Think about how you can create little moments of happiness for others. Help a friend plant her
garden, buy an extra coffee for a coworker, pay the toll for the car behind you on the bridge, and
even take your kids to a movie. All those little things can add up to big joy.
This is your life! Only you can truly control your choices. Choosing happiness is the best way to achieve being good to yourself as well as the world. Here are some suggestions for how you can ensure simple joy in your life:
*Be the best you can be by your own standards
*Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good
*Focus on what you have,not what you lack
*Optimism trumps pessimism every time!
*Smile often and genuinely
*Be honest, to yourself and others
*Help others
*Embrace your past,live in the present, and look forward for what is yet to come
As the old Jimmy Durante song goes, “make someone happy.” A thoughtful, hand-written letter will do that every time! If you make just one someone happy, you will be happy too.
This is your life! Only you can truly control your choices. Choosing happiness is the best way to achieve being good to yourself as well as the world. Here are some suggestions for how you can ensure simple joy in your life:
*Be the best you can be by your own standards
*Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good
*Focus on what you have,not what you lack
*Optimism trumps pessimism every time!
*Smile often and genuinely
*Be honest, to yourself and others
*Help others
*Embrace your past, live in the present, and look forward for what is yet to come
As the old Jimmy Durante song goes, “make someone happy.” A thoughtful, hand-written letter will do that every time! If you make just one someone happy, you will be happy too.
When someone tells you their good news, be excited for them and show your enthusiasm. Sometimes we may envy the good things that happen to others. If you focus on how happy this person is, this will allow their joy to become yours as well.
I once had the pleasure of attending a lecture by Huston Smith, the preeminent scholar of the world’s religions. (He first came to global attention when he brought a young Tibetan Buddhist Monk-His Holiness, the Dalai Lama- to America for the first time.) Smith spoke about the continuing impact of religion on our world, most notably the strife all around the world over religious differences. He was at his most joyous when he spoke about his own spiritual practices, which he described for us. Smith said, upon rising each day, he did Hatha yoga, followed by reading a few pages of a sacred text, after which he meditated or prayed for at least five minutes. He would finish his morning ritual by doing a bit of yard work and some composting, which results in rich, dark soil, and a beautiful garden he greatly enjoys.
The entire audience smiled as they listened to this great and humble man describe the simple spiritual practices that began each of his days. These were Huston Smith’s personal morning rituals. I loved the irony that this premier academic, who has such a deep understanding of religious rituals throughout history, had created such an uncomplicated practice for himself. I left the talk inspired to worry less and enjoy more. I saw the deep wisdom of simplicity.
I recently saw him again at San Francisco’s esteemed California Institute of Integral Studies and heard the one detail he had left out of the previous discussion of morning practices. That night, Huston introduced a dear old friend, who added this delightful detail he knew from their time as college roommates: upon waking, Huston sits up ramrod straight in his bed, claps his hands together, and says very loudly, “It’s going to be a GREAT DAY!”
Because the world we exist in today is very much about staying in your head, many of us have to make a concentrated effort to become grounded and in touch with our bodies and the natural world around us. Grounding is a technique for centering yourself within your being. Grounding is the way we can reconnect and balance ourselves through the power of the element of earth. When you see someone driving past talking on their cell phone, you know that they are not grounded. For deep grounding, we recommend a creative visualization or, better yet, a group guided meditation.
This is the simplest of rituals, one you can do every day of your life. As you walk, take the time to look and really see what is in your path. For example, my friend Eileen takes a bag with her and picks up every piece of garbage in her path. She does this as an act of love for the earth. During the ten years she practiced this ritual, she has probably turned a mountain of garbage into recycled glass, paper, and plastic. Eileen is very grounded. She is also a happy person who shares joy with all in her path.
Neuropsychiatrist David Amen,MD, posits that thoughts carry physical properties and that the properties of negative thoughts can be detrimental to leading a healthy, happy life. To overturn these negative effects, he prescribes thinking more positively so you can change the way your brain works and in turn change your life for the better.
Share happy memories. Keep in touch with a friend by sending an old photo to them via snail mail and write a short note about the day it was taken on the back of the photo.
I am reminded of the peripatetic Phil Cousineau that travel is a very important tool for lasting happiness and creating memories to savor over a lifetime. Phil, author of essential guides to making travel meaningful The Art of Pilgrimage and The Book of Roads, says it is important to “go out of your way,” and meet people that are native to the place you’re visiting. He also reminds us to give gifts, simple tokens from your homeland, and gestures of goodwill that will be returned a thousandfold.
Over 2,000 years ago, the sage Lao Tzu remarked, “The longest journey starts with a single step.” Phil says to use “the eyes of the heart” when traveling to learn something about yourself and the wide world around you. Here are some of Phil’s recommended practices for making travel meaningful:
Imagine your first memorable journey. What images rise up in your soul? They may be a childhood visit to the family gravesite, the lecture your uncle gave at a famous battlefield, or the hand-in-hand trip with your mother to a religious site. What feelings are evoked by your enshrined travel memories? Do they have any connection with your life today? Have you ever made a vow to go someplace that is sacred to you, your family, your group? Have you ever imagined yourself in a place that stirred your soul like the song of doves at dawn? If not you, then who?If not now, when? If not here, where? Paris? Benares? Memphis? -Uncover what you long for and you will discover who you are.
Leave encouraging, inspiring, or funny notes or quotes in a library book or other random places (without littering of defiling public property). A simple note stapled to a bulletin board, taped to a column, or written in chalk on the sidewalk may influence in wonderful ways-you’ll be like a secret agent who brings happiness to others. This website has fun examples that might give you some ideas: artofgettingstarted.com
When we are on track, living close to the things we deem important-the things we value-we feel
happier. This isn’t flash happiness, it isn’t the kind that lasts for a few minutes when we get a
new toy, or enjoy a concert. This is the kind that lingers in the background of our lives. The kind
that even in moments of sadness or frustration, never completely disappears, because if we are
living a values based-life we are also living with meaning and purpose.
- Polly Campbell
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we all have too much stuff. Do a favor for people in need and give away some of the things you no longer use or wear. Others would be happy to have them and you will simplify your life and enjoy your time more. Find a few locations that you can drop off your stuff or call an organization that collects goods to redistribute to those in need. There are Goodwills and Salvation Army centers in every town, large or small, so you can donate to help others.
This is your life! Only you can truly control your choices. Choosing happiness is the best way to achieve being good to yourself as well as the world. Here are some suggestions for how you can ensure simple joy in your life:
*Be the best you can be by your own standards
*Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good
*Focus on what you have,not what you lack
*Optimism trumps pessimism every time!
*Smile often and genuinely
*Be honest, to yourself and others
*Help others
*Embrace your past, live in the present, and look forward for what is yet to come
Use your flower power: go to the local discount store and pick up some small vases. Add a ribbon, some freshly picked flowers, and deliver the arrangements to elders at a local community center, nurses in the ER, or anywhere you know people can use little random acts of roses.
Not many things will ruin your day quite like getting pulled over by the police. But when police in Lowell, Michigan, recently stopped 50 drivers for minor violations, the surprised motorists wound up getting their Christmas wishes instead of traffic tickets. Officer Scot VanSolkema chatted with the not-so-happy drivers, asking what they or their kids wanted for Christmas. Unbeknownst to anyone else, his buddies waited in a nearby shop, listening via radio before rushing to buy, wrap, and deliver whatever the drivers had named, including toys, an Xbox, and a high- definition TV. Said one happy driver: “This just turned my bad day into a good one.”
The things that make me the happiest have emotional and physical effects. These effects are felt even more when they are done for someone else. One of the most lasting is writing a personal letter. Born in the transitional time between letters and computers, many people in my generation have already shunned snail mail as a way to communicate. This makes letters rare, but a very inexpensive surprise.My grandmother was one of seven children, and they communicated with a round-robin letter. From mailbox to mailbox, they would add an update on their life and send it around to the next sibling. She taught me that letters are a valuable form of communication, something she’s emphasized as her memory slowly fades. I got into the habit of writing letters and during the times where I was most stressed, I would write a letter. Letters live somewhere between thoughts and stories. They are confidential and a piece of yourself that you can choose to scrap or share.
When I receive a letter, especially from someone whom I haven’t heard from in a while, I get a rush of endorphins, because I’m holding proof that the friend thought of me. It’s the same rush I get when someone is considerate or goes out of their way to help me. Most friends reciprocate with a call to say how happy they were to open a personal note rather than another bill.
I studied epistolary literature in college, often using my break from studying as a chance to write letters. Perhaps letters will go the way of Wells Fargo wagons, but I’ll single-handedly support the post office as long as my friends have addresses and my fingers can write. Letters are my personal therapy, my rush of endorphins, my connection with those I love, and my alone time-my regular serving of happiness.
When someone tells you their good news, be excited for them and show your enthusiasm. Sometimes we may envy the good things that happen to others. If you focus on how happy this person is, this will allow their joy to become yours as well.
