recruitment@bbcatholic.org.au.