What is Happiness?

How do you define happiness? Are you happy occasionally, all of the time, or somewhere in between? Here are my thoughts and some suggested ways to be happy all of the time (well at least most of the time :-)))!

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, happiness is defined as:

1. a state of well-being and contentment:  joy
2. a pleasurable or satisfying experience

It has been my experience that most people define happiness using the second definition above and that for the most part, they are not happy. In the US and Western culture in general, we have come to define our happiness based on our experiences. When we get a new car or a new home, we are happy for the moment, but life takes over and we forget out the new car very quickly. It is not until we realize that happiness comes from within ourselves and we begin the work of finding happiness from within that we find true and lasting happiness.

It’s not that there are never times when we are sad, but for those of us who have found happiness within, we are able to find the good in everything and move from sad back into a happy state more quickly. Today, I’d like to share some of the tools that I use to stay happy and tools that I used that moved me here to begin with.

Moving from occasional happiness to full time happiness

The following are some of the things I did over time. Keeping in mind that you can’t change everything at once, I recommend that you pick one thing from each of the two lists below. Once those become a habit, return to these lists to select something else that will make you happier.

Remember, we have  loads of negative influence in our lives, so by eliminating them we eventually find that our energy is lighter and we are happier. By adding positive things into our life, in place of the negative, we become even more happy and lighter. A side benefit is that when we are happier we become less stressed, and when are less stressed we are healthier.

Things to eliminate

1. Stop watching the news. This includes checking the news on your mobile device, on your computer, on Television and reading the newspaper. The news for the most part focuses on all of the bad things that are happening in the world. Each thing we see happening in the world as we watch the news, depletes our energy a little more. Over time we begin to only see the bad things that are happening in the world.
2. Pay attention to what you are watching on television. If you are going to watch television, I encourage you to watch shows that include informative documentaries, comedies, or real life stories. Eliminate violence and shows that are negative in nature.
3. Pay attention what movies you are watching Eliminate violence and movies that are negative in nature.
4. Pay attention to your negative thoughts, the things you are dwelling on and as soon as you notice them, say something positive such as “Everyday in every way I am more positive”.
5. Read labels and make more conscious choice as to what you are eating. Eliminate, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), eliminate “High Fructose Corn Syrup”.
6. Decrease the amount of sugar and simple carbs from your diet.
7. Get off the couch and get outside. Just a few minutes per day of sunlight can make a big difference in your happiness quotient.

Things to Add 

1. Open your chakras and get the energy flowing. You can get a free copy of my Chakra Opening symbol when you register for my newsletter. In just 20 seconds your chakras will be opened an balanced when using that symbol.
2. Watch comedies that cause you to laugh out loud. A good belly laugh releases endorphins, the brains “feel-good” chemicals.
3. Read a good book that feeds you with positive thinking. One of my favorite authors that inspires me is Wayne Dyer. If you want to read a good novel, find one that has an inspirational story line to it such as: Emissary by Patricia Cori, or Judith Diana Winston’s The Keeper of the Diary.
4. Find a loving, supportive partner to support each other, by noticing when you are being negative or saying negative things. Set-up a fun system for reminding each other to be more positive. For example, my partner notices whenever I say that I “should” do something and says to me “Don’t Should on Yourself”, or if I hear them speaking negatively about themselves, I’ll put my hands on my hips and look straight at them and say “Don’t Pick on my friend Their Name“.
5. Get to your negative core beliefs, and replace them with new strong positive beliefs. I share this process in all of my books. It’s simple, fast and effective. You can order your copy of my Power Symbols for Balanced Energy book by clicking here or Power Symbols for Self-Love here.
6. Add good quality foods to your diet to replace simple carbs and sugars with fresh fruits and whole grains.
7. Start a daily exercise program. You’ll increase your “dopamine” levels, which is a mood enhancer.
8. Start a practice of daily meditation. You’ll find it is a great way to reduce stress. Think you don’t have time to meditate? Well, some studies indicate that 20 minutes of meditation is equal to an hour of sleep, so reduce the amount of time you sleep and replace it with a meditation time. You can learn a variety of methods of sitting quietly or listen to brain-wave entrainment programs that help you to get into a meditative state. You can find my self-love bundle of subliminal and brain wave entrainment meditation recordings here.
9. Look for the good in every event that happens, when it appears to be negative. As I like to say “There is a pony in that pile somewhere”.
10. Learn to laugh at life. I call it noticing the “Human Condition” and laugh at it. For example, the other day I took a probiotic capsule from the bottle and walked around with it in my hand, while doing other things until I got back to where my water bottle was. When I finally got back to my water bottle, well… You got it, I no longer had the capsule in my hand. So, I looked and looked until I finally gave up and got a new capsule. Later in the day, I took the lid off my salt grinder and inside of the top of the grinder was that capsule. Some people might get upset that they did such a “Dumb Thing”. Not me I laughed a fully belly laugh, at how silly I can be. I then shared what happened with my friend who was a bit depressed and got him to laugh as well.
11. Stop judging yourself and start loving yourself. Remember you are not actively trying to mess up. When you do something that didn’t turn out the way you hoped, look at the event and look for what you can learn from it and laugh the rest off to a growing experience.
12. Do something good for yourself every day. Make it a practice to do something you love to do, every day. Maybe it is taking time to read a good book, take a long hot bath, relax with your sweetheart, play a game, or play sports. Whatever it is that makes your heart sing and makes you happy. Do that.

I’d love to hear what things you do to be Happier, please include them below in the comments box.