Are you happy with your life? Do you find joy in the things that you do? If not, how would you find joy and happiness? And once you find it, do you think you can keep it and be happy all the time?
You can be happy now and all the time. How you might ask. Try this, think back to a time when you were very happy. Think of a moment when you were laughing and having a great time; when you were on holiday, when you were surrounded by friends, watching a movie, listening to your favourite music. Do it now and take your time.
When you reflected on your happy times, how did you feel? Did you notice a change in how you felt? More than likely, the least that happened is you smiled. Well, that's a start. You found something to be happy about in an instant.
Reminiscing on good times makes you feel happy, doesn't it? Imagine if you can expand on that so you may remain joyous and happy all the time. How would you go about sustaining the joyful and happy feelings?
An extremely powerful way is to take control of your thoughts; by actively choosing which thoughts to focus on.
Your moment-by-moment thoughts are absolutely critical to finding joy and happiness. You average 60,000 thoughts a day, and the sad thing is about 90% of these thoughts are negative. If you question this, spend the next three days taking an inventory of your thoughts. Try to include a weekend; for example, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Get a notepad and split a page into two columns; one for the positive thoughts and the next for the negative. Place a tick under the relevant column when you have a positive or negative thought or statement.
On Sunday, add up both columns. When I did this, I was surprised how many negative thoughts I had. Thoughts like, "I can't stand living like this any more. I can't believe what's happening to me. Can it get any worse? I hate this pathetic life."
What powerful statements, wouldn't you agree? With this kind of thinking I will never find joy and happiness. To reverse this I had to do something with my thoughts, and so should you.
To increase your happiness, you must be consistently aware of your moment-by-moment thoughts (as best as you can). When you catch yourself having negative thoughts, switch them to joyful and happy ones.
Prepare a handful of happy thoughts written on a folded piece of paper, and have that in your pocket, purse or any place where you can get to that paper in a moment's notice. Have it ready the moment a negative or unhappy thought crops up.
Remember, what you focus on expands; if you focus on sad, unhappy thoughts, they will increase in your life. So, as best as you can, focus on joyous and happy thoughts. Develop the habit of joyous and happy thinking. Should you face any challenges or difficult situations, the secret is to deal with them, and move on; there is no need to dwell on them.
For you to be joyous and happy, it is imperative to stop the negative thoughts as quickly as possible; preferably immediately before the thought gains strength. Shift those thoughts to happier, fun times.
I have a picture of a comedian hanging on the wall in front of me when I sit at my computer, and I also carry a smaller picture of the comedian in my wallet. The instant I feel down, I look at the comedian's picture. This makes me laugh and my mood instantly changes.
If this idea doesn't work for you, you might choose instead to remember a time when you and a friend were on holiday and you did something really funny, or you might remember a funny movie or a particular scene in a movie that makes you laugh. Perhaps you can remember a time you spent with your children or spouse.
The idea here is to remember any time, any moment, or anything that makes you happy, joyous, smile or even laugh. You might want to let the joyous and happy thoughts gain more strength by going out for a leisurely walk, or calling a friend or spouse or children.
Actions like these shift your focus onto something you enjoy. This way you get a fresh outlook on life; you start to smile more often, you will be enthusiastic to go out more, you will look forward to situations that you previously considered boring.
You will begin to have pleasure in your life and much less pain. If you don't take control of your thoughts you will continue to live the life you do not want.
Why would you allow 80% of your 60,000 thoughts be negative and unfulfilling, bringing you only sadness and unhappiness?
Take control of your thoughts rather than allowing them to control you. Start today by taking more notice of your thoughts. For you to have a meaningful, joyous and happy life, you must have happy meaningful, joyous and happy thoughts. There is no other way.
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