Five steps to being happy… Plus a Bonus
We all want to be happy but happiness can be work. So what is happiness really. It's the ability to not want more and/or to find gratitude and satisfaction in the moment of today, not in a future you can’t predict.
So here are my top 6 strategies or tips on being HAPPY...(why the odd number, I couldn’t decide so I didn’t).
The first and most important step in being happy, is to choose happiness. Happiness is an intention and a decision to consciously choose attitudes and behaviors that lead to happiness versus those that lead to unhappiness. That includes choosing to reprogram our beliefs and values that lead to happiness. Some of those things may include learning good self-management skills or looking at your interpersonal skills and improving on those, and making a different or a better career choice. It's also important to choose the environment and the people that increase the probability of you being happy. Studies show that the person that becomes the happiest are those that make their truth and their own personal goals of value and depends on how we manage our emotions and our relationships with other people.
To express gratitude or gratefulness and appreciating what you have right now is ashore way
to bring you into the present and lead you to a path of happiness. This gets us past the wanting a better car or a bigger house or a better job so we can then appreciate having a job having a car and having a home. Don’t get me wrong now, it doesn't negate that we won’t strive to do better but that we appreciate what we have. A way to I practice gratitude is before dinner each night I say one thing that you're grateful for and you know most of most people pray before they eat so you can just incorporate it into your prayer
Another strategy to happiness is fostering forgiveness. Holding a grudge is not good for your health and it can affect your physical as well as your mental health. Choosing not to forgive and ruminating over past transgression is associated with obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety and even physical signs such as hives, rashes, and even obesity. Forgiveness has more to do and helps you more than the other person. So try forgiveness.
Strategy number four is to just breathe. I take 30 seconds about 4-5 times a day to just breathe. This is a really simple and easy way to just make time for yourself and to be grateful that you're here and that you're alive. So you just close your eyes and take a deep 3 count breath in through your nose and a 5 count breath out of your mouth. In this world something is constantly going on we have to work, we have to get the children from daycare or sporting practice, or we have to cook or do this and that… it never stops, right. But just stop and do nothing for 2 minutes. You will realize nothing will happen... the house didn't burn down; you didn't lose your job; the kids didn't go hungry; your husband or wife didn't leave; you're not a failure. What you realized however is that you can make time for yourself and enjoy your own presence without any external contributions.
Another way I actively participate in my happiness is to call a friend that you haven't talked to in a while or reach out to someone who's important to you. Sometimes we get caught up in social media i.e. facebook, twitter, instagram, and we have a lot of followers. We sometimes have a lot of Facebook friends and engagement, but there's nothing like that meaningful close connection of a friend or loved one. So reaching out to someone who's important to you and talking about whatever you want to talk about can instantly uplift your mood. It doesn't have to be one of those cheesy uncomfortable conversations just enjoy the small talk and be grateful for that person
This is just one that put’s that a chester smile on my face and warms my heart. Drum roll...Lastly, I like writing a thank-you note to someone. Sometimes I don’t have anything specific to thank someone for so I just thank them for being a part of my life. Think of someone you’d like to thank for something small… a smile, the right words that they didn’t even know you needed, or just being present in your life. It's a gift for someone to choose to spend time with you and for that we should be thankful.
So remember, happiness is a choice and life is truly what you make it. We can decide to let life happen to us… and boy oh boy it happens, but how will you respond. Choose happiness.
“It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy”