6 Keys to a Happy Life
In the eternal quest to find happiness, many feel lost and believe that no matter what they do, they will never find the joy and peace they long for. The good news it is that happiness is not out of reach. There are many paths to happiness, which are unique to every individual, but each path follows basic rules. The following are six keys to a happy life.
Take responsibility for your happiness.
Realize that no person, no amount of money and no accumulation of objects can make you happy. You must start by looking within to see what needs to change to increase your happiness before you look outside of yourself. Learning to “bloom where you’re planted” is a principle that always leads to happiness.
Think positive.
Life is rarely rainbows and unicorns, but it is definitely healthier to be a glass half full kind of thinker. No matter what is happening, there is always something we can learn from every experience and we should use this knowledge to help us to grow as a person. When you adopt an attitude of positive thinking and apply that positivity to the world around us, you can’t help but feel happier. You’ll make those around you happier, too.
Learn to set (and enforce) healthy boundaries.
Saying no to people can bring up a lot of anxiety. It’s such a small word, but it has a lot of power when used correctly in your life. Refusing people and things that do not serve you is a recipe for happiness and emotional peace. Remember that sometimes you must say no to yourself, too.
Make self-care a priority.
It’s imperative that you regularly get enough sleep, eat nutritious foods and get exercise if you want to feel happy. Those are the basic self-care building blocks of creating a happy life, but there are other things like doing activities that make your soul happy, having enough friend time, enough fun time as well as having time to relax that are also included in taking care of you. Do not confuse self-care with being selfish because it is not. It is necessary.
Focus on solutions, not problems.
It’s easy to focus on what is not going right, but getting stuck on the problem can make you feel powerless. Instead, acknowledge what the problem is and use your energy wisely by focusing on what you can do about the problem. There is always some way you can make a situation better, which gives you a sense of control and makes problems feel smaller.
Have an attitude of gratitude.
Take notice of what is going well in your life and be thankful for it. You have breath, you have beauty all around you in nature, there is goodness in the world. Every single one of us can say this and we should focus on these and all the many other things in our lives that are worth celebrating and being grateful for. Sure, there are things you don’t have, but why waste your energy thinking of what you don’t have, which inevitably takes away from your happiness when you have so much to be thankful for?