Happiness: A Way of Life

We All Want to Be Happy

We all want to be happy. In one way or another, we all want to experience happiness and joy through all the events in our lives. Happiness is something we all want to experience. Happiness exists as something we all can experience, and we all can sustain happiness throughout our lives. Being happy and experiencing happiness is the way we all can reach our highest potential for ourselves and the universe.

What does happiness mean? Happiness means experiencing the state of being happy. What does it mean to be happy? To be happy means to show pleasure and contentment. To show it. Not just to experience it, but to show happiness as part of the way we live our lives. One way we can show happiness is to share the fact that we are happy with others.

Sharing gets back to the root for me, for in sharing the inner state we have, we are able to expand on its ability to create change in others. Are we out to change others? Are we out to expand our own horizons, and create happiness everywhere we go? Yes. We all want to be happy. Let's share it.

How to Be Happy

To be happy is more than just putting on a front of a positive attitude toward the experiences and tribulations of life. A positive outlook can and will contribute toward our happiness, but positivity alone cannot make you a happy person.

Happiness must come from within. Happiness is a state of mind. Not a physical state we can just enter into, but a mental state from which we can operate and enjoy life's pleasures and deal with life's troubles.

So how can you be happy? How do we get ourselves into this mental state of happiness? It sounds too simple to be true, but we just create it and enter into it. We decide to be happy, and we make it happen. It takes practice, but that is why we are given the gift of moment to moment living, in order to practice stepping into happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind. We are capable of entering that state of mind at any time. Unfortunately, we forget how simple the formula for happiness is (create happiness, and enter into it) and so start searching for things outside of ourselves in order to make us happy. But really, happiness is within each of us, and is a state of mind we can enter into at any time.

How to Create Happiness (in Others and Yourself)

Can we create a positive emotion or a state of consciousness in others? I think it is possible to encourage a different state of mind in others, but that the person must enter into that state of their own accord. However, by setting the stage for others to be happy, we make it easier for them to step over the threshold of happiness and experience the joy of being.

So how can we set the stage for others to be happy? 

Give

By giving. By giving ourselves to others.

Be Grateful

By being grateful. By being grateful for what others give to us.

Share

By sharing. By sharing what we have to offer with those we love and the world.

Through giving and sharing our own happiness and other positive emotions and experiences, and being grateful for the opportunity to share, give and receive from others, we are able to create more opportunity for happiness in others.

Reaching the Zen(ith) of Happiness (Or How to Smile)

So if happiness is a state of mind, we need to be able to enter that state at will, anytime we like, so that we can be happy at a moment's notice. Ideally we would maintain our happy outlook and demeanor at all times. This is difficult to do. As said before, it takes practice. But to practice it is just as easy as learning to ride a bike. Be happy. Repeat. Just be happy. There is so much that life has to offer all of us, so much that we can do, wouldn't you rather be happy doing it? There is so much opportunity in the world for us to experience happiness, because every single moment holds the secret to our happiness! We don't have to wait for anything to come to us, or until this or that is accomplished, we can choose to be happy now.

What will you choose?

Where will you go to learn more?

For starters, smile!

By smiling, you trick your mind into believing you are happy. A real smile creases the eyes, but a mouth only smile can get you started. Give it a try! Try it with those you love. Try your smile out in public, especially at this time of year.  

Look in the mirror and test out your smile. Then share it with others.

Don't worry. Be happy. Then share it with others.