How to Be Happy in Everyday Life

I always believe that everyone wishes to be happy. Yet, because happiness, it seems, is such a personal thing it can mean different things to people.

To our families, friends, employers and to society because happiness spread about makes people more efficient, less accident prone, healthier, more helpful and more pleasant to have around. you look great when you smile". That is because we DO look more attractive when we smile, and of course happiness is infectious. To spread cheerfulness is a very important thing in this modern day world of ours, if only to distract the gloom and despondency which seems to attack us on all sides through press, media, the internet and of course people, which seem to be able to keep our spirits low. What we have to remember and never forget is that the only person ever responsible for your personal happiness is YOU!

Some may ask "but why does happiness seem to elude me"? Possibly the answer is that we are failing to actually experience happiness and enjoy it because we are too busy worrying about things and people beyond our control, and even events that probably won't happen anyway. We have the capability of allowing our minds to reflect back to times in our past even if there is only one fleeting moment of happiness...we can go back there and remember. This is because we tend to be more readily to assimilate and recall pleasant times rather than tragic ones. How many old soldiers still out there in the world are more likely to remember the close comradeship and those letters from home, than the horror of the war and how everyone suffered? It is because the mind has its own built in mechanism to fight against depression and tries to work at preserving the happiness if we only give it a chance.

We must not try to make our happiness conditional upon the behavior of another person, child, loved one or friend. If we do then we are not likely to gain the peace of mind we are seeking. We can find happiness and enjoyment and satisfaction in even simple things like doing a job well, baking that apple pie, giving help and comfort to somebody else, enjoying a meal, having a drink, improving our lives and personality. Use any creative gift that we might possess like writing, painting, music, football, swimming, etc. All these things help us to gain faith in ourselves, and that is a big step towards gaining happiness.

To me the happiest people are those who ask the least from life, and who make their own happiness despite their circumstances. We all know that money cannot buy happiness , in fact it can bring its own brand of worry and despair. Learning to be happy can be a fascinating exercise. If we have problems we must try to tackle them one by one, deciding as we sort through them if there is anything we can do to improve them. If there are some that we cannot sort out right away because they are out of our control at that moment in time, then rather than worrying over them mentally, 'wrap them up' and put them to one side, because it is wasting precious time and effort that is negative and we end up not achieving anything. We must stop feeling guilty over past failures also and learn to forgive ourselves. We are allowed a fresh start in life. Perhaps they are feelings of guilt? that we have no right to forget them and be happy? This is negative thinking and dangerous because it makes us feel more insecure and unworthy and builds up a barrier against happiness.

So we want to be happy yes?...therefore I suggest finally these few thoughts..

1. Learn to love yourself.

2. Remember to smile often.

3. Don't waste your time worrying over things that you have no control over. It can cause insomnia and it is negative thinking.

4. Do not make demands on others, be prepared to share in a relationship and yet don't allow yourself to think that every friendship/relationship is vital to your happiness.

5. Your happiness and peace of mind comes from within yourself. The time to be happy is NOW!