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What is Happiness?

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling such as contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. The truth is that everyone wants to be happy. Researchers on human happiness have proven that people who are satisfied in areas of their lives such as family, friends, wealth, health etc. are generally happier that those who are not. However, lifestyle features such as these do not fully determine one's level of happiness. The other factor is none other than one's attitude towards life. So, even if you are not satisfied with these aspects of your life, you can still be happy! This is what this article is about, teaching you to be happy!

Why being happy is important?
Why don't we first think about why being sad is such a bad thing?What is so wrong about being down and out all the time?Firstly, seeing only the negative aspects of life can cause you to miss opportunities or neglect problems that need to be solved. This impedes you from taking action that would have improved your quality of life. Pessimism causes us to feel out of control and that failure in life is caused by bad luck or genetic incompetency. Optimism, on the other hand, allows us to believe that we are the masters of our fate, rather than the victims of circumstance. Hence, optimism allows us to see difficulties and obstacles as a challenge rather than a threat, enabling us to come up with better and more appropriate solutions for our problems. This would in turn help us to live fuller and more meaningful lives. Also, happier people are generally mentally and physically healthier. The following pointers can and will help you to become happier. This is provided that you are optimistic enough to take the first step in trusting these solutions and not think that it is too hard to change your perspectives!

How to be happy?
1) Stop blaming everyone and everything else!
Do away with the thought that the whole world is working against you and that you are always being treated unfairly or that you are always the unlucky one in any situation. If it rains while you are on the way home, consider the other people who rushing to get out of the open. If you fail in an exam or get fired from work, do not forget the tens, hundreds and thousands of others who are going through the same thing. Believing someone up there has singled you out and shifted the world order just to make your life miserable is both self-centered and illogical. Life has its ups and downs, stop thinking that you've only got the bad and no good at all.

2) Change your mindset!
Every cloud has a silver lining, always remember that bad experiences mould your character. Learning how to handle the obstacles in life in a mature manner would help you to build up a strong and resilient character. Instead of thinking of difficulties as problems, why not think of them as challenges?

3) Don't compare yourself to others
Every cloud has a silver lining. Sure! there will always be someone better looking, richer or smarter than you. But focusing on the things that you don't have only causes you to take the things that you have for granted!

4) Be thankful!
Everyone has something to be grateful for. Make a list of the good things that have happened to you. Are you thinking that your list is fairly short? In that case, You are not trying hard enough! Simply being able to afford the computer in front of you or having the freedom to surf the net and stumble across this page is already a blessing. Being alive this very second is something that alot of people no longer have the opportunity to do. Having loving relatives, friends or even pets are things that we often take for granted. Apart from keeping these thoughts in mind, the key to being an optimist is recognizing the benefits and possibilities of any situation, and understanding that it could always be worse. Get a piece of paper and write down all the good things that you have. If you are too lazy to do so, at least take the time to run through these thoughts through your head and remember how much you actually have. So, remember to thank God for each new day that he gives you!

5) Get rid of pessimism
Understand that pessimism is attributed to a set of past experiences that leave a lasting impression on us. Long-lasting negativity can often be related to childhood experiences and these cause us to make presumptions about how the world functions. If all you saw as a kid were disappointments and failure, it's inevitable that what you expect from the world as an adult is filled with negativity. Recognise that your past experiences is not unlikely to repeat itself as circumstances are always changing. Also, tell yourself that you are likely to be paranoid and think that your past failures will haunt you once again. Think positive, remember that every day is a new day!

6) Be positive!
Stop concentrating on what has happened to you, instead, think of what you can do about it. You do not have to be a victim of your circumstances. If you're not happy with the way your life is now, set targets that will allow you to feel better. Use your past negative experiences to build character and make better decisions, instead of letting pessimism turn you into someone who avoids taking risk. Most of the time, it is necessary to take risks to gain something. It is better to play and lose rather than not play to avoid losing. At the end of your life, you will be more troubled about the things that you did not do rather than the things that you
failed in.

7) Use positive personal quotes!
Write down short statements that remind you about the positive mindset that you are adopting towards your life. Put them in places where you'll see them every day, such as on the bathroom mirror, door, computer etc.

- I'm feeling like shit right now but i know it can't get any worse!
- Don't worry be happy!
- Everyday is a new day!
- Thank God I'm alive!

8) Focus on lasting happiness
Apart from basic survival, almost everything that people do in life is actually aimed at achieving happiness. If you have planned on achieving lasting happiness solely by trying to get rich or enjoying materialistic pleasures, be sure that these pleasures are not everlasting. The recent economic crisis which forced many well-respected businessmen, bankers and normal working-class citizens to resort to suicide due to their inability to cope with financial loses gives us more than enough evidence to believe that building one's life around material comforts and wealth is not wise at all.

Building strong ties amongst relatives and friends adds more meaning to your life than wealth does. Apart from this, believing in God can bring you a unique sense of joy that can be found nowhere else on this planet. God is my companion through good and bad times. Unlike everything else in life, God will always be there for us from the beginning to the end and he will never forsake us. Also, God cleanses us of all our emotional baggage and gives us a new reason to live. I strongly believe that placing my faith in God rather than in money alone is the wisest decision that I have ever made.