Happiness is a personal choice, not something that depends on outside events, journalist, author and motivational speaker Stefi Stamenova Bell told Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).
She calls herself a happy person. She says everyone makes this choice for themselves, and that "happiness does not depend on outside circumstances or on someone else having to make me happy".
Stamenova spoke about meeting seriously ill people with tragic life stories who are happy all the same. One of them told her that a single moment is enough for him: to see and talk to others, to give someone a smile and to be alive. "While I'm here, there's a chance!" he added.
She says people see more with the inner eye, the spiritual eye, than with their physical eyes. In her view, the eyes show the soul, and they reveal how honest and kind a person is. Anyone can see this way, she says, because everyone's inner compass is absolutely never wrong.
"Words are a weapon. One of the strongest."
Stamenova said the right words can change how people see someone. They can manipulate, persuade, attract or repel, and even change the fates of millions. She believes our thoughts and words create our lives.
Stamenova comes from the village of Borino in the Rhodope Mountains and grew up in Plovdiv. She worked as an English teacher and then as a radio host.
She ran a successful business in London for about 10 years, then returned to her media projects in Bulgaria. She now hosts her own entertainment show, "Photo of the Night", on Radio Plovdiv.
She won the title "Mrs Granny" in 2019, and a year later was chosen "Mrs Granny Balkans".
Stamenova wrote the book "Unaccidental Coincidences", a practical guide to psychology and self-discovery, and many articles. She is also the author and producer of the documentary "In the Service of People", about the life and spiritual path of Prof. Damyan Pophristov. The film was shown in Burgas recently.
She works with the inner voice, the path to the heart and the power of the subconscious. She runs group and one-to-one training sessions, in person and online, as well as seminars and workshops, mostly on life management skills.
Her British mentor Kevin Green calls her "the Bulgarian Scheherazade" because of the healing quality of her voice and the stories she tells.