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A recipe for a happier life
Happiness doesn't always come easy, but...
... you can make the best of what life deals you and be happier. Have a positive attitude is so easy for someone to say, but how do you do that when everything around you is so negative?
What follows is a recipe for making the most of your life as it is now to gain a happier life for yourself.
Image: iStockphoto[dot]com
What is happiness?
From Dictionary[dot]com:
–noun
1. the quality or state of being happy.
2. good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy
Happiness comes from within
Discover what make happiness
Pride in yourself and your achievements, satisfaction with your 'lot', contentment in all that you do, and serenity are all the psychological traits of a happy you.
Acquiring friends and wealth are two of the earthly ways of gaining happiness.
Religious beliefs attribute happiness to love of God or a Higher Being.
Biological problems can influence our feeling unhappy.
Each individual has his/her own reasons for happiness, but always it comes from inside the person — whether physiological or psychological.
Are you addicted to unhappiness? - Buy this inspiring book on Amazon
Happy or sad?
What do you think makes one happy?
Recipe 1: How to stay unhappy - and have a miserable life
Ingredients list for an Unhappy life - not in any special order
- Tell yourself you are a bad person
- Look at all your lumpy bumpy bits in the mirror
- Constantly criticise your life partner
- Harp at your kids, don't give them any praise at all
- Say: "I can't"
- Sit around doing little
- Be positive you can't do this, or that
- Don't smile
- Stay indoors
- Don't look around you to see good stuff
- Berate yourself for all the bad things you think you've done.
- Nurture your guilt
- Be angrrrry!
Method
for an unhappy life
Add in all of the ingredients or as many as you want.
Stir and stir and stir around in your head.
Simmer for years and years until you don't feel anything but miserable.
Serve up your misery to all who are around you.
Watch out for these:
- Guilt
- Greed
- Destructive self talk
- No pleasure in simple pleasures
- Anger
Seeking happiness?
Are you looking in the wrong places?
In our materialistic society, we are conditioned by advertisers to buy this, we must have that, get a bigger house, have two or three cars per household, have/get/buy more, more, more...
In TV ads we are encouraged to think that we will be ostracised if we don't have a certain product, or live in a so-called bad neighbourhood.
What if our circumstances prohibit us from moving to a 'better' area? Does that make us bad? Of course not! So we only have one car in our family, does that make us unworthy of friends or love? Of course not!
Don't allow these influences to change how you perceive what is good for your well-being. Always let your inner spirit be your guide.
Look inside yourself for the key to happiness.
Anger Management for Everyone shows you how to cope with life's adversity, unfairness, and disappointment, so you can successfully “put anger in its proper place and live a vital, happy, and upbeat life
— The book authors
Hear Tony Robbins speak on letting go of anger
Angry? Read how to manage it - on Amazon
Recipe 2: How to get happy - and enjoy a much happier life
Ingredients list for a Happy life - in no particular order
- Smile a lot
- Think about what IS good in your life
- Give thanks for what you DO have
- Give of yourself to others, whatever you can
- Say nice things to you about you
- Be glad about being alive
- Keep a notebook or journal about the good stuff
- Don't sweat the small stuff!
- List all the good things in your life today
- Tell yourself you ARE happy
- Go outside into the sunshine
- Take a (short) walk
- Laugh
Method
for a happy life
Take all the ingredients, or as many as you like.
Use large quantities, not small.
Mix them together until of a happy consistency.
Bake them in a moderate 'oven' until well done when poked in the centre. The poking implement should come out free of unhappy ingredients.
Serve daily for a happy existence!
Hints for best results - for cooking up your happy life
Image: iStockphoto[dot]com
Hint 1. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - the Carlson Drs website
- Don't Sweat The Small Stuff
don't sweat the small stuff™
It's all small stuff - on Amazon
Hint 2. Change your self talk
Encourage yourself
Instead of saying:
- "I can't do this!"
Try saying:
- "How can I do this?
What do I need to do to make this work?"
I grew up with hearing what a bad person I was. Constantly criticised about every little thing I did. Nothing was right for my mother. I had to sweep the floor again, no matter how good a job I thought I had done.
If I came second in class, it wasn't first.
This developed a habit in me of 'knocking' as we call it in Australia. I would run movies in my head about things that I had done and ask myself over and over why I did it in this or that way.
As I grew in my own self worth, I stopped this bad habit.
Self talk can be very negative, or it can be very positive.
Learn to tell yourself good things about what you are experiencing.
You'll discover how powerful that habit can be.
Self talk can be happy - not sad
- Positive Self Talk - How To Develop a Positive Self Talk Habit
Negative self talk can limit you, increase your stress level, and adversely affect your self concept. Here are some ways you can stop negative self talk from damaging you, and reduce stress and improve your life by developing the habit of positive se - Reach Out
Learn more about self-talk, about how your thoughts can influence your feelings, and how you can challenge the negative or unhelpful aspects of your thinking.
Hint 3. Rid yourself of guilt
earned and unearned
Guilt is a burden that you don't need to carry.
If only, ...
...won't change what has happened.
If you did something to someone that has earned you guilt, then forgive yourself, and ask the other person for forgiveness.
If you are carrying around guilt that has come from something you think you should have done, let it go. You can't change the past. You can only affect the future.
Sometimes we feel guilty about something that was not our fault. This is known as unearned guilt. Perhaps you survived when someone else didn't, from the same accident. This is a very common form of unearned guilt.
(I first learned about this notion from Dr Nathaniel Branden's book: "Honouring the Self")
Maybe you feel guilty because you were given more skills and talents than your siblings. That is not something you have done, so how can you have guilt about it?
Letting go of the guilt can be freedom in itself.
Read this - my copy has highlighter all through it!
Hint 4. Learn to like yourself
You are so very nice
We have been conditioned to not like what we see in the mirror by sales pitches aimed at selling us the fountain of youth.
One of my favourite TV shows is how to look good naked. It's not about being brazen and immoral, it's about being comfortable in your own skin.
Many years ago a popular psychologist, Dr Irene Kasorla, appeared on a daytime variety show in Sydney television, and her catchcry was: give yourself a kiss.
Try these links for liking yourself
- Learn To Like Yourself And Become Your Best Friend
Are you unhappy with the way you are? What can you do to learn to like yourself? You - "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO LIKE YOURSELF?"
This has everything to do with self-esteem and self-confidence.If you do not like yourself, a few bad things can happen to you:(a) When others do well, you feel inadequate, and you get critical about yourself.(b) If you see only your own faults, you - If You Want Others to Like You, Like Yourself First!
Many of us mistakenly believe that it’s wrong or conceited, to think we have any good qualities. We may spend a lot of time berating ourselves for our negative qualities, thinking that self criticism is the key to improving our performance.
Here's a good recipe
