Deep down all that the majority of us really want is to be happy. Sounds simple enough but happiness for some people is surprisingly complex. Is happiness based on your relationships? Is it affected by your health? What about your financial status or material wealth? What happens if you have everything you want and you’re still not really happy? I told you it was complex.
Always look on the bright side
The London School of Economics and Political Sciences recently conducted a study of 23,000 adults between the ages of 17 and 85. The finding concluded that there are two ages when people are at their very happiest, those being 23 and 69. So if you’re, like me, not either of those ages then you are possibly not as happy as you could be. However, it’s not all bad news. Regardless of your age, psychologists tend to agree that happiness is less about our situation in life and much more about our decision to be happy.
The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude – William James (Psychologist)
If you want to boost your levels of contentment here are a few things that may help you.
Be grateful
Gratitude and happiness tend to go hand in hand. When you appreciate what you have it focuses your attention on the good things in your life. Even seemingly negative situations can highlight things to be thankful for and cultivating gratitude makes you aware of all the things you have that you may otherwise take for granted.
Don’t compare
Measuring your life against someone else’s rarely leads to good things. It’s been said many times but it bears repeating that comparison is the thief of joy. Celebrate other’s victories and be happy for those who achieve good things but don’t compare your journey to theirs.
Own it
You may not be able to control what happens in life but you are in control of how you approach the inevitable ups and downs.
Not everything that happens in life will be happy and it would be silly to pretend that every difficult or sad situation is less than it is, but you can decide to walk tall and keep going when you hit a bump in the road. You can’t control everything but you can choose how you respond.
Invest wisely
All of us have things that intrinsically make us happier. Whether it’s being in nature, spending time with loved ones, solving problems or completing a task, learning something new, exercising and taking care of our bodies or just losing yourself in a great book, whatever it is for you, invest time in doing more of it. We are only given so much time on earth and using all our hours to do things that don’t give us a sense of satisfaction is a bit of a waste.
Keep active
I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but bored people don’t really seem to be very happy. People who are active and doing something, especially something they enjoy or that gives them a sense of purpose and accomplishment are much more likely to be happier than if they are at a loose end with nothing much to occupy themselves. Use your days and make them count.
Happiness is a choice not a result. Nothing will make you happy, until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy, unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you. – Ralph Marston. (The Daily Motivator)