10 Jun How to work out if you’re happier than you even realise!
via Bustle by Brianna Weist
The funny thing about happiness is that it's more about realizing what you have than it is achieving what you don't. Sure, goals are important, and a crucial component of happiness is having something to work toward and look forward to each day. But those things don't bring happiness. Because once we achieve what we set out and work toward, if our focus is on what we still don't have, that's all we'll feel.
In the words of Jim Carrey: “I hope everybody could get rich and famous and will have everything they ever dreamed of, so they will know that it's not the answer.” The answer, of course, is awareness and gratitude and reverence for what is. For whatever is.
This is hard to maneuver most of the time. We're basically hardwired to seek out problems and then try to resolve them. This is what has kept our species going for so long. This isn't something you can psych hack your way out of. Pain isn't something you can opt out of, but suffering is, and it's usually a simple matter of refining your ability to be grateful.
If you were to take a good, cold, hard look at your life, you would probably find that you are happier than you realize. Sounds insane, but it's true. And it's one of the most wonderful and heartbreaking realizations you can have (firstly because you see you have all you really want and need; secondly because you realize you weren't being grateful for it all this time). So here, a few ways to determine that you're actually happier than you think you are:
There Is At Least One Thing That Excites You About Your Day
Whether it's your pet, or an aspect of your job, or the place you live, or the fact that you're still healthy and functioning doesn't matter. The point is that you can determine at least one thing that you become excited for each day.
You Feel Happy Each Day, Even If It's Just Fleeting
You experience the feeling of happiness about something – anything – even for a minute each day.
You Have Something To Hope For
Even if it seems far-fetched or impossible or like it will take a lot of dumb luck to achieve, you at least have something that you wish for yourself (a relationship, a home, a job opportunity, etc.)…
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