Happiness is something everyone wants to achieve. While on the surface people may seem to be looking for money, recognition, or other things, what they actually seek is happiness. Unfortunately, many people never reach the level of happiness they desire. The Problem is, we’re chasing after the wrong things to make us happy.
Happiness is a state of mind, therefore the real source of happiness lies in the mind, not in external circumstances. How we view ourselves and our world are conscious choices and habits. The lens we choose to view everything through determines how we will interpret what is happening. And from our interpretation we act. And all of this becomes our life. We can choose to find happiness in small, everyday things. We can choose to interpret what happens in a positive or negative way. And our choices control much of how much happiness we will find and create in our life.
Often we feel we cannot live a happy life due to circumstances we think are out of our control. That is almost always not true. We may think that we are the exception to the rule. It is not suggested that tragic events do not happen to people and cause great sadness, but our ability to live a happy life is not based on outside sources. Nothing outside of ourselves can make us feel long-term inner-peace and happiness. Conversely, nothing outside of ourselves has the power to keep us chained to long-term unhappiness. If we are unhappy for extended periods of time it is because we have chosen it unconsciously.
Nothing is good or bad. It just is. We are the ones who assign the labels of good and bad. By labeling the things, persons and experiences we let them influence us positively or adversely. Our happiness is our responsibility. Let us not blame outside condition or other people if we are not happy. While things around us could change and go bad, we can decide how we will respond to them. Moreover Conditional happiness is always short-lived, because it is never long before there is something else to change or fix.
Here are some tips to find happiness –
1. Find your inner voice
To find true happiness, you must first find your inner voice. Slow down and take some quiet time for soul searching. What will make your life meaningful? What is true happiness for you? By knowing what your heart says, it will be easier for you to align with it.
2. Stop comparing yourself with others
Comparing yourself with others won’t do you any good. You will either feel proud when you are above, or feel jealous and frustrated when you are below. As said earlier you begin to label. Remember, none of them brings true happiness. So stop comparing yourself with others and simply be your best.
3. Count your blessings
There are so many things we should be grateful for, but we often forget them. When you realize how blessed you are, you will certainly be happier. We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
4. Help others
Giving is an essential key to happiness. While we often think that we will be happier when we receive, the truth is we are happier when we give. You can understand this when you lend a helping hand to someone in need.
5. Spend more quality time with your loved ones
Relationships give us happiness more than any material in the world. So spend more quality time with your loved ones. In such moments, be sure that you devote your undivided attention to them. Divided attention with so many things will decrease the quality of the time.
6. Appreciate nature
The beauty of the nature can give you peace. Go out and see how beautiful the nature is. Watch singing birds, blooming flowers, playing children, sunrise and sunset etc., and let you be happy once again.
7. Smile
Smiling is a very simple thing to do, and yet it has great effect. There mere act of smiling can brighten your otherwise dark day.
8. Forgive yourself and others
All of us have mistakes in the past. No one is perfect. But if we let our past mistakes intimidate us we can no longer live to our full potential. So forgive yourself and release the burden.
Besides forgiving yourself, you should also forgive other people who did wrong to you. Not forgiving them will only hurt you. Again, you should release the burden so that you can find happiness. As Robert Muller said, “To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness”.
9. Focus on what you can control
As Epictetus said, “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” Trying to change things beyond your control will only frustrate you. Recognize what you can and can’t control, and focus solely on the things you can control. For instance, you can’t change how people around you behave, but you can change yours. So focus on changing your own behavior instead of changing theirs.
Here are some beautiful quotes on “Happiness” by great people.
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
-Abraham Lincoln
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
-Helen Keller
Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
-Buddha
If thou wilt make a man happy, add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.
-Epicurus
You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.
-Eric Hoffer
That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.
-Henry David Thoreau
-N.GANESHAN
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