Let me tell you the truth: you cannot buy happiness. You won’t find it in a ring, your wardrobe, moving ahead at work, or losing a dress size. Happiness is not circumstantial; it doesn’t arrive when everything in your life is “perfect”. Happiness is, as you learnt in school, a feeling – not a permanent goal to achieve. Instead of searching for happiness in all the wrong places, here’s how to look within and cultivate that feeling more often.
1. Re-connect with a voice worth listening to.
Aren’t you sick of listening to everyone else’ loud, critical opinions instead of your own? Connecting with your own intuition isn’t something that happens when you wake up in a blind panic at 3am, you have to slow down and be still so that it comes to you. Meditation can help with this, or you can even just use daily mundane activities — such as brushing your teeth — as a time for quiet reflection. Take these moments to ask for guidance and listen for some clear answers.
2. Make happiness an intentional part of your life.
Happiness doesn’t just happen to people; it’s a choice. When you realise this, you give yourself the power to deal with any situation, whether it’s in your workplace, relationship or even a negative pattern of thought. No one naturally has a loving approach to themselves, their circumstances or the people around them, they have to choose it and, by doing so, they open themselves up to limitless possibilities where there once was seemingly no solution. This isn’t an easy task, and will take a lifetime to master, but you can start it off every morning by waking up and saying “I choose happiness today”.
3. Accept the things you cannot change.
When you’re anxious about a situation, your natural response is to attempt to gain some control over it. However, sometimes the best option is to surrender, and choose to place a higher level of trust and faith in the process of life. There are things in this life that are bigger than you and what you can achieve, and while that can be an overwhelming thought at first, when you mull it over it’s actually very freeing: there’s nothing you personally can do to improve the situation, so you have no responsibility over it. If Spiderman’s great power comes with great responsibility, then your lack of power to change the unchangeable means it’s up to something bigger than yourself to take care of it. All you can do is let go, and say yes when there’s an opportunity for joy to enter your life.
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