Learning To Be As Happy As We Want To Be

Have you heard of the hit single ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ by Bobby McFerrin? It’s actually a beautiful upbeat song that has the potential to brighten anyone’s day. The song has a very catchy way of conveying its message of being happy to everyone. Bobby McFerrin’s simple message surely made a lot of people happy by telling them not to worry.

Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful and is also good for your health. Being happy protects you from the stresses of life, which are linked to top causes of death, such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke. With those kinds of statistics who wouldn’t want to be happy?

One of the better things ever said is: “The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change.” And because we are the masters of our lives, we hold the power to make the necessary changes to ensure our happiness. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation, we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too will change.

Social networks and relationships are essential to happiness. Happiness can come from embracing the fact that people are so different and learning to accept people for whom or what they are. If you make a conscious effort to avoid arguments, to let go of resentments and negative energy, you will become happier.

In most situation, we can choose how happy or stressed, how relaxed or troubled, how bright or dull our lives should be. The choice is simple really, you have to decide to be happy.

There are several ingredients that can help you achieve this:

Live in the present

Feelings of unhappiness and self-doubt are often linked to past memories, when someone did not have confidence in you or when you did not accomplish what you set out for yourself. If you keep on focusing on these things, you are only attracting the negative energy that fuels your sadness. You have to embrace who you are in the present, use the past to motivate you and not to take you down. What you may have done in the past does not necessarily predict what you will do today or in your future, and each new day is an opportunity to prove that to yourself.

Trust yourself

Often, your worst enemy can be your own self. If you keep on thinking that you are not good enough and cannot do the things you actually want, you will not even try it, and you will be stuck forever. You have to build up a strong faith in your abilities, by constantly reminding yourself that you are capable of achieving your dreams and work hard at it.

Counteract your negative thoughts

There are times when negative voices in your head tend to be stronger than the positive ones. When this happens, push yourself to neutralize the negative feelings with efforts to concentrate on the positive voices. Remind yourself about your strengths, your achievements and all the work that makes you proud.

Be grateful

Learning to live a happy life can be as simple as changing your perspective from taking everything for granted and starting to be grateful for every little thing what you have. This will help you focus your time and energy on what you appreciate in your life, and you will feel more accomplished and connected to everything and everyone around you. 

Gratitude can be about anything, big or small, so you can start with thanking the taxi driver for bringing you home safely or the cook for a wonderful dinner. The relationships we build with others are the most significant source of our happiness, so practicing gratitude and focusing on people will strengthen bonds and improve emotional awareness.

Manage your time

Time is important and too valuable to waste, and using it wisely can help you increase your happiness. Time management can be viewed as a list of rules that involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing them. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop effective personal time management skills.

Even though it might sound laborious, you should make an effort and try to plan your time around things you enjoy. Prioritize positivity through activities that you truly love and feel will make you better as person, and set aside time in your busy schedule for connecting with others.

Show your emotions

Heard a good joke lately? Share it with your friends or family because it is known that ‘Laughter is the best medicine.’

Express your feelings, affections, friendship, and passion to people around you and they will most likely reciprocate your actions, creating a deeper bond between you. It is important to be authentic and sincere and express what you feel in a constructive manner that will build bridges and bring joy to your life and others.

Work hard

You can get tremendous personal satisfaction by working hard every day to finish your tasks because within that process you create value and that gives purpose to your life.

Even the smallest project can be a great exercise to learn new things, broaden your horizons and create future opportunities to excel. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time and that you believe will upgrade you. Try and learn something new every day and use this to take a step further each day in reaching your happiness goals.

Learning to be happy is a process and it is something you have to work at every day. The progress you make today might not seem significant, but perseverance and focus are key ingredients in building a happy life. Be aware of the people around you, create meaningful relationships, stay away from negativity and try hard to find ways to improve yourself each and every day.