Keys to Living a Happier Life

 

Keys to Living a Happier Life

There are ten keys to living a happier life even though everyone’s path to life is different, the key elements are the same. Happiness is a fine balance between how you live your life in the social world and that of the personal goals you set for yourself. Here they are:

1)      Awareness: 

We all believe there is more to life than what we are experiencing. Once we learn to be more aware of our surroundings, we begin to realize that there is more to life then what we see through colored glasses. Being more alert and aware of our surrounds means seeing people around us and our relationships to those people. Once we are aware of our surroundings and the people in our direct line of awareness, our feelings can become attuned to other things, love, like, dislike, empathy, sadness, and most importantly, we can obtain more out of our daily life.

2)      Charity:

They say charity begins at home, well in the scope of living a happier life this is very true. However, caring for others that are not your family is extremely charitable and the right thing to do in life. When one is charitable, they can not only connect with the community at large but also broaden their outreach to other relationships that can enhance their connection to a broader network that can help them perform other charitable endeavors inside and out of their community. These new connections bring a brighter light to the essential course of happiness in their life.

3)      Connection to people

Relationships are the greatest joy one can have in life. Those who have relationships that are strong and broad tend to be happier and healthier in life. Although they might have close relationships with family members, friends and acquaintances can fill the void of loneliness and provide a sense of support and produce a sense of self-worth other relationships can’t provide. By strengthening relationships and creating new ones, is both essential and necessary for a happier life.

4)      Self-care

When we are physically active we are happier both in body and mind, as the two are interictally connected.  Activity creates a better mood and lifts us out of any possible depression we might fall into over inactive periods in our lives. I’m not talking about running around a track at high speed, but rather just doing something we enjoy. Taking care of errands or just doing laundry or cleaning the house is the activity we should all be doing.  Taking care of ourselves by unplugging is also critical, getting out of the house even to walk to the mailbox is important. Getting enough sleep each night is also critical. When we take care of ourselves, we can better take care of those around us. 

5)      Learning New Things

When we are curious about things we don’t know or have experienced, we tend to produce a yearning to learn about those things. When we learn, we increase our capacity to engage our minds and spirit that eventually boosts our self-confidence and flexibility in how we think and critique things in life – it’s called critical thinking. When we use our minds for critical thinking, we enhance our well-being and have the ability to teach others what we’ve learned.

6)      Goals

Having goals for the future can bring joy to one’s life and bring about important feelings that can make one happy. Coupled with learning new things, goals are what challenge us to do better each day. Goals make us wake up in the morning and succeed each day too. Having ambitions with realistic goals for the future can provide our life a sense of direction and purpose. Once we achieve a goal it gives us a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment of achieving something to help us become better at our jobs, in our lives, and in careers.

7)      Resilience

Any type of trauma, whether it be from Failure or loss in our lives can cause stress. Not that we can choose what type of stress befalls us, but we can choose which attitude we allow to fester depression or happiness. I say happiness must always be the choice because a depressive state of well-being always causes our emotions to fly off the handle and hit the walls around us. When we allow depression to take hold of our emotions, we deprive ourselves of the ability to succeed and thrive.

8)      Positive Emotions

Positive emotions are the key element to being happy. It doesn’t matter if we feel joy, gratitude, or pride, these three things create contentment and inspiration in the long run. If we want to feel an upward spiral of emotions, we must learn to accept who we are, as Oliver Cromwell once said to his artist painting his portrait, paint me “warts and all”. So commit yourself to what life throws at you and focus on the good in all situations and keep your emotions in check so as to not cause yourself further trauma and a sense of loss, but a sense of gratitude that you are alive and able to rebound from whatever is in front of you. Adapt and overcome all adversities with positive emotions and outlook.

9)      Comfort Zone

To be happy one must be accepted or have their comfort zone to which we compare ourselves to those around us. We look for our failings and compare them to the failings of others. We believe that if we see fault in others and not see them in ourselves, we can truly be happy. That is completely wrong and absolutely absurd. God teaches us to accept our own failings, strive to be better individuals in order to increase our happiness and enjoyment in life and accept others for who they are, and not judge them for their failings. If we cannot leave our comfort zone and see who we are and see others for who they are and accept them as such, we cannot be truly happy. Nor can we see the bigger picture or scope of what our lives are meant to be.

10)   Part of Something bigger

Notwithstanding everything I’ve written above, the bottom line is simple, you are part of something bigger in reality – it’s called Life. Every experience you endure, every stressful anxiety you encountered, and every encounter you’ve experienced means you have experienced life and learned from your mistakes. Being a part of something bigger also means you have connected with your inner self and learned to be a better person.  Enjoy it and be one with the world, live this life to the fullest, learn as much as you can about literature, history, science, philosophy, travel, food, and the world at large. You will be much happier if you do. Turn that negative into a positive and enjoy the experience while trying new things, and most of all check off those things on your bucket list.

Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a life coach who has endured a life of being a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, journalist. business professional, and creative artist. Ms. Kilbride holds a Masters in Criminology and a BS in Business Management who stepped out of the loop for a while, but who is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy.