Be Happy by Being Happy

Okay, I hear your first thought - What?

Take a moment and think about it. The over arching want and need of every human being, the general conclusion to all our journeys, is to be happy, fulfilled, and contented.

Happiness is more than a pleasant moment or an agreeable sensation. It is a way of Being and of relating to the circumstances and events of your life. It transcends your momentary and your life-long conditions.

Happiness is a choice and a discipline which defines the manner in which you experience your world. Authentic and enduring happiness is contingent on what's inside you rather than on outside situations. It is a byproduct of cultivating your inner peace and strength.

Practicing the Art of Happiness sets you free-not from experiencing negative emotions-but from being enslaved by them.

But how do you reach this place of Happiness when you "don't know" what you want and how to make it happen?

Well, you start sorting this out by first learning or relearning what makes you Happy and places you in a state of "Being Happy". This life altering exercise allows you to discover all the answers to the above. It is your gauge, your "Internal Happiness Gauge", to help you weigh each experience and sort through to find your answers.

Here is a way to put this to work for you.

First, set up your "Internal Happiness Gauge". Create a scale from 1-10 with 1 being the lowest Happiness you received from an item or occurrence to 10 which would represent Ecstasy, Supreme Happiness and Joy. Decide what each increment of the scale will represent for you in your definition of Happiness. Then, it's suggested you start and make a daily entry into a "Happiness Journal" and rate it according to your "gauge".

In addition, you will want to make a place in your journal each day to write down what you are grateful for. In essence, your journal will be a "Happiness and Gratitude Journal" all-in-one, since they compliment and support one another and are beneficial in your discovery process.

Now, I know you hear a lot about journaling but this process can take a while and you need a tool to help you remember how you felt about a particular thing or circumstance. It also allows you to go deep inside to sort out and record the many possible levels of insight this will bring. So I strongly encourage you not to skip these steps.

After doing this preliminary set up, start your process by writing down and "gauging" the things you already know make you Happy and that you are grateful for. In addition, start taking 5 to 10 minutes, at minimum, each day to do something that is "outside your box", so to speak, to find out if it makes you Happy and where it falls on your "Gauge". Get very creative here and don't be afraid to try new things. These will help you to arrive at your answers faster when added to the things you've not done in a while or forgotten.

Some examples might be:

• To walk in a creek while barefoot
• Skipping rope
• Singing a song you just created on the spot at the top of your lungs
• Coloring in a coloring book with crayons
• Walking backwards
• Calling an old friend
• Trying something new like a sport or a new way to drive home

This list could go on and on and as I said, let yourself get really creative here. Then record what you did and how it felt by your "Gauge" and record any other thoughts or feelings which come up around this for you. If something particularly seems to hit a button or a right spot for you, dig a bit deeper and explore what underlies what you are feeling and experiencing. You can see here how important the journal is to help you remember and sort through all of what you are experiencing.

This will begin your process of knowing what makes you Happy and you build from there.

As you start seeing areas or thoughts that reoccur for you, you will begin to differentiate what makes you Happy and what does not. It allows you to begin to see answers to what you want and how you want to do it. It allows you to begin to make conscious choices and decisions based on what makes you Happy so to operate from a state of "Being Happy" to find out how to "Be" continuously Happy.

Remember, Happiness is a choice and a discipline. By practicing the art of "Being Happy", it sets you free from being controlled or ruled by fear or other negative emotions and helps you in your growth of inner peace and strength.

Learn to change "I don't know" to "I do know" and Be Happy by Being Happy!

What did you do today for your 5 minutes of spontaneity?

List three things that make you laugh out loud?

How did being happy make you feel? Did you feel it deep down in your toes?

Please write a comment and share your Happy experiences with us!

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