How to Cultivate Happiness in Your Life
When we hear the term “cultivating happiness,” it may appear to be a straightforward process of identifying what makes us happy and doing more of it. However, if you’ve attempted this before and failed, you’ve probably discovered that it’s not as simple as it appears. However, if you take these actions to make things easier on yourself in the future, you may still nurture happiness in your life.
What Are The Keys To A Happy Life?
More than 70 years of research into happiness shows that there are a number of crucial keys to being happy. These include keeping a positive outlook, having good relationships with friends and family, being generous, eating well, and exercising regularly. Meditation has also been found by some studies to increase happiness as well as having a purpose. The list goes on but most importantly remember you can’t be happy if you’re always seeking external rewards and don’t appreciate what you already have in your life at any given moment it will cause your mind to focus on things outside yourself that are where true satisfaction lies.
Cultivate Happiness by Taking Time Out For Yourself
Simply failing to take time for oneself is one of the leading causes of unhappiness. It’s easy to become engrossed in your profession and forget that you’re not doing it only for the money. Just like partners need time apart from one another to avoid burning out, you require personal time to avoid burning out in life. Take at least two weeks off every year to reconnect with what makes you happy and recall why your company exists in the first place: because you like doing it!
Learn To Forgive
There is a reason why forgiveness is one of those life skills we learn early on—it may just be our most important. It can help us heal from trauma and painful experiences, live a healthier lifestyle, build better relationships with others, find greater happiness and fulfillment and even improve our brain function. For example, practicing forgiveness has been shown to actually change your brain for the better; after an experiment where subjects were asked not only to remember but also try forgiving people who had wronged them, MRI scans revealed that subjects had changes in two areas of their brain: The ventral anterior cingulate cortex (associated with empathy), and left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (responsible for positive emotions). Forgiveness literally makes you more compassionate toward yourself and others.
Don’t Give Up on Love
When things don’t go as planned, some individuals give up on love. They believe there is no purpose in pursuing a relationship again. They may, however, discover afterward that they squandered time by being alone. Don’t give up on something important to you just because it doesn’t work out immediately. Remember, it takes time to nourish your emotional life.
Laugh At Yourself And Others
Research has found that laughing at yourself can reduce tension, and make you more approachable. When people are able to poke fun at themselves, it brings them closer together. This leads us into something a bit easier to achieve; let others laugh with you. Put a self-deprecating comment on your Facebook page or tweet a joke about your most recent oops. Friends and family will be delighted to reply with their own chuckles… and perhaps even a story or two of their own!
Don’t Let Fear Control You
When it comes to fostering happiness, it’s critical not to allow fear to rule your life. Many people are never truly happy because they allow fear to hold them back from living life. If you’re one of these folks, it’s critical that you get rid of any signs of dread as soon as possible. It will take some time, but your future will be a lot brighter and better once you do.
Cultivate Happiness in Your Life…
Remember that real happiness lies within finding what works best for you and making time and space for it in your life. Everything else will fall into place after you have figured out how to nurture happiness.
Additional Resource: Happiness Starts With You Course
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