We all have experienced times in our lives that we wished we could be happier.
You may be thinking that you would be happier if you had more money, a new car, more friends, lost weight, or had someone new in your life.
Psychological issues certainly play a role in how we perceive happiness. Some of the medications used to treat these problems may actually blunt the ability to appreciate the positive aspects of life, despite the fact they are commonly referred to as mood enhancers.
Age also has been shown to be a factor in our perception of happiness. Individuals over the age of forty tend to report feeling happy with their life more than others still in their twenties and thirties. The rationale behind this difference is that many over the age of forty have experienced many ups and downs and are more content and accepting of their life as it is.
An individuals perception of happiness in their life may have a genetic basis in about one half of people whom are unhappy with life. However, the remaining factors that may contribute to a lack of happiness are potentially modifiable if you are willing to be proactive in taking a few simple steps to help improve your satisfaction with life.
The following are 10 simple steps anyone can use to optimize their happiness:
1. Make Someone Happy- try saying hi and smiling at everyone you encounter for at least one day. It is difficult to not experience some happiness when you are doing something that may brighten the day of another.
2. Manage Your Stress- stress is a big factor in the unhappiness of many. Unmanaged stress may keep you tense and on edge. Our threshold for anger is lower when we are subjected to ongoing stress. It is imperative that you find some type of activity to help clear your mind. This will help you look at things more objectively. Walking, running, yoga, going to the gym, and meditation are great ways lower your stress so that you can live a happier lifestyle.
3. Optimize Your Relationships- continue to work on your relationships at home and at the work place. The more fulfilling your relationships the more content you will feel inside. You should also try to build new, healthy relationships with others that have similar interest.
4. Learn To Shift- there is no guarantee that our lives will be perfect. We all will have good and bad days and will not always see eye to eye with everyone we encounter. You must be flexible in your thinking and learn how to shift when things are not going your way, so that you can keep moving forward and bounce back from adversity. Long term happiness is not determined so much by what happens in life, but how you chose to think and repond to life events.
5. Stay Positive- having a positive outlook will attract positive people into your life. Positive people are full of energy and enthusiasm and this attracts others that want to know what your secret is to staying happy and motivated to deal with the ups and downs of life.
6. Force Negative Emotions To Take A Back Seat- many of us may dwell on every bad thing that happens to us. This can make it difficult to move past a situation or event that we find indesirable. Trying to focus more on the positive aspects of life events may not make the problem go away, but it allows us to look at things with a different perspective and build on the experience. As your positive emotions increase, the negative emotions will stop playing a significant role in your satisfaction with life. Individuals with depression have even been found to benefit from activities that inspire positive emotions.
7. Find Pleasure In Helping Others- showing compassion and helping others over and above what you normally do has been found to stimulate serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin even when you engage in just a small amount of compassionate activity. The stimulation of these hormones has been found to give you a sense of contentment, alleviate pain, and the desire to help others more.
8. Find Your Passion- try doing something you are passionate about everyday. This will give you a sense of satisfaction, boost your self esteem, feelings of optimism and make your day seem more satisfying..
9. Reward Yourself- patting yourself on the back with a little reward will help keep you motivated and optimistic when things aren’t going well.
10. Love Yourself- learn to appreciate all that you have to offer the world. Take the time to reflect on all the good things that you have done and accomplished. You will find that your self esteem and confidence are boosted. You will experience a new birth of enthusiasm that can only give you a sense of happiness.
Remember long term happiness requires a long term effort. Taking a few small steps everyday, will help you experience a more satisfying, happier and healthier life.
Doc
Related Websites -
A Lesson In Life by Wesley Crites Life gives us many hard lessons, but the hardest one of all is the passing of a true friend. Harder still is helping load him into the unceremoniously gray van. The hardest yet will be helping to carry his coffin, but things can be learned from this tragic time. The...... -
A Tip is Just a Tip, but a Before and After is My Life They say that “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” This statement couldn’t be truer in this instance. It is safe to say that I have had some bad judgment. It was not on a grand level of bank robbery or grand theft auto, unless you... -
The Role of Protein in Weight Loss When it comes to the trio of protein, fat and carbs, most people tend to focus on the last two. They are demonized, championed, reviled – you name it. But in this mess, protein is usually forgotten, or lumped into a category where it doesn’t belong. Protein is vital, especially......
