Happy is an ancient word. Everyone wants to be happy.
Happy people are more creative, confident and make better listeners. They are likely to be less stressed and have more friends.
Although the topic may require philosophical, biological, psychological, economical inputs, or even references from the literary world; a few points are worth repeating.
What’s happiness though?
Happiness can mean differently to each one of us. Generally, being happy is a mental state that is often accompanied by pleasant emotions like joy and satisfaction.
It can come from things as little as discovering a new path home, the smell of trees and soil after rain, or watching your beloved sleep.
For some, it’s about the self-belief that you have full control over your own situations in life.
It’s not necessarily about wearing a smile all the time, nor is it solely derived from external and momentary rewards.
Be Grateful
When things don’t go the way we want, what do we do? We focus our attention on feeling upset, blaming and complaining about all possible could haves. When things go as planned, we feel they are supposed to happen that way.
Gratitude is the powerful path to unlocking happiness.* Showing appreciation to what we have, rather than always chasing for more shifts our mind away from worries and anxiety. It teaches us not to take anything or anyone for granted.
Adopting this optimistic mindset makes it possible for us to feel happy and grateful even if we are undergoing hardship. We can be as invincible as we want to.
The Focus is on You
Especially under this digital era, it’s almost reflex to live your life through others’ on social media. Forget about that latest restaurant he went to. Stop feeling bitter about the new IT bag she bought, or the glamorous party she showed up at. The last thing you want is to build your (un)happiness on them. Focus on developing yourself and what’s important to you.
Passion
Passion gives your life purpose and direction. Time freezes when you do what you love and there’s only you in the whole world. Enjoy cooking? You don’t need to be in the MasterChef show to cook. Your goal of cooking is simply to cook. Don’t be afraid to fail. Find a reason for yourself to look forward to getting out of bed each morning.
Now, Be Happy
Happiness is a choice.* It is a mindset and comes from actions we can take. Let’s choose to be happy today, every day.