Life is, without a doubt, way too short. It doesn’t matter how old you live to be, life is just too short. It’s too short to be anything but happy.
People are different, obviously. What makes one person happy isn’t what will make someone else happy. While we want to make our spouse happy, and that’s a good thing to do, you also have to be happy. You can’t put forth all effort into making someone else happy and you’re not happy.
There are so many ways to live a happier life. And that’s the reason for this post – to show you ways to do more of what makes you happy.
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1. If you’re in a relationship that has to be kept secret, then why be in the relationship? If you want to have a happy relationship, drop the secrets and find someone who appreciates you, someone you can tell the world about and who wants to tell the world about you.
2. Leave the drama at the curb. There can be no happiness in drama. Learn to walk away from the drama, whether it’s someone else causing it or if it’s you doing it. Drama is such a huge waste of time! Nothing good comes from it and it drains the happiness from you.
3. Learn to forgive those who’ve hurt you or wronged you. Forgiving doesn’t mean you have to welcome them back into your life if you don’t want to. And it doesn’t mean the person is sorry for how they treated you – sometimes people treat us badly and they simply aren’t sorry for it. But forgiving does bring you peace and it’s lifts a heavy load off your shoulders. It’s hard to find happiness in life when you’re weighted down with the burden of unforgiveness and grudges. So forgive often and keep peace in your heart.
4. Stop having extended pity parties when life doesn’t go the way you want it to. Sure we all get upset when something bad happens. That’s normal and expected. But some people make a life out of feeling sorry for themselves over anything and everything that doesn’t go like they want it to. Instead of always having a pity party over this or that, give yourself a set time to feel bad over something and then move on, get over it, and get back to a happy life. This doesn’t apply to death of a loved one, a serious illness, a divorce, but rather minor type things in life.
5. Don’t live in the past. You cannot possibly live a happy life if you can’t stop living in the past. The past is gone. It’s over. It’s done with. The future is around the corner. The present is here and now. It’s happening right now. Make peace with the past and put it away. It’s fine to visit it every now and then. But happiness is waiting for you here, now, in the present. Remember that visiting the past every once in a while doesn’t mean you have to live there.
6. Find your passion. There are so many things in life that can make us happy. But what can bring us a lot of happiness is finding our passion and doing more of whatever that is. Your passion might be helping other people. It might be traveling. It might be writing or singing. It might be being a mom, teaching, creating, designing, cooking, your job. It might be being the best spouse you can be. Whatever your passion is, doing it will help in your pursuit of happiness.
7. Be happy with you. This one might sound a bit funny or weird. The simple fact is, when you’re happy with yourself, you’ll naturally live a more happy life. Love yourself, love who you are, like yourself, like who you are. Be happy with yourself, your choices, your life. If for whatever reason you’re not happy with you, make changes to bring yourself in line with who you want to be.
8. Know that you and you alone are in charge of your overall happiness. Sure others can do things that make you happy. And you can do things to make other people happy. But long term happiness is up to you. You choose whether you’re happy or not. The point here is not to put your all and all into someone else expecting them to make you happy. People let us down. And that’s a lot of pressure anyway to put on someone, expecting them to be in charge of our overall happiness. Decide for yourself that you want a happy life and worth towards that goal. Don’t assume someone else can or will do it for you. You’re in charge!
9. Learn to laugh. Life is full of bad times and bad things that happen. Learn to life at the minor things that go wrong instead of getting upset. Maybe you’ve went out the door with your house shoes on. Maybe you’ve gotten to work and halfway through the day realized your shirt was on inside out or backwards. Maybe you’ve went shopping and realized you were in your pajama bottoms. Laugh at the little things that go wrong.
10. Get out of the house and do more of what makes you happy. This might mean traveling, going on a cruise, going shopping, going for a walk or a run, gardening, visiting friends, a night out on the town… whatever makes you happy. Take time for yourself, recharge, and do something for you.