How happy do you feel today? Could you be happier?
Did you know that happiness is a feeling that can be cultivated? This means making a conscious choice to feel happy daily can seriously improve your quality of life. Psychologist Dr Robert Holden, Director of the Happiness Project says, “Nothing in the world can make you happy however everything can encourage you to be happy.” We believe happiness is a choice, so the more choices you make to support being happy, the happier you’ll be!
Try out these tips for cultivating happiness
Think Yourself Happy. Happiness isn’t about having more and more stuff. Did you know that researchers followed people who had won the lottery and found that a year afterward, they were no happier than people who hadn’t?
This suggests that we each have a baseline level of happiness. No matter what happens, good or bad, the effect on our happiness is temporary, and we tend to revert to our baseline level.
Your baseline level of happiness is largely influenced by how you think. Check out your thinking right now. Are your thoughts mostly about what’s not going right in your life? To up your baseline level of happiness start focusing on what is working or what you really appreciate in your life. To see a marked difference in your happiness levels make this a daily practice.
Laugh Yourself Happy. When you lose your sense of humour and the things that you would normally find funny, aren’t, then you know you’re off track and need to get back on.
How much you laugh is a good indicator of how much happiness you’re allowing into your life. Ask yourself, ‘what would my day be like if I made a decision in the morning to have as much fun as possible that day?’ Then make it happen by inviting fun into your day whether that is really engaging with and enjoying what you are doing, calling a fun friend on the phone or watching your favourite comedy on TV. Give yourself permission to see the lighter side of life and take every opportunity to laugh.
Make Yourself Happy. It’s a great idea to include activities into your day that help you to feel good. However, happiness doesn’t always require a certain hobby or friend to make you feel happy. You are completely in charge of how you feel right now. Happiness is within you right now.
Try this out: think about a really happy moment in your life, perhaps a great holiday, your wedding day, your child being born or something completely different. Really absorb yourself in this memory, imagining you’re back there now reliving that moment as if it’s happening right now. Use your senses: what can you see, what can you hear, what can you feel, temperature, smells. Fully immerse yourself in that moment and notice how you feel. Our memories, our imaginations are resources that we can use to tap into our inner well of happiness right now.
If you want help feeling happier in your life, contact us and we would be happy to have a chat and find out how we can help you.
