Creating lasting happiness in your life to many people sounds like an impossible feat. To some, happiness is just a fleeting moment of pleasure amidst the hardships of life. Happiness isn't so much a matter of the amount of pleasure you experience in your life but more about how you deal with life's experiences. In everyone's life there will be times where we experience painful times. It may be the death of a loved one, the ending of a relationship, finding out that you or someone close to you has a terminal illness, financial pressures. It is how we deal with our thoughts that will determine our level of happiness regardless of our external circumstances. Mark Twain once said, "You are as happy as you make up your mind to be".
Here are my top 7 ways to create lasting happiness in your life now:
1. Be grateful: be thankful for everything and everyone in your life right now. Give thought to the food you eat with each meal, for when you give grace you attract it. There is no such thing as luck, instead what you focus more on becomes what you will attract more of into your life. Remember, when you are grateful, you can't help but be filled with grace, and when you are filled with grace you feel GREAT!
2. Give: in everything you do give of yourself. The most fulfilled people are those who have found work that in some way serves others. When you give to others of your unique abilities, skills, service, knowledge, expertise, care, love, attention it impossible to not feel deep satisfaction. If you are not feeling fulfilled in your career right now what is it that you can do right now to change that? It may mean that you may need to look at your current job in a different way, it may mean going back to study something that inspires you.
Giving also means being generous with your time and attention. Volunteering, spending time with those in need, donating, giving to others. Even simply being well-mannered, offering a seat on the bus to a stranger, or just smiling to people you pass on the street can change your level of happiness and improve the happiness of others.
3. See things in perspective: when we put things in perspective our view of the world changes. If we see how lucky we are to be able to have fresh food and water when we think of people in third world countries it is a lot easier to appreciate our life and be upbeat. People who are the happiest are optimistic and look forward to the future with hope not fear. They see the glass half full not half empty. Instead of seeing life's difficult times as problems to overcome, see them as part of life and as lessons to learn.
4. Be passionate: life is full of challenges but those who are the happiest are often the most passionate and seek challenges or look to learn new things. They are like curious children interested in learning and discovering the world around them. They may have interesting hobbies, or be passionate about certain sports, love traveling, art, dancing, music or fine wines. Find your passion and you'll find your bliss. You see when you are in the moment with what you are passionate about time stands still.
5. Be present: when we are present with what we are doing it is difficult to not feel joy. When you are in the middle of listening to your favorite music or walking through the forest or maybe completing a task that undivided focus creates bliss. We forget any negative thoughts as we are lost in the moment. When we worry, are angry, when we think about some unpleasant moment in the past or are anxious about something in the future we take ourselves away from the present moment. Life is made up of a series of countless moments strung together. Happiness is a matter of ensuring that we are wholeheartedly present to those moments. Presence ensures that we do everything with excellence. When we doing something well it increases our well-being.
6. Healthy body and mind: be aware of everything you put into your mind and body and also everything that you release from it. When we feel healthy we are full of energy and vitality. Without health all the wealth and riches in the world mean nothing. Look after yourself - be aware of the food and liquids you ingest and make sure that you exercise regularly. In addition watch the thoughts you allow in your mind and how you manage them. Ensure that you manage stress in your life and factor in time to recover from stress. Yoga, meditation, and walking are great ways to maintain a healthy mind/body relationship. Spend as much time in your body and control your negative thoughts (see them as junk food) and you have a great recipe for ensuring your continued happiness.
7. Don't wait for happiness: happiness is not some future moment - it is always now. Being present to everything you do is important, and also seeing happiness not as a destination but the journey. Set future goals yet don't forget to smell the roses along the way. Don't put your happiness on hold for a future moment. Happiness always exists now. For some the past may have seemed full of sunshine and all they can see in the future is doom and gloom. The economy may not be helping you financially, but even in these tough times happiness is still right now, not when the future improves. Enjoy the ride, make the most out of it now, and remember happiness is always with you now if you choose to accept it.
If you build your habits and thinking around these 7 principles right now you will begin to experience lasting happiness in your life. As children life seems so simple and as we get older we have a way of complicating it. Look at your current life and see how can you begin to simplify it and put in place these 7 principles.
Happiness isn't something that we are taught at school or home, and as such many fail to find lasting happiness and fulfillment in our lives. Happiness is a good habit to learn. Want to know more about how to increase your level of happiness? Go to: http://www.theschoolofhappyness.com
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