7 Steps to Happiness

I found this picture and thought it was so fitting to share with you, not just because it has a great message, but because I am making it my personal mission to test a statement that I have been using since November, and I wanted to literally take this picture apart and see how it measures up to my new idea:

“Happiness is not an emotion, it is a choice”

This statement could be taken the wrong way.  I am a big thinker, in fact thinking is why I write many of the blogs that I have here.  I see something or hear about something and start thinking and wondering about how it works, or how it applies to my life and the people around me.  I don’t think this statement has anything to do with that kind of thinking, in fact I am sure it doesn’t.

The kind of thinking that this statement is referring to is “stinking thinking” that is a phrase that I have heard many times in my life.  This type of thinking is what leads to unhappiness.  If you are thinking (focussing) on negative things that have happened in your life or even things that you feel you need to take responibility for, if you continue to think about it over and over and over again without making changes to either correct the situation or to absolve yourself of the guilt that you are holding onto, you will be unhappy.

This is a choice!  Things that happen to you can not be undone, and sometimes they are down right horrible, but you do have a choice to find your way through it to the light on the other side, or to continue to relive it over and over again.  I am not saying it is easy, but every step you take in the direction towards the light the easier it will become.

Allow yourself to feel the sun on your face, or the touch of a loved one.  Feel life and enjoy it.

 

 

Many people will tell you that if you are feeling down the quickest way to pick yourself up is to smile.  Your brain can actually be altered by your facial expression.  It may feel silly, but even if you are really upset or angry you can choose to smile.  I dare you to try it the very next time you are upset.

When our daughters used to get upset as young children we would tease them by turning them upside down and say that we were turning their frown upside down, and sometimes it led to giggles :)

 

Talking can be just as bad as thinking.  If you are so busy talking, either to yourself or others you don’t have time to hear everything around you, you can miss out on the joy.

Take a minute right now and listen to your surroundings… can you hear a baby coo, your favourite song, a puppy breathing?  What is it that you can hear that brings you joy? Perhaps it is your children playing together. What ever it is, choose to hear it and enjoy it.

Judging causes all kinds of problems.  First if you are judging yourself all the time, you could be holding yourself to expectations that you will never be able to reach, or that once you reach you will be quick to raise the bar before patting yourself on the back and enjoying your accomplishments.  Perhaps you judge others in that way?  Regardless of who you are judging, you are spending precious energy on a task that is completely useless.

Acceptance could be translated into love – Love more. It is harder to judge if you are busy loving.

Standing on the sidelines isn’t fun, it’s safe.  I think this one should have come a little later in the grouping but I will keep it in the order that the original picture shows :) Standing back and watching everyone else have fun, or being a part of the action will not bring you happiness.  Think of  the last time that you were asked to participate in an activity where you chose to abstain.  Perhaps it was a work volleyball tournament, or a different work sport.  It might have been a night out with your good friends at karaoke night, whatever it was you probably regretted your decision to sit back and let the others have fun.  Think of all the laughing,  joking and carrying on that was happening around you.  How many times did you think, I should have joined in.

Stop SHOULDING on yourself and do!

This is a very important concept in my household, I talk to the kids about this all the time.  The saying “What you think about you bring about” applies here.  If you are constantly complaining about all the things you don’t like about the things around you, the more of that you will get.  On the other hand if you change your thoughts to focus on the things that you are grateful for, you will get more of that.

So choose to focus on the positive and appreciate everything you have.

 

Now this one I thought should have been in front of “Watch Less Do More”.  These two tie in together quite well.  Fear leads us all to do some silly things, and by silly I don’t mean fun.  Fear holds us back and keeps us on the sidelines of  life.  When we let fear creep into our lives, we choose to be more cautious and take less risks.

Stepping outside your comfort zone and making choices that you wouldn’t normally make, actually help you enjoy life more.  It can be a foreign idea for some, but think about a time when you stepped outside your comfort zone and learned something new, or made some new friends.  You grew as a person, and chances are it brought a smile to your face.  This is not to say that every time you step outside your comfort zone you will succeed, you may fall down, and that is awesome because it gives you the opportunity to pick yourself up and try again, and once you succeed it will bring you even more joy to look at that accomplishment.

I can honestly conclude that these 7 steps are choices, and I choose to take them and be happy.  How about you?