How to Increase Your Happiness

Who doesn't want to be happy? Believe it or not, a lot of people and you may be one of them without even realizing it. We are creatures of habit. If living in misery is all we know, we tend to stay right there. Happiness can be a stretch for those that are stuck in their own circle of misery, but it can be done with very minimal effort.

First off, let's all realize that happiness is not some level that we simply sit at. It's one we must always strive to attain. Oddly enough, it's not really what we need to do that can increase our happiness level so much as it is what we need to stop doing. I like to refer to this as carving the negativity right out of my life.

Avoid negative people.

Do you have friends that like to gossip or bring drama with them where ever they go? You may know these people and not even realize it. Here's one way to test whether you are surrounded by positive people. During the next conversation with your friend, actually count how many positive statements they make, then weight that against the length of the entire conversation. If you've talked with them for an hour and they've only made something like 3 positive statements, mathematically speaking, the rest must be negative.

Stop dwelling on the past.

This is usually a major hurdle for most people. Our patterns of living are ingrained with our past experiences. Create some new experiences to replace those negative ones. The bottom line is that if someone wronged you in the past and you allow it to have an impact on the here and now, you have just allowed that person to rule your entire life. Do you really want them to be in charge?

Omit certain words from your vocabulary.

Believe it or not, every word you say not only has an impact on your own thoughts, but also on the thoughts of others. The human brain does not do well with negatives. It begins to ingrain them in your every day activities. That's why words like "can't" and "hate" need to be removed. If you tell yourself that you "can't" do something, I guarantee that you will prove yourself right every time.

Follow some old fashioned advice.

Did your mother ever say "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"? Think before you say anything. Are your words adding to the negativity of the world? Do they lend anything positive to the conversation? You'd be amazed at how much better you can feel just by saying positive things.

Stop provoking your own misery.

We sometimes don't realize how much we contribute to our own misery. When we dwell on negative things, we give them limitless power. When we dwell on positive things, we give them limitless power. Starting to see a pattern here? Remove yourself from miserable situations. If you have a relative whose presence seems to sap your strength, avoid them. If you can't stand your job, but can't afford to quit it, then do your best to find only the positive in it and focus on that, even if it something as simple as the fact that you are employed while others aren't.

We have complete control over our own happiness. The sooner we realize it, the sooner we start taking responsibility for it.

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny." -Bob Marley

Reference: http://www.rasta-man-vibration.com/bob-marley-quotes.html