Simple Secrets of How to be Happy

[Guest guest]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/19/simple-secrets-of-h\

ow-to-be-happy.aspx

By Darshan Goswami, M.S., PE

Being happy is really a choice we make. The secret of

Happiness is simple, very simple - what is it?

You decide if you want to be happy!

We all strive for happiness in life. Like many, you

probably think achievements such as education,

marriage, family and social/financial status make you

happy.

However, studies of happiness in several countries

have found that these achievements have little to do

with your happiness. For millions of people, happiness

has remained a rather elusive goal. They've tried to

buy happiness.

They've sought it through materialistic and

pleasurable activities such as buying a new SUV or

going on vacation. But nothing has seemed to work. For

most people these changes, new possessions or

temporary pleasures, might work for a while but will

eventually become part of your status quo, and their

power to deliver happiness will fade.

Researchers now strongly believe that your brains is

hard-wired in ways that, at least to some degree,

determine just how happy you're going to be. Some

psychologists believe happiness is genetic. Other

scientists say they may have located an important area

of the brain where happiness is generated. As powerful

as these genetic predispositions may be, happiness is

still partly within your control, says Myers,

PhD, the Dirk Werkman Professor of Psychology at

Hope College in Holland, Mich. " It's rather like our

cholesterol level -- genetically influenced, yet also

influenced by our habits and attitudes. "

While these ideas are debated, you don’t have to wait

to begin discovering happiness within yourself. You

see happiness comes from your social relationships,

enjoyable work, fulfillment, high self-esteem, a sense

that your life has meaning, and joining civic and

other groups.

Your life is sprinkled with ample opportunities for

discovering happiness. Search for the small things

that give you a little laugh or a smile. Take time to

be with your family and friends. In the long run,

these are the treasures that will enhance your

happiness, not some grand achievements that only give

you a lift for a short while.

One way to steer your life toward happiness is simply

to count your blessings. Happy people know that they

don't get to be happy all the time. They can

appreciate brief moments, little victories, small

miracles, and the personal interactions that bring

real happiness.

Research has proven that happy people live longer, are

healthier, are more successful, enjoy more fulfilling

relationships, earn more money, and are liked and

respected more.

What is Happiness and How Do You Achieve It?

Happiness seems to be a selfish goal. Happiness

doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it

depends solely upon what you think. So start each day

by thinking of all the things you have to be thankful

for. Your future depends very largely on the thoughts

you think today. So think positive thoughts of hope,

confidence, love and success. You can be happy if you

are a productive and useful member of society, share

with others and help unselfishly.

Most experts agree that there are no shortcuts to

happiness. Even the happy people do not experience joy

twenty-four hours a day. A happy person can have a bad

day but still experience pleasure in the small things

in life. If you're not feeling happy today, fake it.

In experiments, people who were manipulated to smile

actually felt happier.

Don’t postpone happiness until you reach a certain

goal, like getting a promotion or pay raise to go on

vacation. Studies show that these effects are

short-lived. Don’t focus on negative thoughts; balance

that by consciously spending a few minutes every day

thinking about the good things in your life. Like

eating a balanced meal or getting enough rest,

practice this everyday and, each day, try to extend

the time you spend on positive thoughts.

Everybody has their own characteristics that lead them

in different directions towards happiness. Perhaps, at

best, these discussions are useful to provoke thoughts

and reactions, which might help you to focus on what

can be done to make your own life consistently happy.

Again, there is no rule or special formula that can

make a person constantly happy. Instead, happiness

comes from developing positive social relationships,

enjoyable work, fulfillment, a sense that life has

meaning, and joining civic and other social groups.

Take time to meditate, or say a prayer, thanking

almighty God for all you have. A spiritual dimension

is an essential component of happiness.

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

A lot of people share a fairly common misconception.

They believe that having lots of money can make you

happy. Some even say that the more money you have, the

happier you can be. Others believe that having money

is not spiritually or socially acceptable, and that

money is the root cause of all evil.

Are any of these beliefs really true? To answer this

question, begin by asking yourself what money means to

you, and how do you treat it when you have it?

Depending on how it is used, money can create

powerful, positive changes in the world. Having money

allows us to function more easily in the world, it

buys food, clothes, provides comfort in our lives and

in the lives of others. However, because attachment to

money is based on fear, it always creates insecurity.

The desire to have more money, and thereby feel more

secure, never ends. Security can never come from money

alone. Some of the people who have the most money are

also the most insecure. Does this mean you must give

up the desire to attain wealth?

Not necessarily.

In and of itself money is neither good nor bad. It is

what we choose to do with money that determines if it

will have a positive effect on others, society, the

world, and ourselves.

So, it cannot be said that money is essential for

happiness. But, most people recognize that money is

important in the 21st Century because it can give

people comfort and freedoms. But, does raising a

nation's income, as measured by gross domestic product

(GDP), raise the population's overall level of

happiness?

Intuitively, you'd think the answer is a definite yes.

However, a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal

found otherwise. Other studies also show that, in many

countries, " although economic output has risen steeply

over the past decades, there has been no rise in life

satisfaction and there has been a substantial increase

in depression and distrust. "

For example, since World War II, GDP per capita in the

U.S. has tripled, but life satisfaction (measured by

surveys that ask something like, " overall, how

satisfied are you with your life? " ) has barely

changed.

Also Japan and Western Europe had a tremendous rise in

GDP per capita since 1958, yet measures of national

happiness have been flat. One reason may be that a

rising economy produces rising aspirations. There are

many villages in the world where people do not own

shoes but the people are extremely happy and friendly.

How to Bring Happiness in Your Life

“Don't worry, be happy.” This sounds like such a

simplistic phrase, but there is great power and wisdom

in it. This tells us to focus on what we want rather

than what we don’t want. When we focus on what we

want, our actions take us nearer to our goals in life.

One way to guide your life toward happiness is simply

to count your blessings. Dr. Myers points to research

showing that people who pause each day to reflect on

the positive aspects of their lives (for example,

their health, friends, family, education, freedom) are

more likely to experience positive feelings and

happiness.

These are the principles I use to be happy. They work

for me, and I hope they work for you:

1) Improve your relationships with friends and family

– Happiness starts at home. Start by improving your

relationship with your parents, brothers, sisters, and

children. Smile when you greet them, do things for

them, don't allow them to get angry with you.

Maintaining healthy loving relationships and

friendships can promote happiness. Remember that love

makes you beautiful.

2) Be an optimist - Optimism generates good feelings.

3) Develop a genuine smile and laugh a lot - Act happy

- It works. Smile into the mirror for a half hour

without stopping. Smiling makes you happy and the more

you smile the more happy you become. We all like

people who smile. It also makes us more attractive.

4) Pray - Become religious or spiritual - This only

works if you believe in God. If you want to be happy

then ask God to make you happy. Prayer helps you

accomplish things.

5) Be generous and share with others - Give more than

you receive because being generous will make you

happy.

6) Treat time as a friend - Don't watch the clock.

7) Exercise your mind - Keep yourself busy with some

new project or ideas.

8) Work your body - Exercise regularly. Studies show

that aerobic exercise is an antidote for mild

depression and anxiety. " Happy minds reside in sound

bodies, " says Dr. Myers.

9) Have fun in life - Keep cool under pressure.

10) Pursue achievable goals.

11) Have high confidence in yourself.

12) Respect the disadvantaged.

13) Age gracefully.

14) Give compliments - Take every opportunity to be

complimentary. Want to make someone like you? Every

time you meet a person smile and give them a

compliment.

15) Be honest - With honesty comes openness. People

respect honest and open minded people.

16) Keep an open mind - Most people seem to think that

they know everything that they need to know. There's

plenty of wisdom to go around.

17) Treat difficulties as challenges –Life's an

adventure and every obstacle in life is one of its

challenges. Treat life as a game. What fun would a

game be if you could never lose?

Conclusion

Being happy is really a choice we make. The secret of

Happiness is simple, very simple - what is it? You

decide if you want to be happy! Happiness is free. You

can feel happiness, this very minute, if you so

choose.

If you continue to focus all your energy and attention

on what you want, you’ll soon find yourself happy.

Realize now that true happiness results from sharing

generously of yourself, your mind, emotion and spirit,

with all those who come in contact with you.

Be an optimist.

Do kind deeds for others unselfishly. Explore the

deeper resources within you by praying to God from

your heart. Through sincere prayer and mindful

meditation you will attain the highest achievement in

life - the discovery of your eternal happiness with

God.

We need to set our goals wisely and to develop

happy-thought strategies and to surround ourselves

with encouraging and positive people.

Pursuing truth, wisdom and a virtuous life - or just

getting on with the duties and chores of daily life at

work and home, often brings happiness as a by-product.

My ultimate goal is to bring happiness to all my

friends, family and all souls that come in contact

with me. How can I possibly accomplish this?

Simple…I sincerely hope that after reading this

message you will SMILE for me.

That will make both you and me happy!

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Considering the fact that one of the more potent ways

to optimize your health -- creating more happiness in

your life -- beats disease naturally, why wouldn’t you

want to do whatever you can to manifest positive

emotions?

Lately I’ve been writing quite a bit about the impact

your emotions have on your state of physical health.

And the good news is that you can learn to deal with,

and process emotional trauma and setbacks naturally,

spiritually, and without drugs, by making some changes

to your attitude and your daily routine.

Happiness will not only protect your body from

stressors that can lead to coronary heart disease down

the road, but it can even boost your immune system's

ability to fight off the common cold.

How Do You Measure Happiness?

Happiness is actually a fairly popular topic of

scientific evaluation. There are quite a few experts

with views on what happiness is, and how you create,

or sabotage your own happiness.

Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert is one such expert,

whose research has found that you can ‘synthesize’

happiness. That you have a subconscious ‘psychological

immune system’ that helps you change your views about

your world, which leads to being more satisfied with

what you have. And being “satisfied,” feeling that you

have “enough,” will remove many of your negative

energy drains.

Are you satisfied with “enough”? Then you’re probably

already happier than most.

Another take is that by British psychologist,

White with the University of Leicester, who published

the first “world map of happiness” in 2007.

Based on a compilation of data from more than 100

studies in the field of happiness research, Denmark

comes out at the top as the happiest nation out of 178

countries, followed by Switzerland and Austria, with

the United States ranking in 23rd place.

White, A. (2007). A Global Projection of Subjective

Well-being: A Challenge To Positive Psychology?

Psychtalk 56, 17-20.

see page on this link

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/19/simple-secrets-of-h\

ow-to-be-happy.aspx

This map rates happiness based on a subjective “state

of well-being” (SWB), conceptualized as a sense of

satisfaction with your life, both in general and in

specific areas such as relationships, health and work.

It is immediately evident that there is an effect of

poverty on levels of SWB. However, White’s research

found that SWB correlated most strongly with health,

closely followed by wealth and access to basic

education.

The fact that the U.S. ranked lower than countries

like Iceland and Bhutan can perhaps be explained by

our tragically flawed healthcare system with its

excessive over-medicating, which has led to an

epidemic of poor health, effectively reducing your

state of well-being and overall happiness.

Tying Happiness to Your Personal Mission

For most people, it is very difficult to define what

truly makes you happy. So I want to reiterate a

definition that you can grasp and apply to your life

with greater ease.

Happiness can be identified as “whatever gets you

excited.” Happiness is that which makes you jump out

of bed in the morning with eager anticipation to start

your day. Once you identify that activity, whatever it

is, you can start focusing your mind around that so

you can structure you life to do more of it.

Personally, my happiness is tied to my mission to

catalyze the change of the entire fatally flawed

health paradigm. This is what makes me greatly

anticipate every morning, and it is the driving force

that allows me to truly enjoy the extensive hours of

my “work” weeks.

Health + Happiness = Your Best Life

Health and happiness are indeed intertwined, and if

good health promotes happiness, and vice versa, then

you can optimize both by limiting your options to the

basics -- that which is natural -- and realizing

there’s no “magic pill” for either.

In reality, you only need to focus on a few very basic

things to optimize your health, which will spill over

into increased feelings of happiness and well being:

Address emotional traumas and practice gratitude

Get optimal sun exposure

Drink pure water

Avoid toxins

Eat the right fats

Eat right for your Nutritional Type

Eat raw foods – Avoid sugar and processed foods

Control your insulin and leptin

Exercise

Sleep properly

Begin to see your life as one whole, where you indeed

have the power to affect change in each and every

area, and remember that positive changes in one field

of activity affects all the others, and you’ll be well

on your way to creating the life you deserve; one of

health, physical and emotional well being, and

personal purpose.

Related Articles:

Increase Your Happiness by Limiting Choices!

20 Ways to Find, Sustain and Share Happiness

Debating the Merits of Happiness

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Never miss a thing. Make your home page.

http://www./r/hs