How to be Happy in Life - Never Accept These Things

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer (Reinhold Niebuhr).

Although we find that there are many things that we have to live with, such as the weather, traffic, tax, illness, and then there are things which we should never accept.

Sometimes the irritations creep up on us, they are so little when they start that we accept or overlook them. As times creeps on the irritations can mutate into something larger, which becomes a drain on our energy and have a negative impact on our lives.

Just knowing what the little irritations are can provide some upliftment. Redressing the bigger more imposing irritations, can result in a dramatic improvement in your outlook, and open the way to receive the happiness and peace which has eluded you.

Let's look at what could be the most prevalent "unacceptables" in our lives, and if you own any of them, now is the time to rid yourself of the toxic waste which is draining your emotions.

1. Unhappiness at Work

As we spend nearly half our lives at work, we cannot afford to give that much of our life away to something that impacts negatively on every aspect of our being. Our health, our emotions, our relationships all suffer if we are unhappy with what we are doing.

Focus on what you can do to make it better, change your job by obtaining a better education if necessary, do something you truly love even if it means a dip in income, your happiness and well being are worth the cost. If all else fails, try to make changes in your current position to alleviate whatever is making you miserable.

2. Toxic or Draining Relationships

Anyone in your life who is abusive, demeaning, insulting, hurtful, uninterested or unsupportive of you must be given their marching orders. Perhaps you have a reason for staying in this relationship, but unless the toxic person realises that sometimes sorry is not enough and they have to change,

Cut out their negative impact or at the very least, cut back on interactions with them, as the disruption they bring to your life saps your self esteem.

3. Negativity

Spend time with positive people, they will impact on your life as much as those who are negative. There is a lot of negativity in our lives, just listen to the news, and then if you have to listen to people's reaction and thoughts on the distressing news it pulls you down even further.

Think about your emotions when you watch the violence in a movie, the anger and resentment your feel toward the attacker, then when the good guy arrives, and retribution is dispensed you feel happy and positive that right person won the day. Simplistic yes, but life is a roller coaster sometimes up and sometimes down, but we can control the sometimes down, by surrounding ourselves with positive, happy people.

4. Living Space Clutter

If you have a lot of stuff, things you once liked but now just require time and effort to keep clean, as you no longer genuinely enjoy them, get rid of it. Your home should reflect who you are and give you the peace, warmth, order and comfort you want in your life.

5. Lifestyle

Unhealthy habits such as smoking, eating junk food, drinking too much, being too sedentary, or letting yourself go either in the way you take care of yourself or by putting on too much weight, will lead to unhappiness and possibly depression.

Take care of yourself properly, and take pleasure in the moment, remember your accomplishments and build yourself up to change for the better.

6. Financial Overload

The stress caused by financial problems colours everything in your life. Take stock of what is happening in your life, what are you doing that is eating up your liquidity.

Make the necessary lifestyle adjustment and do whatever possible to lessen the strain, very few things are worth the stress, lack of money causes. A second job, a garage sale, do whatever it takes to reduce the debt.

7. All Work and no Play

Ensure you are living a well balanced life. Although you enjoy your work make time for fun and relaxation with friends and family. No one ever died saying they wished they had worked harder!

Enjoy and embrace, in its entirety, every second of life that you are blessed with.

8. Excuses and Apathy

These two are unacceptable, because they allow us to do nothing. They allow us to be afraid to try, to avoid making the changes which will make the difference.

9 Be True to Yourself

Ensure you are living up to your own standards, principles and beliefs. Never try to fit in by dropping your standards, or saying "If you don't like this set of principles, I have another here". Your self esteem and happiness relies on your integrity.

10. Lastly, Lack of Communication

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

George Bernard Shaw

If someone or something is important to you, don't fob off conversation nor allow yourself to be fobbed off by someone who cannot take the time to express the problem, idea or thought clearly.

Remember that the goal of effective communication skills should be mutual understanding and finding a solution that pleases both parties.

My grandmother used to tell me that it was no good winning the battle if you lost the war.