Are you accepting your present condition as being a happy life? We all have our ideas about what’s happiness in life.
We sat down the other day and had a very serious conversation about our lives. We asked ourselves if what we are doing was making us happy or do we wish to change it?
This took some thinking because we tend to accept our present state if we don’t believe we can change it.
Most of us spend most of our adult life in pursuit of happiness but have we ever actually defined what happiness is for me?
The reality is there are as many definitions of happiness as there are humans on earth. What makes me happy may not make you happy and vice versa.
Do you even know what would make you happy?
In every country of the world, regardless of race, religion or social status, all humans seek happiness.
When it comes right down to it, happiness is the one thing that makes all other life goals (success, prosperity and relationships) meaningful, enjoyable and worthwhile.
Happiness plays a pretty important role in the decisions we make about how to live our lives so let’s take a closer look and see what we can learn about happiness.
Table of Contents
What is Happiness?
According to Wikipedia, the term happiness can refer to a mental or emotional state which includes feeling contentment or joy. It can also have a subjective reference to life satisfaction or well-being.
According to the Miriam-/Webster dictionary, happiness is a state of well-being or contentment or a pleasurable or satisfying experience.
These two similar definitions tell us that happiness is the state of feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
Which will also mean then:
- happiness is a state, not a trait meaning it is a fleeting and most important a changeable state
- happiness is equated with feeling pleasure or contentment
- happiness can be a feeling or showing which means it is neither restricted to an internal or external experience but both
The definition of happiness is still widely debated within the world of psychology. Some believe that happiness is one of the core components of SWB (subjective well-being) and others believe happiness is SWB.
A Google search of happiness will result in over 2 million results so the definition is still quite subjective.
Defining What Happiness Is To You
It’s not so important what makes others happy, it’s more important to find out what makes us happy and content.
Spend some time and define what happiness is to you. Take your time and think carefully about this. It’s not always easy to just come out with what makes us happy.
How you define happiness will significantly influence other decisions in your life which can be a sign if you are moving in the right direction.
For example, if you think happiness is outside yourself you will spend your life constantly searching for something you must find, catch or earn.
Likewise, if you believe happiness is inside you it will become your compass, teacher and enabler to live your best life.
Personally, I believe happiness comes from within and our external world around us influences it.
What I mean is to me, happiness is a choice to derive pleasure from the simple things in life.
I take great pleasure in enjoying nature, spending time with loved ones. Walking barefoot on the cool grass or warm sand, the fragrant smell of apple blossoms in spring. Yet greater happiness in life for me is when I am sailing on the water. I am not even sure why that is but it is the most peaceful moment feeling the power of the waves and the wind in my hair.
This was something I had discovered many years later in life.
So, some of the things in life that will make you happy you may not even know of yet which always keeps live interested I say.
Whatever happens to be close by, present at that moment which gives me joy also makes me happy or even the little things I appreciate in life.
How do you define happiness?
Self-Acceptance
If you can’t accept yourself you will severely block the amount of happiness, love, prosperity and success you will experience in your lifetime.
The Law of Acceptance is what activates the Law of Attraction.
Being able to accept yourself is the first step in bringing out the best in yourself.
Accept that happiness is inside you and you will open yourself up to experience more and more happiness.
Believe and tell yourself you deserve to be happy, to be loved, to be prosperous and to be successful in life.
Put the Law of Attraction to work for you rather than against you.
Listen To Your Hearts Desire
Notice what truly inspires you. Take some time to think about:
- when are you at your happiest?
- what motivates you?
- what inspires you?
- what things in life you don’t need to be reminded to do?
Have you ever noticed that people who follow their joy discover a depth of talent and creativity that is truly inspiring to everyone?
Choose Happiness
Ever notice how some seem to chase happiness while others seem to just choose happiness.
What it comes down to are your personal beliefs.
If you believe happiness is outside yourself you will spend a lifetime chasing happiness that always seems to evade you somehow.
Is Happiness Free
For those who believe happiness is outside themselves, happiness will always elude them. They will spend countless amounts of money buying all the latest gadgets, going to all the exotic places and never finding happiness.
If however, you are one who tends to believe that happiness comes from within then you understand it is a feeling and therefore not something to be purchased like some fancy car.
This means it costs nothing to be happy.
Yes, it’s free and in fact, some of the happiest people in the world have very little money or things. What they do have is what makes them happy.
When you choose happiness every day, things and people will find their way into your day to support those beliefs and you will have a day filled with happiness.
Just like negative attitudes will attract other negative attitudes. Positive minded people will attract positive people.
Love, We All Need It
Have you ever noticed that the people who put all their time, energy and attention into their relationships seem to be the happiest?
We get so caught up in our lives, work and just generally being busy that we often neglect our relationships.
The best thing we could do for our happiness is to slow down think about who we want to spend more time with, then rearrange our schedules and priorities to ensure we do just that.
By making the important relationships in our lives a priority we will experience more joy, love and happiness daily.
Always think about how you can improve your relationship every day.
Forgiveness The Key
We have all experienced loss, disappointments and grievances in life.
Others may have let us down or something didn’t work out the way we had hoped.
Living happily begins with forgiveness.
Now let me make something clear here.
When I say we need to forgive someone who has done us wrong, I do not mean we are excusing their actions.
When we forgive them we are simply not allowing that incident to affect our present and future any longer. In other words, we are releasing that negative from our minds.
As long as we harbour negative feelings about that person or incident we will not be able to fully move forward in happiness.
Let go of the negative to make room for the positive.
Gratitude And Why It’s Important
Be truly thankful for all the great things you already have in your life.
Each morning say out loud three things you are thankful for.
You have friends and family who care about you.
Chances are you have somewhere to live and food to eat.
These are all things to be thankful for.
Have you ever noticed it is virtually impossible to be grateful and depressed at the same time?
Being grateful means you realize you already have everything you always wanted,,, love, joy, peace… inside yourself.
By acknowledging this and stating it out loud you will begin to manifest that into your daily life.
Be Kind to Yourself
This may sound odd but many people are not very kind to themselves.
There is no need to sacrifice yourself to be happy.
Be kind to yourself. Life always gets better when you treat yourself with respect.
One can’t expect others to respect you if you don’t respect yourself.
To respect yourself you set boundaries on how you let others treat you.
Be Present
Let’s not forget the present, don’t get so busy creating your future that you forget to enjoy the present.
When it comes right down to it tomorrow is not guaranteed, today is all we know for certain that we have so make the most of it.
Be present, enjoy the people around you now.
Spend time doing the things you love and that bring you enjoyment.
Final Thoughts
The most important thing to realize is What’s happiness in life is open to interpretation. We all have our own ideas about what happiness is to us.
While working towards a better future is admirable, it should not be at the cost of enjoying life now.
We need to enjoy some time with family and friends doing the things we love.
We have all heard that old adage “Stop and smell the roses”, well there really is something to that.
It is the little things in life that often bring the most enjoyment.
I can remember one day with my grandson where we spent a good hour just splashing and jumping in puddles after a summer rain. We both enjoyed it immensely.
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What simple pleasures have you taken the time to enjoy?
Who do you most like to spend time with?
Share your ideas in the comment sections below, I look forward to more fun ways of enjoying life.