Ten Ways to Achieve Happiness

They say, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade". The only trouble with that, is that you need to first have all the right ingredients. Here are some ingredients that can help you to become a happier person in life.

1) THINK POSITIVE. Sometimes this is a very hard thing to do, especially when things appear to be falling apart all around you. However, thinking negative, or dwelling on your problems doesn't actually help the situation to get any better. You might even notice that when you're dwelling on the negative, your motor skills and emotions are compromised, so you might be attracting even more negative situations to yourself. It becomes a chain reaction of negative.

By thinking and acting in a positive way, your brain is releasing the right natural body chemicals such as serotonin. This in turn, will actually cause you to "be" a happier person, and perhaps, will create a chain of positive reactions for yourself and those around you.

As well, think positive and count your blessings. Even when your world is turning upside down, we all have blessings. When we focus on the good that is in our lives, we can set aside the bad for a moment. Counting your blessings can give you enough reason to smile.

2) DON'T BLAME OTHERS. Although you might have valid reasons to place blame on someone else for your misery or for the way things are going in your life, by dwelling on those thoughts of blame, only keeps you in those thoughts. Those thoughts, and the person or people who create problems in your life, are then given the "control" over your life and your happiness, or lack of.

Instead of dwelling on who is to blame, take charge and make the necessary changes yourself. Don't depend on someone else to make your life happy. By placing blame on others, your happiness then becomes dependent on how others treat you, and as we all know, not everyone is going to treat you kindly in life.

3) ACCEPTANCE and ADJUSTMENTS. Accept what is happening in your life. Very few of us get the "ideal", picture perfect life. We can have dreams, make plans for our futures, and possibly, just as things appear to be falling into place, there will be unfortunate events that might squash all our hopes and happiness.

Accept that perhaps, certain plans just weren't part of your destiny". "Perhaps there were things that you needed to learn along the way. Sometimes we might just have to revert to plan "B" or even plan "C". Accept that these new plans might be the true path or destiny to your happiness. Acceptance gives us added strength to meet life's problems head on and to make the necessary adjustments, with courage and a positive outlook.

4) ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED. Perhaps the reason you just can't be happy is because you are not asking for, nor expecting what you need from others. Rather than complaining that certain people in your life just aren't co-operating with your plans for happiness, you might need to "ask" them to redirect.

People can't always tell what we're thinking or read our emotions. Sometimes we just have to spell it out. For example: if you're unhappy because it seems as though you're doing all the giving, or doing all the work while others stand by and watch you, simply ask for a helping hand or for someone to take some of the load. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help.

5) STAY IN THE PRESENT. Often times we live in the past or look too far into the future. In many ways, this might be because we are not tending to the present or our present needs. We're too focused on what was or what could eventually be.

By dwelling on the past, we are not letting go of possible past hurts or frustrations. This allows little opportunity to enjoy what is or can be, in the here and now. By dwelling on possible future events, we become anxiety ridden, anticipating things that could possibly go wrong, even before the time arrives. If you take care of your happiness right now, in the present, you allow for the future to look even brighter.

6) PLANNING AHEAD. After just suggesting that you live in the present, it seems redundant to now tell you to plan ahead. However, you can plan ahead, yet, not dwell on the future.

By planning ahead, you can better avoid some pitfalls in life. If poor finances are making you unhappy, plan better ways to take charge of your money. Plan ahead for a holiday perhaps, to give you something to look forward to and strive for.

When you make some minor future plans, you are taking charge or control of your own life, your own happiness. Planning allows you to prioritize what's important in your life.

7) LETTING GO OF FAILURES. When we hang onto failures from the past, whether it's our own short comings or what others might have done to us, we are no better than a person sinking in quicksand. Let go of all failures in your life and view them as a learning tool or stepping stone to better knowledge and understanding.

Learn from failures. Don't grasp them as if they were an old familiar friend that you desire to hang onto. None of us is perfect, but when we let our imperfection(or other's) make us stronger, then we can actually learn from failure. We become a lot stronger and wiser for the experience. As well, we can learn not to make the same mistakes, therefore, we are taking charge of a clearer and better path for our future.

8) CHOOSE TO MAKE CHANGES. If your life just isn't going as you hoped, then make changes. It's been said that each new day is like a clean slate or empty page. We are the authors. We can make changes, writing out how WE want our day to go and what we'd like to achieve each new day. Even if things may not work as we'd like, we can choose to see the brighter side of things. Write positive messages on your daily clean slate.

9 ) DON'T WORRY. Don't spend your time worrying over things. Worry can only add more misery to your life. It ages you and can even create both emotional and physical illness. If you find yourself worrying, pinpoint the cause of your worry and work on ways to alleviate the problem. If it's finances that causes worry in your life, work out ways to either add to your income or detract from your spending habits. Learn how to make your earnings go further.

If you're worrying over health issues, worry can only add to them. Take care of your body, each and every day, by getting proper medical help, eating well and exercising. You might find that most things in life have a way of working themselves out, so by worrying over them, you are only adding to your own unhappiness needlessly.

10) LOVE YOURSELF. When you're unhappy, you have a tendency to hate yourself, your life situation or even those around you. Learn to love yourself. This is not to say that you should become self-absorbed, only doing as you please, only looking out for number one, but to treat yourself with the same respect and honor that you give to others. Be nice to yourself and accept the person that you are, good and bad, positives and negatives. Realize that what and who you are, is all part of a learning exercise, to be the best person you can be.

Struggles and pitfalls in life help to mold and shape us all into being better people. By loving ourselves, we learn to accept our flaws, and in turn, possibly work on better ways to improve ourselves and our lives, either physically, emotionally or spiritually.

Our own happiness is dependent on what we think, how we act and react. We can either choose to be happy or unhappy. It's up to us, the individual.