What truly brings happiness to your life?
Every day we do our best to make a difference. Whether it is doing things for our significant other, spending time with family and friends, putting in extra time at the job to help a coworker. or anything else that fulfills our passions. Happiness ultimately varies from person to person and starts from within. Thinking about our blessings, being grateful for the things we have, instead of being envious of those we don’t, especially when things get tough, can make a difficult situation seem much more manageable. By finding ways to make time for family and surrounding yourself with more positive experiences, happiness will follow.
What Helps People Find Happiness?
We all know that happiness has such a unique meaning depending on who you ask can have such unique meaning depending on who you ask. What makes one person happy can seem pointless or not satisfy someone else. From truly loving someone, to giving your time to others in need, to having a personal activity that brings you joy, these are just a few examples of what could make people happy.
5 Ways that could help you Find Happiness
Looking around and filling a void with materialistic or non-sustainable things may temporarily feel good, but is it happiness?
Happiness is a feeling that comes from within. Not comparing your life to others is one of the 1st steps to your own happiness. Too often if we compare our lives to others, we can end up miserable, rather than finding something that makes us happy. Taking that extra time to show compassion to others. Helping those less fortunate- you may know someone who could use some help with some household or yard work, or a new mom who would really appreciate a hot meal or someone to watch the baby for a little bit, a neighbor who needs a ride to the grocery store, or even something as simple as showing someone you care by spending time with them and actively listening. One way to help with your happiness and others is investing your time in them. The inventory of options is endless, so just reach out, and you won’t be sorry you did. Check this article for making time for you.
Always Count Your Blessings
Sometimes we can get so busy, stressed, or frustrated, and forget the things that we have that make us smile and enjoy life. Let go of the little things when they bother you and remember when they’re important, sometimes the little things are the BIG things. When you look back on things, as we grow older, those little annoyances and disappointments won’t be the things we remember, but the precious time with those closest to us.
Spend Time with Loved Ones
Being with friends and family encourages and increases well-being, safety, and security. In addition, our happiness multiplies through shared experiences and memories.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
If you find yourself in a situation that is stressing you out, try and remember to slow down, step back and think. If you can think about the positive things in your life that make you smile, you can adjust your mindset, and you’ll realize the small stuff is, well, just small stuff.
Find avenues that help you stay calm and relaxed. Go for a walk, do something you truly enjoy.
Keep a Journal.
If you find some idle time or feel the need for some non-verbal expression, find a notebook or journal that you can log your feelings. Don’t feel pressured to note anything specific, just express in writing how you’re feeling at the time. There doesn’t have to be an exact reason for journaling in the moment. When you articulate on paper, how you feel at that moment in time, it will relieve you of the stressors, at least for a bit. Journaling is a self-support system that lets you feel a sort of release.
Speaking of support, if you’re looking for a way to make a difference in someone else’s life—which is another way to make YOU feel better, there’s always one of our biggest passions at Lifeofpretty.com Cards for Our Vets and you can check it out on the front page of our blog as well. We do collections of cards, pictures, or messages to our veterans at the local VA Medical Center to hopefully brighten up their days. Life of Pretty has also added to their collection efforts asking for donations of socks, hats, gloves, T-shirts, blankets, and water bottles to help our homeless as well. Donating belongings, you no longer use or even purchasing new items, knowing you are helping someone in need can make a huge difference in the level of your happiness…being altruistic.
How Else Can You Find Happy?
Do your best to Be More Optimistic! Someone who is pessimistic always finds the negative first, even when there’s positive all around them.
If you ever notice children aren’t just brutally honest, they are almost always smiling and seem happy! Maybe we should step back and be taking some pointers from them.
Look within yourself. Whether it’s through meditation, yoga, exercising or finding something you would like to change about yourself and making the time to create a new way to change it. Whether the makeover you’re looking for is something physical about yourself, or maybe you feel like you should have more patience with everyday things, a hobby you have that you wish you had more time to utilize or find time to start, just do it and then, practice, practice, practice.
Putting Others First
Especially during an unprecedented time like this, encourage people to look at and be happy with what they do have and keep in mind how so many people out there have so much less. Take a few minutes to call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, talk a walk and look at things you normally might take for granted, write a letter (yes, not an email) to a veteran telling them about yourself and thanking them for their service to our country, find activities in your house or things you have been putting off “until tomorrow” and get them done.
Taking Time for You
To put others first and help them, you must put your own self-care, first. Take a few minutes and go for a walk. Schedule out 15-30 minutes and meditate/relax/reflect or whatever you might feel will relax you. Take a shower or a bubble bath. Be sure to get enough sleep. Although it’s altruistic to put others’ needs ahead of your own, you should never sacrifice your own personal health and happiness.
A HUGE shout out to all the military, medical professionals, police and EMT’s and anyone else out there who are dedicating their time and health to keeping all of us safe. Your devotion to helping others does not go unnoticed. Please remember to take care of you too. That is so important. Taking care of yourself gives you the strength and determination to take care of all those you meet each day.
Ways to Stay Motivated
- Practice Daily Gratitude.
- Surround Yourself with Positive People.
- Practice Regular Acts of Kindness.
- Spend More Time with Family and Friends.
- Invest in Experiences, Not Objects.
Three Things That Can Help You Find Your Happiness–
- Something to Do
- Something to Look Forward to
- Someone to Love
Smiling is not only contagious, but it increases happiness. Happiness helps the brain produce dopamine. Want to test it out, the next time you’re feeling low, as hard as it may be, find those people or places that encourage you to smile and bring on the smiles and see what happens!
