The 7 rules to happiness!

1. Forget the past. Living in the past is wrong! The only good thing about it is the experiences you made. Don’t ruin your today's happiness by overthinking your yesterday's sadness.

2. You don’t have to please everyone. The only person you have to please is the person in the mirror. You don’t have to prove yourself to others.

3. Time heals all the wounds. If something is bothering you today, ask yourself will it also bother you five years from now? Surely not. So let it go right now!

4. Don’t compare yourself with others. The only person you are allowed to compare yourself with is you. The only person you have to defeat is your yesterdays you. If you are clever, you don’t have to make the same experiences and repeat the same mistakes again.

5. Stay calm. Trust in God. He is there!

6. Your happiness is your own responsibility. You and only you can bring joy and happiness into your life. Don’t look for inner peace and happiness anywhere else. It is your choice to decide how you want to live. Happiness is inside you.

7. Laugh. Laugh as loud as you can. Laugh as often as you can. Because Life is too short. Enjoy every minute. Enjoy every single day. Laugh even when people think you are crazy because be aware that everyone has their own sadness, worries, and sorrow.

Bon Voyage Audiobook!

 

Are you sick and tired of the non-ending Lockdowns? Do you miss travelling? Do you miss sightseeing? Do you miss the beauty of Europe? I have the perfect solution for you!  You don’t need a Covid test! Forget all the hassle at the airport, during passport control, check-in, and long flights. Forget social distancing and face masks. Relax, lay down on your favourite couch or in your cozy bed and join Monsieur Jac Couture and Lily! Welcome on board! 

Bon Voyage, Monsieur Jac and Lily travel to Europe is a delightful story narrated in British English for young and young at heart listeners who love to discover the beauty of the European cities. The story is funny, educational, and inspiring. It makes you forget all your worries for almost an hour! 

Teddy & Lily Audiobook!

For us authors, one of the most exciting experiences is bringing our written words into life. As I mentioned in my blogger magazines Read My Minds winter issue 2017 it is very hard for indie authors to produce movies from books. If you have a publishing contract it is more likely possible, but for Indies, the journey is a little bit more complicated. To produce an audiobook though, you don’t need an entire production team nor as much cash as you would for film production.

Creating audiobooks is becoming more and more popular for indie authors because the audiobook market has been experiencing explosive growth in the last years. It surely is a great opportunity for us authors to find a new audience and readership for our stories, especially now in our decade where we don’t have to worry about packaging, shipping, etc., like back in the days where only bestselling author’s books were published on cassette or CD. Thanks to the many online retailers a special player are no longer required. Due to modern mobile technology listening to audiobooks is a convenient pleasure for a generation that needs to be multi-tasking all the time.

Listening to audiobooks is fantastic entertainment while we’re doing other activities in the household such as cooking, baking, cleaning, ironing or working out and creative activities like painting or sewing. It can be also an inspiring or educating form of entertainment while we’re commuting. Listening to audiobooks is great when your eyes are busy but your ears are not!

So in summer 2017, I produced two audiobooks in English for audiobook lovers. Both stories are inspired by my memoir Destination Freedom. The first one was TEDDY & LILY. In August 2018 the multi-talented actor, singer and voice-over artist Carl Lindquist narrated Teddy & Lily. 

This lovely and sweet story is available in several online stores on my website, www.LilyAmis.com. You can also listen to free audio samples on Sound Cloud or watch the trailers here or on YouTube!

 

 

Now the world can breathe!

 

Black lives matter! All Lives matter! And yes George Floyd's life mattered! In the previous three weeks we have been watching the live trial on CNN and last night we couldn’t breathe and go to sleep until the decision was finally announced by the judge. Guilty in all three charges!

Words can’t describe our feelings and emotions. A massive huge weight has been lifted and we can finally breathe. Thank God justice has been served. What a relief for the entire world. We live in a strange time right now but let’s face it the racial injustice is a global issue. Racism and discrimination is part of the world’s history and our society no matter where we live in the world.

In eight weeks this police officer (whose name I’m not going to mention here on my blog!), George Floyd's killer will be sentenced for many decades. I hope this is a LESSON for everyone out there (especially for those in “high” and “powerful” positions!) who believe that being a racist, being nasty and violent, and arrogantly condescending to others just based on their skin color, religion, nationality, and passport, etc. is ok! If you are not being punished in this world, be assured that God is watching you.

This policeman had the chance to show his remorse but he didn’t. He had the opportunity to apologize to George Floyd’s family, friends, the community, the Minnesota state, America, and the entire world, but he decided to use the Fifth Amendment and stay silent! It seems that this man still doesn’t understand what he has done and how he has abused his power as a policeman. There are no signs of regret. No signs of a bad conscience. Nothing!

Steve Schleicher, who served "on a pro bono basis," as a member of the prosecution team for the George Floyd case did an excellent job and spoke the prosecution closing arguments on April 19 during the trial and said the following:

 

“Floyd was just a man, lying on the pavement, being pressed upon, desperately crying out. A grown man crying out for his mother. A human being. This police man killed Floyd by pinning him to the pavement for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. His actions were reckless, unreasonable, and warrant conviction not just for manslaughter but also on two murder counts.”

Steve Schleicher couldn’t sum it up better! Also, don’t forget that a grown-up man was violently tortured by four police officers and killed for only 20 Dollars! 20 ridiculous Dollars!

At the end of the day we all are the same. Black Lives matter. White Lives matter. All Lives matter! Whether young or grown-up, whether man or woman, REMEMBER BLOOD IS ALWAYS RED! So please be respectful, be kind, be thoughtful, be supportive! God damn it be human! 

Goodbye Prince Philip - Why we care!

Tomorrow many people from around the globe will be watching the funeral from Prince Philip in Windsor. And I was asking myself and wondering why we humans care about people who we don’t know and never met at all?

Well, the answer is short and simple. Because they are part of our lives for decades. Let’s face it, as sad as it is we know much more about them and their lives than we know about our own family members, friends, and work colleagues. They share their joy, happiness, celebrations, and achievements as well as their sorrows, sadness, and tragedies with us.

Prince Philip with his 99 years of a remarkable and exceptional life is of course a well-known household name for generations everywhere around the world. The handsome and charming husband to Queen Elizabeth had a difficult childhood though and was kind of a refugee. Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was only eighteen months old. His father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his mother Princess Alice of Battenberg in Germany. She was actually a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and was born in Windsor Castle. Isn’t this fascinating?

I recently watched a very interesting and touching documentary about Princess Alice and I have to admit I couldn’t hold back my tears. She was congenitally deaf and had an unbelievably challenging and difficult life! You find a book recommendation about her life at the end of this post!

Prince Philip experienced World world II and on top of that the Corona Pandemic last year. Which probably made him and his wife Queen Elizabeth spend more time together than they would have under normal circumstances. In retrospect, I’m sure the Queen is very grateful about the lockdown. The two love birds had the chance to spend wonderful days together and cherish each other's company without any duties and distractions.

Prince Philip is what Prince Albert (his great-great-grandfather) was to the older generation. We witnessed a man whose name will also be a well-known household name for the future generation, while our names will be long forgotten. We witnessed history with Prince Philip. May his soul RIP. He was surely one of a kind. A man, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a grand grand-father, who was able to love and support his wife and his entire family the way he did and sacrifice so much of his own freedom in a selfless 73 years marriage must have been an exceptional human being.

My first thought after reading about his passing was: “Oh good, now he is reunited with his beloved mother Alice. May God bless their souls! Goodbye Philip.”

Princess Alice & Prince Philip

Mother Alice & Son Prince Philip

This week our thoughts, deep empathy and prayers are with the Royal Family at Windsor in this difficult and heartbreaking time! As I said, we do care, because we know more about this family than anyone else. Looking at their family tree makes us realize how little we know about our own past, our own roots, and our own family tree! 

We at Windsor Castle in December 2009

Lily4PaperLives!

Prepare yourself for a lot of tissues. “Paper Lives“, in German “Das Leben ist wie ein Stück Papier“, original title in Turkish “Kagittan Hayatlar“ is an excellent film with powerful and touching messages. The dark, modern and heartbreaking side of Istanbul with its homeless children and teenagers on the streets seen through the eyes of the main character Mehmet (actor: Çagatay Ulusoy) is incredibly touching and eye-opening. 

Mehmet is going to die unless he gets a kidney transplant. On top of his life’s wish list is the deep desire to find his mother. Just when Mehmet is about to start his journey, he finds an abandoned small boy. He takes the young 8-year-old Ali (actor: Emir Ali Dogrul) under his wing and he changes his life.

This film is a window to an unknown and shamefully tragic world. Most humans who see homeless people ignore them. They never make the time to think twice about these people’s destiny and misery. Even though this boy Ali is not a refugee child in this film, he represents the refugee children of today in Turkey and other countries, who have lost their parents and are surviving on the streets. 

In my opinion, this film deserves all kinds of International Film Nominations and Awards for the best story, best acting, and best production. Our shallow, selfish, thoughtless, and superficial world of today needs more of these kinds of deep and meaningful movies. Now more than ever!