|
We seek happiness practically everyday
of our lives. Despite our efforts, many of us are not happy.
Everyone's life is spent in pursuit of happiness. We become too busy
and preoccupied, working to ensure that our future will be secured
and happy. We tend to let days, months, and even years slip by
without realizing that "time is gold."
It's fine to work towards future goals, but don't
forget that today will never come again. We only have twenty-four
hours to enjoy it so we should take every opportunity to make
ourselves happy, including the people we love.
How many
minutes, hours and days have we spent being happy from within?
Those are the only moments we have really lived life. Perhaps, we
were just kids then when we were completely happy and worry-free, or
there were few moments when we were doing something we really love
and enjoy.
Live in the Present
Moment
"Happiness is a journey, not a
destination; happiness is to be found along the way not at the end
of the road, for then the journey is over and it's too late. The
time for happiness is today not tomorrow," said Paul
Dunn.
Many of us spend much of our lives
worrying about the future and a number of things – all at the same
time. We allow past problems and future concerns to dominate our
present moments, so much so that we end up feeling frustrated and
depressed.
When our attention is in the present moment,
we push away fear from our minds. Fear is the concern over events
that might happen in the future. To overcome fear, the best
strategy is to learn to bring our attention back to the
present. We must practice keeping our attention on the
present. Surely, our efforts will pay off in the
end.
Live in the moment with joy, alertness,
awareness, and compassion. The thought of being like a
child again is exhilarating. This stems from being free and feeling
at home with everybody. This emanates from living without barriers,
judgments, and worries about what others might
think.
Whatever they think, it's their opinion and
isn't permanent. Keep in mind those opinions change all the time.
Worrying takes a toll on the body and mind. It's like a wind
that takes us away from ourselves. Worrying leads only to fear and
can paralyze us from taking appropriate actions.
We
free our minds from worries by relaxing and doing some breathing
exercises. A simple breathing exercise consists of inhaling deep
breath through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Do this
three times consecutively. This will help put our minds at ease and
has a calming effect. By doing this on regular intervals, we'll then
find so much peace and harmony around. Remember that the art of
living lies in living at the present moment.
Fill with
Love
Many of us aspire to live a life filled with
love. For this to happen, the effort must start from us. Rather than
waiting for other people to provide the love we desire, we must be
the source of love ourselves. Our attitude, choices, acts of
kindness, and willingness to be the first to reach out, will take us
towards this goal. By converting our hearts to fountains of love, we
are taking an important step in getting the love we desire. We will
also discover that the more love we give, the more we'll
receive.
Realize the Power of Our
Own Thoughts
 It's very important that we realize the relationship
between our thoughts and the way we feel. Did you know that we're
constantly thinking? Take breathing for example. Unless we feel that
we're running out of breath, we simply forget that we breathe
automatically.
Thinking works the same way. Since we're
always doing it, it's easy to forget it's happening. To think
is to create. Everything starts in the mind. What precedes the
feeling of anger? Angry thoughts precede anger. Have you tried
getting angry without having angry thoughts first? Try feeling sad
without sad thoughts. It's impossible!
In order to experience
a feeling, we must first have the thought that induces that feeling.
Happiness can't exist alone. It's the result of positive thinking.
This simple awareness is the first step in putting us back on the
path towards happiness.
We should never underestimate
the power of a simple thought. It may seem so innocent and
fleeting; yet, it has energy that can cause great impact on our
mind, body, and emotions.
Let's think of a lemon. Imagine
cutting it in half and smelling it. Now, imagine squeezing the juice
from the lemon into your mouth and feel those pulp bits bursting
inside your mouth. Most of us will surely feel our salivary glands
responding to the thought of lemon.
Indeed, what we're
thinking can greatly influence our emotions. Think of someone you
love. What do you feel? Now think of someone you hate. What do you
feel? We do not have to change our emotions consciously – just
change our thoughts and our emotions will immediately
follow.
Notice that when we focus ours mind on positive
things, we feel better, whereas when our thoughts are focused on the
negative, we feel bad. Positive thoughts yield positive results.
These thoughts make us more loving and caring, resulting to good
health, wealth, and happiness. On the other hand, negative thoughts
produce negative results. These types of thoughts result to
indifference, disease, fear and misery, etc. In other words, our
thoughts create our reality.
Fourth key to happiness:
Happy feelings are results of happy thoughts.
|
