Who doesn’t want to be happy? We all do. This doesn’t mean we all are happy though, and one of the reasons for this is because we’re not used to being happy in the present, instead living with hopes to be really happy some time in the future.
No matter how healthy, good looking, successful and rich you are, you still feel the need to push a bit harder, postpone your happiness by a bit more, just to be really happy some other day. This being a human nature, we keep pushing our happy days forward again and again, as if our time in this life has no limits. Well, it does. And before it’s too late, take time to be happy right here and right now.
Here’s how!
Smile
Too simple for a happiness recipy? Try it, then ask yourself again!
You see, the physiology of smiling is such that no matter how depressed you are, just forcing yourself to smile for 15-30 seconds is guaranteed to make you feel a bit better.
If you’re not used to smiling, it’s going to take some practice, but the longer you keep forcing your smile, the easier and more natural your smiling will get.
Start slow and train yourself to smile for just few seconds every day. If it feels like the worst moment of your day and you can allow yourself a few minutes alone, go somewhere and force yourself to smile.
Don’t think about it! Don’t try to make your problems seem less important than they are. There is no need to analyze anything. Just smile. It’s a physical thing – smile and look out for the signs of feeling better.
Be Thankful
Now that you’re smiling, it’s time to learn another very effective way to immediately feel happy: being thankful.
We all have so much to be thankful for, yet the routine of our days make us take it all for granted. There’s so much going on that we simply do not have the time to be thankful anymore.
If something happens in a favorable way, we simply move on as if this had absolutely no way of going wrong. We jump right at the next challenge, tackle the next task and spend our days repeatedly ignoring all the lucky moments and positive changes we should be so thankful for.
Every day, there are many things to be thankful for. Make it your new habit to notice these things and be grateful.
One of the easiest ways to be thankful is to turn your attention to your family. These are the people you love most, and they are the ones who love you back and care so much about you. Yet, they are usually to get the least of your attention when it comes to being thankful.
You get so used to having a family that you don’t notice the magic of being needed and loved anymore. You think they’re going to be right beside you forever, and you somehow know you’ll always get the chance to show them how much you care and to thank them if you want to. Well, don’t you think it’s about time you actually do it?
If it’s been a while since you thanked your wife or husband for just being who they are, for loving you or for doing so much for your kids, they will probably laugh at you in disbelief. It’s going to take a while for them to understand that you are serious and truly thankful. But once they do, you’ll be amazed how much better it will make you all feel.
Learn To Forgive
Whether you’re angry at someone you used to be friends with, or simply mad at yourself for doing or not doing something, and especially if it’s a close relative of yours which you can’t seem to talk to anymore – learn how to forgive.
The sooner to forgive, the quicker you will break free from anger, hatred and every other negative emotion which controls you when you have a bad feeling towards someone or something.
One of the most important things to understand about forgiveness is that you do it not for the person you’re trying to forgive, but for yourself. Forgiving someone means letting this person be himself or herself, and leaving in the past all your negative feelings towards this person.
Quite often, the person you’re angry with is not even aware there’s still something left unsaid or undone between the two of you. This person has since moved on to a different life, and is focused on new challenges and positive changes they bring. By still feeling angry and not forgiving this person, you’re making it harder for yourself and yourself only.
Even if you’re the kindest person, there are still going to be people and things you will need to forgive. Take the time to do this, and enjoy feeling better about these people and about yourself.
That’s it – here you have the three wonderfully simple ways for you to be happy here and now. Don’t leave any of these steps for some later time. It’s going to take you a few seconds to get started, and you will immediately feel the results. Your happiness is in your own hands, so take the action now and be happy!
Brilliant tips, Gleb! They are simple but deal with unhappiness very well.
Thanks for stopping by, Donald! Our way to happiness shouldn’t be harder that it already is ;)
Simple and to the point, I really appreciated this short article. Happiness does not need to be complicated or made to live somewhere far away.
Thank you for the reminders,
Jonathan Wells
Simple, concise and definitely worth looking into.It might be true that at times we get ourselves caught up with so many things that we tend to ignore some essential things that can truly make us happy. Perhaps happiness is not as complicated as we thought it is – just a smile, forgiveness and gratitude would make all the difference.
A very informative article. We shoud try this simple tips to be happy!
so from now we have to smile ,say thank you and sorry more often….
You don’t have to, but I hope I’ve shown how doing more of these things could really help.
Have a great day!
Nice article :)
I’m a bit depressed at the moment, and this article actually made me smile ;)
Smile is a good start, Kevin!
Again, Great Tips, Everyone in life has the choice to be happy, and everyone on Earth deserves to be happy, so lets all just try out the tips provided here and I’m sure it would be a much more plesant world!
Thanks for your support, Sharon!
It’s sounds so simple yet we all struggle with this
I think it’s easier to be happy if your doing something
you love. I often notice that people who are the happiest
often have very little and I think it’s because they are grateful
for that which they have and realise that there is alot more
people out there who are worse off.
Adam
YourDreamStartsNow
It’s much easier to be happy when you do what you love and see the benefits it gives to others
Gratitude particularly I think is a very underrated concept. The more you say “thank you” in your head, for the sun, the wind, people smiling, pretty much anything, the more you notice how silly you are to worry :)
Thanks for a wonderful comment, Andrew!
Even when ‘bad’ things happen, remember that it is your RESPONCE to the event that creates the outcome you experience. Choosing to be joyful, or look on the bright side, or the wonderful suggestion Gleb had to be grateful will lead to happiness.
Thanks for your comment, Katie! Indeed, happiness is always our choice.
So true! Happiness may not be as complicated as it seems. You must be enthusiastic about what you are doing today and appreciate the things you already have. Thanks!
Cory
Happiness isn’t complicated at all for me – I’m either happy, or really happy! Simple, isn’t it? :)
Love your blog. Wish I’d found it sooner.
Smiling, being in the now and feeling gratitude seem to be more easily seen in certain cultures. I live in a small community and am used to smiling at passers-by and seeing a smile in return. When I took this attitude with me to London and tried it on the tube everyone ducked their heads and acted as if I was mad! Contrast that with a place like Thailand where everyone smiles, and displays gratitude for their lot. It seems that the less material things one has the more gratitude one feels. As you say in your blog, the act of focusing on whatever we are doing to try to have “more” tomorrow has the side effect of postponing the happiness we could be enjoying right now.
it is a nice remember, i am really having a hard time to have a smiling face. Yeah, it’s really hard, but am slowly learning it now so that i would not feel exhausted for a whole day work.. smile,be thankful and forgive i really need to do it everyday!!
Hmmm, if only I could convince my partner to apply some of these techniques.
Thanks for the simply elegant reminders. I just realized today that it really is about staying present to each moment in gratitude for our lives and holding a dream for what really want out of our lives. Using your examples will help us to do just that… the past is whole and complete! The present is all there really is and the future is our hope for an even better tomorrow!