Find More Joy And Feel Happy With These 5 Easy Tips

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Everyone wants to be happy and to feel joy in their lives, right? Of course, this means different things to different people, but sometimes it can be pretty difficult to find happiness. Life can throw us some pretty tough turns and sometimes, those twists and turns can make us lose sight of how to just be simply happy.

Someone once said that the main goal behind every goal is to find happiness. Most people would agree with that, but when we simply choose to be happy, life just seems to flow more easily. Ever notice how when you are feeling happy, everyone around you seems to feel happier? Being happy is not just good for us, but for everyone around us.

One of the best presents you could ever give someone is your own happiness. Think of happiness like a virus: You spread it to everyone, every minute, everywhere you go. Of course, this is a virus everyone wants, unlike most viruses!

Now this doesn’t mean we need to be little Miss.or Mr. Sunshine all day every day. Sometimes, life sucks. The trick is to acknowledge that and then move on.

The following is a short list of tips or tools you can use so that you can feel happier, even when things aren’t so great.

1. Be Present

When we live our lives in the past, or in the future, it is impossible to feel happiness because those feelings exist in the present. When we are living in the present, we can allow ourselves to feel happy. Of course, everyone has regrets or things we would like to change about the past, but regardless of how deeply you might feel those things, you cannot change them. It’s done, so let it go. Make a silent promise that you will learn from those things, but then move on. Also, some people tend to live in the future with thoughts such as “Once I lose X number of pounds, I will be happy” or “After I get that promotion” or “After we get married, we will be happy”. There isn’t anything wrong with looking forward to the future, but make your life happy now because no one is promised tomorrow.

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2. Feel Gratitude

Almost everyone in America lives better than 80 percent of the rest of the world. Try taking a trip to India or Mexico, and you will quickly find that people there, by American standards, have real reasons to complain. In India, entire families spend their lives being born, living, giving birth to their children, and dying on the street. Many never know what it is like to sleep with a permanent roof over their heads. Mexico’s tight family ties usually gives most people a place to sleep, but a home made from discarded plywood, plastic sheeting for waterproofing, and dirt floors located next to an open sewer isn’t much of a home. If you have a home, no matter how humble, a bed to sleep in, clothes, shoes and food, you have more than many people in this world. Be grateful for it.

3. Stop Comparing

Many people get into the habit of comparing their lives to others. This is a sure way to kill happiness dead in its tracks. The media is perhaps the worst offender here as they tout 24/7 about how we should feel, the kind of car we should drive, the houses that other people own, the amount of money that other people have, and the type of body others find desirable. Sometimes, it’s hard not to look at those things and see where we are lacking. However, if you think about it, there will always be someone with much more than you. Even if you had 5 million dollars, there will be others with 10 million dollars. Happiness does not come from things or stuff. Happiness is an inside job. Some of the happiest people in the world have walked away from it all and live simple lives but they are doing what they love, in a place they love, surrounded by people they love. Don’t buy into the comparison trap.

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4. Drop Unreasonable Expectations

When we have unreasonable expectations about what certain people should do or be like, what your vacation will be like, or what our new promotion is going to be like, we set up our happiness on something we have no control over. The old saying of “It is what it is until it isn’t any longer” applies here. Try not to expect things to be a certain way, wait and see what they actually are. This is a difficult task, but it is a habit that you can learn.

5. To Thine Own Self Be True

Society, as a whole, loves labels. They help us to identify certain things quickly and easily. Rattlesnakes, wild fires, and earthquakes are all labeled as “bad”. Babies, sunshine, and puppies are all filed under “good”. The problem comes when the world tries to label us or to stick us with expectations of behavior that isn’t right for us. For example, your father is a doctor who expects you to go to med school and follow in his footsteps. No one asks you if you feel if this is right for you, it is simply their expectation, but once you hit med school, you find that you are bored and all you want to do is look at the stock market numbers. This is the time to be true to yourself. Yes, you could ignore your feelings and become a doctor, but you will probably be unhappy most of your life because you are not doing something you feel passionate about. Be true to yourself and live your life based on your own approval and acceptance, not what others think you “should” be doing. Follow your heart and you will always find happiness.

Feeling happy lowers stress levels and improves health. Even when bad times come, there is always something to feel grateful for and be happy about. Just look around you. It might be harder to find sometimes, but we guarantee you that happiness is right there in front of you if you would just look for it.

References:

www.stat.psych.uiuc.edu

www.gruberpeplab.com

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