Posted By: Nichol Chukwuemeka
One shortcut to happiness emanates from knowing that we have done something good and right – Isn’t that simple?
Observe yourself. What did
you feel when you have learned new skills? How about when you were able
to touch someone through
your generosity and kindness? How do you feel
when you have done something heroic? What do you feel when you have
done something
that you truly love and enjoy?
The deep feelings of satisfaction, contentment, pride, fulfillment, and joy are some of the emotions which lead to lasting
happiness.
We seek happiness
practically every day of our lives. Despite our efforts, many of us are
not happy. Everyone’s life is spent
in pursuit of happiness. We become too busy
and preoccupied, working to ensure that our future will be secured and
happy.
We tend to let days, months, and even years
slip by without realizing that “time is gold.”
It is fine to work towards
future goals, but do not forget that today will never come again. We
only have twenty-four hours
to enjoy it so we should take every
opportunity to make ourselves happy, including the people we love.
How many minutes,
hours, and days have we spent being happy from within? Those are the
only moments we have really
lived life. Perhaps, we were just kids then
when we were completely happy and worry-free, or there were few moments
when we
were doing something we really love and
enjoy.
Live In The Present Moment
“Happiness is a
journey, not a destination; happiness is to be found along the way not
at the end of the road,
for then the journey is over and it's too
late. The time for happiness is today not tomorrow," said Paul Dunn.
Many of us spend much of our
lives worrying about the future and a number of things – all at the
same time. We allow past
problems and future concerns to dominate our
present moments, so much so that we end up feeling frustrated and
depressed.
When our attention is in the
present moment, we push away fear from our minds. Fear is the concern
over events that might
happen in the future. To overcome fear, the
best strategy is to learn to bring our attention back to the present. We
must
practice keeping our attention on the
present. Surely, our efforts will pay off in the end.
Live in the moment with joy,
alertness, awareness, and compassion. The thought of being like a child
again is exhilarating.
This stems from being free and feeling at
home with everybody. This emanates from living without barriers,
judgments, and
worries about what others might think.
Whatever they think, it is
their opinion and is NOT PERMANENT. Keep in mind those opinions change
all the time. Worrying takes
a lot of toll on the body and mind. It is
like a wind that takes us away from ourselves. Worrying leads only to
fear and can
paralyze us from taking appropriate actions.
We free our minds from
worries by relaxing and doing some breathing exercises. A simple
breathing exercise consists of inhaling
deep breath through the nose and exhaling
through the mouth. Do this three times consecutively. This will help put
our minds
at ease and has a calming effect. By doing
this on regular intervals, we will then find so much peace and harmony
around.
Remember that the art of living lies in
living at the present moment.
Fill With Love
Many of us aspire
to live a life filled with love. For this to happen, the effort must
start from us. Rather than
waiting for other people to provide the love
we desire, we must be the source of love ourselves. Our attitude,
choices, acts
of kindness, and willingness to be the first
to reach out, will take us towards this goal. By converting our hearts
to fountains
of love, we are taking an important step in
getting the love we desire. We will also discover that the more love we
give,
the more we will receive.
Realize The Power Of Our Own Thoughts
It is very
important that we realize the relationship between our thoughts and the
way we feel. Did you know that
we are constantly thinking? Take breathing
for example. Unless we feel that we are running out of breath, we simply
forget
that we breathe automatically.
Thinking works the same way.
Since we are always doing it, it is easy to forget that it is
happening. To think is to create.
Everything starts in the mind. What precedes
the feeling of anger? Angry thoughts precede anger. Have you tried
getting angry
without having angry thoughts first? Try
feeling sad without sad thoughts. It is impossible!
In order to experience a
feeling, we must first have the thought that induces that feeling.
Happiness cannot exist alone.
It is the result of positive thinking. This
simple awareness is the first step in putting us back on the path
towards happiness.
We should never underestimate the power of a simple thought. It may seem so innocent and fleeting; yet, it has energy
that can cause great impact on our mind, body, and emotions.
Let us think of a lemon.
Imagine cutting it in half and smelling it. Now, imagine squeezing the
juice from the lemon into
your mouth and feel those pulp bits bursting
inside your mouth. Most of us will surely feel our salivary glands
responding
to the thought of lemon.
Indeed, what we are thinking
can greatly influence our emotions. Think of someone you love. What do
you feel? Now think of
someone you hate. What do you feel? We do not
have to change our emotions consciously – just change our thoughts and
our emotions
will immediately follow.
Notice that when we focus
our mind on positive things, we feel better, whereas when our thoughts
are focused on the negative,
we feel bad. Positive thoughts yield positive
results. These thoughts make us more loving and caring, resulting to
good health,
wealth, and happiness. On the other hand,
negative thoughts produce negative results. These types of thoughts
result to indifference,
disease, fear and misery, etc. In other
words, our thoughts create our reality.
Fourth key to happiness: Happy feelings are results of happy thoughts.
