Happiness
Another practice designed to improve your overall state of well being is to learn how to increase your personal level of happiness. To attract more happiness within your own life, you must first learn how to become happier from within. Your level of personal happiness can be defined as the amount of joy experienced within your life on a daily basis. Personal happiness will vary greatly from person to person, based upon their own definition of the term and their life experiences. But, no matter what your current state of happiness is, you can proactively work to improve it.
One method of improving one’s own happiness is to increase your level of personal activity. Engaging in exercise causes the body to release endorphins. Endorphins cause a state of euphoria, which in turn makes us feel happier. Exercise can include a variety of physical activities, including walking, running, swimming, cycling, yoga, pilates and aerobic classes. Most professionals recommend that individuals engage in 20-30 minutes of physical activity, 3-5 times per week to achieve their optimal level of health.
Another easy change for most people to make is to surround themselves with positive people. People whom we spend the greatest amount of time with on a daily basis also directly impact our emotions and state of well being. Are the people who are closest to you in your own life positive or negative? Are they supportive of you or do you feel emotionally drained when you leave their presence? Consider each person who you spend a great deal of time with daily and while you don’t have to completely remove someone who may appear to be negative, you may want to increase the amount of time that you spend with your friends and family who you consider to be positive. Then, actively seek out others who have the kind of attitude in which you want to display yourself. Taking these actions will improve your level of personal happiness.
“Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves”~ Helen Keller.
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Have you heard about physical work leading to happiness?
Did you know that humble house work can do that for you? Cleaning up your own house or apartment is excellent physical activity, provided you don’t lift heavy things by bending your back. When you see the result of your cleaning efforts, you will be so happy to have it all achieved by yourself.
You will go to bed satisfied of a job well done and you will sleep well.
Don’t think this is a crazy idea…
I had an assistant to help me with most of the hard work in a big house during decades.
Suddenly, living all by myself, I didn’t want any home help any more. So, finally I started to see it as good physical exercise to make me happy with.
One good advice is to do it regularly, so your body gets used to it and slowly builds up strength and mussel again.
You will truly be amazed by the satisfaction and happiness you will gain.
Sometimes,
Hey Gabriele, thanks for your wonderful contribution. Some researches have indicated how house work relieves stress subsequently elevating the mood of the individual. So I quote you here “cleaning up your own house or apartment is excellent physical activity,” TRUE ……. Because Engaging actively in our housework may create endorphin rush to keep us both healthy and happy……
Interesting post. I think happiness comes from finding out what really moves you…what is really your passion….and doing that. And yes, getting rid of toxic people too.
Thanks for visiting and you are right “Happiness comes from finding out what really moves you”. I suppose almost anything can be viewed in multiple ways. Happiness simply is a form of intense joy, how we get there or accomplish this is obviously based on the individual. We all have different beliefs and values which most certainly will govern how we reach our goals.
Fatima-you hit the bullseye again. How many people waste their time trying to find happiness when it’s there all the time inside them, in their actions and their attitude toward life.
Heyyyy Fatimo… wonderful what you’re doing..
happiness is a commodity thats in short supply in this frenetic world.. However in Asia we say happiness is within each of us in abundance.. As long as we dont look for it outside.. in the new car, bigger house, more money, better clothes, latest thingamajig.. When the reference point for happiness is outside us, then it becomes a moving goalpost and we will never achieve.
Keep up the good work.. God bless.
Hi Sunil thanks for reading and your Awesome Contribution
Great post Fatima
I wish there was a class on happiness when I went to school. It has taken me years to realize that I can simply “choose” to be happy by simply changing what I am focusing on. Sometimes at work when I feel my self getting sucked in by all the complaining I hear around me I simply get myself a coffee and take a couple of minutes to think about how fortunate I am to have a good job, a loving family, a nice home and most importantly my health. I believe that there are times we need to be and should be sad… but the key is not to get stuck there. Focusing on all the good things in my life always helps to make me happy.