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Eleven Essential Ingredients for Higher Happiness
A “new” field of Positive Psychology has arisen in recent years which - at last! - sees research turning towards “what's right with us” and away from the depressing study of “what's wrong with us”.
As the field gains momentum science is finally starting to produce proof confirming what all happy people have known and practiced for thousands of years.
Here are Eleven things you can do daily which build happiness and which at long last “science” says are real:
Smell the roses
We've all heard this one - and yet still some people relegate enjoying what's available until the end of the day when all the “important things” have been taken care of and they are just too tired to show much interest in anything that requires effort.
If you won't treat yourself to some delight in your day - wherever you can find it - what makes you think you are ever going to enjoy life at all?
So if there are no roses where you live or work - smile at someone, they'll most likely smile back - and voila! - you have something as delightful as a rose to appreciate!.
And we all know that smelling roses is even more wonderful when its shared! |
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Smelling roses is even more wonderful when its shared
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Gratitude will get you more
than grumpitude
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Get involved with gratitude
Write a letter, say "Thank you", spend a moment deciding whether your next breath is something to feel appreciative about.
Whatever you can do to involve yourself with feeling grateful for being you will impact your life for a long time to come.
Gratitude will get you more happiness than grumpiness |
Become proactive in your life
Happiness is unlikely to be beating a path to your door unless you are getting ready to receive her.
There are so many people who seem to want happiness but don't actually do something about it - compared, for instance, with the colossal number of people who want to pay their bills and do something - often unpleasant - to achieve that.
Take one step towards happiness and happiness will take a thousand towards you |
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get out there and do something
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Money will not ever buy you happiness
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Put money in its proper place
Money is a useful; thing for spending - no-one denies that - but when you put money ahead of happiness you will always have insufficient funds for having the happy vibe.
Despite all the glib things the media and marketing hype throws at you - your happiness lies within you and money is not something that will make any difference to that - at all.
Money will not ever buy you happiness |
Know yourself and what you value
Since the beginning of recorded history sages have encouraged us to “Know Thyself”.
When it comes to happiness it is really important for you to know what it is that makes you happy - without this understanding you are likely to buy what the media tells you will make you happy and ..... that course leads to depression.
It is easier to please yourself when you know what it is that pleases you.
Our MindVision residential workshop is the best way we know to get to know yourself |
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It is easier to please yourself when you know
what it is that pleases you
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value your family and friends
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Value people who value you
You've probably heard that people with a healthy network of friends tend to be happier, healthier and live longer.
That is because we all have a need to feel we belong. Family and friends are often our surest indication that we belong in ourselves - that we are “at home” being us.
So if you want to give your happiness a hand up the ladder to joy - do something to let someone you care about know that you care about them.
It will change their day - but it will probably change yours even more.
People with a healthy network of friends tend to be happier, healthier and live longer. |
Be still / Spend time with just yourself
Being happy being you means you need to learn to be at peace being with yourself.
For many people time spent without external distraction means the mind's endless chatter get louder and, left to itself, more critical and judgemental.
Practicing a form of meditation - even as little as 10 minutes a day - will help you learn to tame this wild beast and, in so doing, you will come to accept yourself more and more.
There is no true happiness without inner peace.
Our Meditation and beyond CD is a wonderful way to get going with meditation. |
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There is no true happiness
without inner peace
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Smile - and the whole world smiles with you
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Fake it till you make it
This one ingredient so many people have used with great success to change their lives - in many more areas than happiness.
If you look happy - and a smile is the easiest way to do this - you will be actively practicing one aspect being happy.
Persist and this will infuse your whole being with the happy vibe and, probably before you know it, your view of the world will change and become brighter.
And it takes fewer muscles and less effort to smile than to frown - so its an energy-conservation practice too.
Smile - and the whole world smiles with you. |
Get active - move yourself
Action is a key ingredient in achieving anything, and it also has countless health and well-being benefits.
Exercise is known for its ability to reduce the effects of depression and anxiety.
When you start moving you are instantly changing your world from one of inactivity to one of achievement.
Don't just sit there - do something! |
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Dont just sit there - do something!
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you will almost always depress yourself
by comparing things
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Stop comparing things - especially yourself!
Comparing ourselves or our assets to others is depressing - even Desiderata tells us that.
Far better to focus on what you've got and how wonderful that is than to waste energy contemplating what's missing in your life!
“If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.”
[1]
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Share your life and help others
We often make ourselves happy through the simple act of doing what we can to make another happier.
Its a case of giving what you want to get.
And there is no surer cure for depression than getting up and doing something to help somebody less fortunate than yourself.
To paraphrase a well-known saying "I felt unhappy about having no shoes until I met a man with no feet" |
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Share your life and help others
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Other resources:
- Lonnie Young shares some insight on what you may not know about Happy People
[2] .
- Some helpful thoughts on the mind and its influence on your happiness
[3] .
- In these times when fear and anxiety are being incessantly broadcast everywhere, it is important to become aware of how this is affecting you
[4]
- Your life expectancy seems intricately related to your expectation of happy years ahead, which is a product of happy times today
[5]
middlepath.com.au> Middle Path> Quality of Life> 11 essential ingredients for higher happinessReferences
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