How to Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life

Perspective
Put everything that happens to you, on a daily basis, into perspective. How will an event that takes place affect your life in an hour, a day, a week, or a year? Is this event so dreadful that it is non-recoverable for you emotionally? If you put things into perspective on a daily basis, you can realize the overall importance and impact that these events will have on your journey called life.

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
There are so many little things in life that we seem to get upset about. While driving to work, that guy cut you off on the highway. That co-worker keeps sucking up to the boss. Your car broke down again. Your dog keeps pestering you for attention when you get home from work. Your kids have toys strewn everywhere. Your hair looks bad today. It's raining and you just washed your car. I tell you what, there are so many little things, we can't control, that happen to us everyday, it's ridiculous. If we blew a gasket at every unimportant event that happened to us on a daily basis we'd be an emotional wreck! Don't sweat the small stuff!

Friends and Family
If you are fortunate enough to have loving friends and family in your life, share your thoughts and feelings with them, they want you to! Just remember, it's a two-way street, giving feels good! Sometimes, giving is just listening and comforting someone.

Organize Your Life
Set aside blocks of time each week to take care of personal business; paying bills, filing documents, performing household chores, shopping, washing the car, etc. It's sometimes hard to get into a routine with our hectic lives, but it really helps to set up a schedule. All of these tasks, if not taken care of, weigh us down emotionally. It's amazing how much better you feel with a clear, worry-free head, and a clean house! Have you ever noticed that your car drives better after you wash it? I have too; the car even feels better when it's all nice and clean!

Express Yourself
If something is bothering you, voice it! People, in general, aren't mind readers, and if they were...Wow, what a catastrophe that would be! Think about how you feel and voice it in a calm, controlled manner. This initiates a conversation about the problem and promotes an avenue for a solution. Bottling up your feelings, and hoping the other person will finally guess what your problem is, after many trial and errors, generally doesn't have the positive, productive outcome you are looking for.

Don't Dwell
Ok, so you've voiced your feelings on a matter that was hurtful or destructive to you emotionally. You've worked through your feelings with the individual you had the conflict with, and amends were made. That is wonderful, you approached the problem and solved it. Hours or days pass and you still have this feeling of distress over the matter. Our brains can diplomatically work out a solution, but sometimes our hearts don't exactly follow along our line of logical thinking. This just takes time. Don't dwell over issues already addressed, it serves no purpose and takes energy away from your positive thinking process.

Think Positive
Is your glass half full, or half empty? Almost everything in life has positive and negative properties. If you focus on just the negative properties in your life you are getting only half of the whole picture. Life isn't a "bowl of cherries" all the time, it's a struggle, it's hard work, and it's also wonderful and exciting too! With positive thinking, and positive action, you can turn any negative into a positive. It's easy really; think of a negative in your past or present, do it now. Now think of how this event has affected you. Has it made you see things differently, treasure life, friends, family or even yourself more dearly? Has this negative actually enlightened you to a way of thinking that you have never had before? I guarantee if you look for the positives in life, you will find them, and they are plentiful.

Change Your Habits
Have you heard the saying, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it"? How about, "If it's broke, leave it alone, it'll fix itself"? Ok, I haven't heard the latter one either. If it's broke, fix it! If something isn't working in your life, change it. You have the power, every second of every day, to change you. Guess what? You can't control how other people feel or act, but you can change how you act and react in a positive, constructive manner, to every situation that presents itself to you.

Enrich Your Life/Learn Something New
Wake up, go to work, come home and cook dinner for yourself and/or the family, flip on the television for a few hours and then it's bedtime. Repeat for the rest of the workweek until the weekend, right? Wrong.... Boring! Try something new that you have always wanted to do. Remember all those things you've always wanted to try but you've never made the time? Make the time! There are so many fulfilling and intellectually exciting things in this world to fill your time with, that it's completely mind-boggling. Have you ever said, "Well, I could never do that", or "I'm not talented enough to try this", or "I'm not smart enough for that"? Guess what? You aren't being graded on your performance. You are opening up your mind to new experiences and ways of expressing who you are. If it makes you feel good, do it! Expand your mind and your talents.

Do Something Fun
It's never too late to be a kid. Allow your inner child to come out. You can be an executive at work, but come home and play. Life isn't about working all the time; it's about enjoying our world.

Get Back to Nature
Nature has no hidden agenda, plays no favorites, it asks no questions. It does however give answers. It has a healing way about it. Those mountains over there are in no hurry for you to finish contemplating them. Those pines, they don't need to rush off for a meeting. They just sit there, contently listening to your thoughts.

Get Healthy
Your emotional well-being is directly influenced by your health. If you are tired and unhealthy, your emotions can get the best of you. Your body is your intellectual and emotional home. If your home is unkept and falling apart because of lack of maintenance, it has an effect on everything you say, feel and do in your life. Get to the gym and burn some calories, eat healthy foods, and get some sleep.

Happiness is a State of Mind
In conclusion, you have the intellectual and emotional power, built right into the fiber of your being, to make what you wish out of your journey. There are so many twists and turns in this daily puzzle we call life, but every action has a reaction, and you are in control of every move. I wish you a happy "State of Life"!