How to Do It
Everyone is going to have different triggers but everyone has them.Although each person will have different happiness triggers, everyone has them. No matter your taste, personality, interests or background, there is something in life that makes you smile. Find those things. For that matter,To make it easier to keep them in mind, make a list of those things.
Here is a portion of the author's list:
- Flowers in bloom, being in nature, gardening
- Stupid humor and the laughter it provokes
- Stroking cats and watching wild animals
- Reading good books
There are no right or wrong activities rules dictating how your list should be populated, and there is no minimum quantity of happiness triggers, though more is better. Carry this list with you, as you will no doubt find people, places and events to add to it constantly.
The creation of this list will do two things for you. First, it will no doubt improve your mood and outlook automatically as you give your focus to things and people you enjoy. Just the act of listing these things will lighten your spirit. Second, you will easily be able to refer back to this list in troubled times. Once you have your list, go out of your way to treat yourself to something on it. Buy a new book, call an old friend, have a glass of your favorite wine and really savour it; whatever you choose, give it your full attention and notice the sensations that come of it.
From that point on whenever you feel stress, anxiety, or any other sensation that keeps you from feeling your optimal (and happy) self, refer back to your list. You may not be in a position to immediately take advantage of anything on it at that precise moment, but remember how creating it made you feel lighter? Giving your full attention back to any or all of your happiness triggers, even if just for a few moments, will release tension. One cannot simultaneously feel badly and think good thoughts so if you really dedicate yourself to remembering why those items are on your list, your mood will improve and you will thereby be better equipped to deal with whatever it was causing you stress in the first place!
Why it's Important and What You Can Expect
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to happiness. The obvious reasoning in pursuing a more positive outlook is implied in the previous sentence; when your mood is good, your stress (or anger or disappointment or whatever) is automatically lowered. There are a number of benefits to this including improved clarity and judgment, reduced heart rate, which carries with its countless health benefits, and the ability to see new solutions that perhaps weren't apparent previously.
The "more" part is this: happiness attracts happiness. Consider someone you may have known who carried a bleak outlook. Chances are high that person did not have a lot of cheerful friends but rather attracted more of the same downtrodden personalities and that clique group undoubtedly fed one another's unhappiness. By the same token, a lighthearted person attracts more of the same, thereby boosting the energy of the group. Often, without intention, you can cause happy people to gravitate toward you by exuding your own happiness. In the same way it will also becomes easier to be happy because, as you give appreciation to the positive things you think and feel, you will notice an increase in the number of things that make you feel that way. It's that easy, and it's powerful.
Additionally, finding strength in a new, more positive outlook, you will transfer this energy to those around you. Again, because it is impossible to feel good and think bad and vice versa, the higher energy you emit when in a positive frame of mind will lift the energies of those in your company, too. Relationships can be healed, tensions dissipated, and arguments ended, by the sheer nature of this simple shift in attitude on the part of one person.
This cycle can be considered as one of the ways to heal our planet, put an end to wars, improve our relationships and stop destructive behaviors around us. And if these are not enough, consider this; at the root of it all, doesn't everyone simply want to be happy?
