1. Ideal circumstances.
The happiest people do not live with a
certain set of circumstances, but rather with
a certain set of attitudes. Choosing to be
positive and grateful for what you have now
is going to determine how you’re going to live
the rest of your life. So look for something
positive about today. Even if you have to
look a little harder than usual, it still exists.
Ultimately, your greatest achievements are
moments in time when what you’re doing
allows you to see how wonderful your life
already is.
2. Everyone’s approval.
The biggest prison you will likely ever live in
is your fear of what other people think.
You cannot let other people tell you who you
are or what you want. You have to decide
that for yourself. When you’re making big
decisions, remember, what you think of
yourself and your life is more important
than what people think of you. Don’t let
others make you feel guilty for living your
life. It’s YOUR life. As long as you’re not
hurting anyone else, live it YOUR way.
Fulfillment and success in life lie in your
ability to use your entire mind to achieve
your goals, dreams and desires. Take
sufficient time to spend with yourself,
without external interference. You’re worth
it. (Angel and I discuss this in more detail
in the “Self-Love” chapter of 1,000 Little
Things Happy, Successful People Do
Differently.)
3. A perfect past.
Do not let the shadows of your past darken
the doorstep of your present and future.
Let go, forgive and move forward. Just
because the past didn’t turn out like you
had hoped, doesn’t mean your future can’t
be better than you had envisioned. In fact,
we often grow stronger in the places we were
once broken. Because it’s not until you’re
broken for a while that you truly learn what
you’re made of on the inside. And this
insight gives you the ability to rebuild
yourself, stronger than ever before.
Most of the time the only difference
between long-term happiness and long-
term despair is not quitting on yourself. As
long as you are breathing it’s never too late.
Today is a new beginning.
4. Full control of life’s constant changes.
Life is constantly changing and we’re
changing with it. We’re not the same person
we were a year ago, a month ago, or a week
ago. Life’s cycle doesn’t stop. Change is
what it’s all about. But every ending is the
beginning of something else. Every exit is an
entry somewhere else. Live, learn, and let
go. Don’t hold yourself down with the
changes you can’t control.
Although some forces are out of your
control, you can control how you react to
things. Everyone’s life has positive and
negative aspects – whether you’re happy or
not depends greatly on which aspects you
focus on. The best thing you can do is to let
go of what you can’t control, and invest
your energy in the things you can. Live
simply, love generously, speak truthfully,
breathe deeply, do your best, and leave the
rest to the powers above you. (Read The
Road Less Traveled.)
5. A carefree, stress-free life.
Great challenges make life interesting;
overcoming them makes life meaningful.
Don’t wait until everything is just right; it
will never be perfect. There will always be
challenges, obstacles and less than perfect
conditions. So what! Get started now! With
each step you take, you will grow stronger
and stronger, more skilled, more confident,
and more successful.
Say it: “I am determined to live a happy life
no matter my challenges! I will turn all my
tales of fury into tales of glory! I will turn
all of my tales of woe into tales of WOW!”
And no matter what happens, just do your
best and appreciate what you’re learning.
You won’t enjoy your life if you don’t enjoy
your challenges.
6. All the things you don’t have.
You are right here, right now, with what you
have, breathing. Enjoy it. You’ve got
nothing to do today except to smile.
Happiness is valuing what you have, and
enjoying the people, places, objects and
events in your life for what they are. It’s
not about changing and achieving all the
time; sometimes it’s about being and
appreciating. And you can nearly always
enjoy the things you have and the events
happening around you if you make up your
mind firmly that you will.
7. A mountain of money.
If we counted our blessings more often,
instead of our money, we would be a lot
richer. Keep money on your mind but out of
your heart. Never get so busy making a living
that you forget to make a life for yourself.
Cultivate your spiritual growth. The real
measure of your wealth is how much you’d be
worth if you lost all your money.
Happiness formula = Do your best and
appreciate what you have.
Unhappiness formula = Compare yourself to
others and the things they have.It’s nice to
have money and the things that money can
buy, but it’s also important to make sure you
haven’t lost track of the things that money
can’t buy. You don’t need a lot of money to
lead a rich life. Good friends and a loving
family are worth their weight in gold. It
really is the little things that mean the
most… like a long hug at just the right time.
(Read The Happiness Project.)
8. Any event happening in another time and
place.
Make your time count. Do not wish your
moments away. Do not ruin today by
focusing on another time and place. There is
only now; realize how rich you are in it.
Right now you are creating history – your
legacy. Don’t let life slip by without being
aware of it. Life works in a strange way: You
want something and you work and wait and
work and wait, and feel like it’s taking
forever to come. Then it happens and it’s
over and all you want to do is relive all the
great memories you made along the way.
Happiness is the journey. Open your eyes.
Don’t miss it.
9. Constant happiness.
The bottom line is that you can’t be happy
unless you’re unhappy sometimes. Life is not
always perfect, and the utopian world of
constant happiness in not natural, nor
should you expect it.
In the short-term, your mood will fluctuate,
but it is your ability to realize and deal with
these fluctuations that allows you to
maintain long-term happiness. Any fool can
be happy when times are good. It takes a
strong soul with real heart to develop smiles
out of situations that make most people
weep. But it is possible.
Live every day of your life in full.
Experience the highs and the lows, the
positives and the negatives, and all the
moods present between the various
extremes. Don’t focus on simply being
happy. Focus on living a well-rounded,
seasoned life. Focus on achieving
completeness. Yes, happiness is part of this
completeness, but so is sadness, difficulty,
frustration, and failure. And overcoming
these latter points supports your personal
growth far more than constant happiness.
Next steps…
Choose happiness today by taking life
moment by moment, complaining very little,
and being thankful for the little things that
mean a lot.
Your turn…
What would you add to the list? What do we
sometimes forget we do NOT need to be
happy?
The happiest people do not live with a
certain set of circumstances, but rather with
a certain set of attitudes. Choosing to be
positive and grateful for what you have now
is going to determine how you’re going to live
the rest of your life. So look for something
positive about today. Even if you have to
look a little harder than usual, it still exists.
Ultimately, your greatest achievements are
moments in time when what you’re doing
allows you to see how wonderful your life
already is.
2. Everyone’s approval.
The biggest prison you will likely ever live in
is your fear of what other people think.
You cannot let other people tell you who you
are or what you want. You have to decide
that for yourself. When you’re making big
decisions, remember, what you think of
yourself and your life is more important
than what people think of you. Don’t let
others make you feel guilty for living your
life. It’s YOUR life. As long as you’re not
hurting anyone else, live it YOUR way.
Fulfillment and success in life lie in your
ability to use your entire mind to achieve
your goals, dreams and desires. Take
sufficient time to spend with yourself,
without external interference. You’re worth
it. (Angel and I discuss this in more detail
in the “Self-Love” chapter of 1,000 Little
Things Happy, Successful People Do
Differently.)
3. A perfect past.
Do not let the shadows of your past darken
the doorstep of your present and future.
Let go, forgive and move forward. Just
because the past didn’t turn out like you
had hoped, doesn’t mean your future can’t
be better than you had envisioned. In fact,
we often grow stronger in the places we were
once broken. Because it’s not until you’re
broken for a while that you truly learn what
you’re made of on the inside. And this
insight gives you the ability to rebuild
yourself, stronger than ever before.
Most of the time the only difference
between long-term happiness and long-
term despair is not quitting on yourself. As
long as you are breathing it’s never too late.
Today is a new beginning.
4. Full control of life’s constant changes.
Life is constantly changing and we’re
changing with it. We’re not the same person
we were a year ago, a month ago, or a week
ago. Life’s cycle doesn’t stop. Change is
what it’s all about. But every ending is the
beginning of something else. Every exit is an
entry somewhere else. Live, learn, and let
go. Don’t hold yourself down with the
changes you can’t control.
Although some forces are out of your
control, you can control how you react to
things. Everyone’s life has positive and
negative aspects – whether you’re happy or
not depends greatly on which aspects you
focus on. The best thing you can do is to let
go of what you can’t control, and invest
your energy in the things you can. Live
simply, love generously, speak truthfully,
breathe deeply, do your best, and leave the
rest to the powers above you. (Read The
Road Less Traveled.)
5. A carefree, stress-free life.
Great challenges make life interesting;
overcoming them makes life meaningful.
Don’t wait until everything is just right; it
will never be perfect. There will always be
challenges, obstacles and less than perfect
conditions. So what! Get started now! With
each step you take, you will grow stronger
and stronger, more skilled, more confident,
and more successful.
Say it: “I am determined to live a happy life
no matter my challenges! I will turn all my
tales of fury into tales of glory! I will turn
all of my tales of woe into tales of WOW!”
And no matter what happens, just do your
best and appreciate what you’re learning.
You won’t enjoy your life if you don’t enjoy
your challenges.
6. All the things you don’t have.
You are right here, right now, with what you
have, breathing. Enjoy it. You’ve got
nothing to do today except to smile.
Happiness is valuing what you have, and
enjoying the people, places, objects and
events in your life for what they are. It’s
not about changing and achieving all the
time; sometimes it’s about being and
appreciating. And you can nearly always
enjoy the things you have and the events
happening around you if you make up your
mind firmly that you will.
7. A mountain of money.
If we counted our blessings more often,
instead of our money, we would be a lot
richer. Keep money on your mind but out of
your heart. Never get so busy making a living
that you forget to make a life for yourself.
Cultivate your spiritual growth. The real
measure of your wealth is how much you’d be
worth if you lost all your money.
Happiness formula = Do your best and
appreciate what you have.
Unhappiness formula = Compare yourself to
others and the things they have.It’s nice to
have money and the things that money can
buy, but it’s also important to make sure you
haven’t lost track of the things that money
can’t buy. You don’t need a lot of money to
lead a rich life. Good friends and a loving
family are worth their weight in gold. It
really is the little things that mean the
most… like a long hug at just the right time.
(Read The Happiness Project.)
8. Any event happening in another time and
place.
Make your time count. Do not wish your
moments away. Do not ruin today by
focusing on another time and place. There is
only now; realize how rich you are in it.
Right now you are creating history – your
legacy. Don’t let life slip by without being
aware of it. Life works in a strange way: You
want something and you work and wait and
work and wait, and feel like it’s taking
forever to come. Then it happens and it’s
over and all you want to do is relive all the
great memories you made along the way.
Happiness is the journey. Open your eyes.
Don’t miss it.
9. Constant happiness.
The bottom line is that you can’t be happy
unless you’re unhappy sometimes. Life is not
always perfect, and the utopian world of
constant happiness in not natural, nor
should you expect it.
In the short-term, your mood will fluctuate,
but it is your ability to realize and deal with
these fluctuations that allows you to
maintain long-term happiness. Any fool can
be happy when times are good. It takes a
strong soul with real heart to develop smiles
out of situations that make most people
weep. But it is possible.
Live every day of your life in full.
Experience the highs and the lows, the
positives and the negatives, and all the
moods present between the various
extremes. Don’t focus on simply being
happy. Focus on living a well-rounded,
seasoned life. Focus on achieving
completeness. Yes, happiness is part of this
completeness, but so is sadness, difficulty,
frustration, and failure. And overcoming
these latter points supports your personal
growth far more than constant happiness.
Next steps…
Choose happiness today by taking life
moment by moment, complaining very little,
and being thankful for the little things that
mean a lot.
Your turn…
What would you add to the list? What do we
sometimes forget we do NOT need to be
happy?
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