The Dalai Lama speaks about happiness as being the purpose of each of us. We all want to be happy. Happiness is also your choice to pursue. You can choose to let circumstances in life get you down or you can choose to be happy no matter what challenges life brings. It is matter of training your mind because happiness is already within each of us. For some reason, though, we often forget that happiness is an internal process and, instead, allow outside forces determine our happiness.
You must make a decision to follow a path to happiness in order to attain it. The following are several strategies to help you in your journey:
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. A basic fact of life is that suffering exists. You cannot avoid it. But you don't have to let your troubles and problems put you off balance and hold you back from attaining happiness. Training your mind to focus on positive mental states is the first step towards cultivating happiness within yourself. There will always be problems in life and annoyances brought on by others. This is not a perfect world. You can, however, choose your reaction to situations and train your mind to focus on the positive side of things and work at seeing the good in people and circumstances.
Find something you love to do. Do you have a lifelong dream or desire? If you do, there is no time like the present to start working toward it. By creating a plan and taking slow and steady steps towards making your dream a reality, you will soon begin to feel like you are accomplishing something. And with practice, you'll discover that you have the patience and determination to reach your goal, especially because it is something that's important to you.
Discover your purpose in life. One reason many people are unhappy is that they are not doing what they are called to do with their unique gifts. An unspecified purpose in life can often leave you frustrated and lacking direction with everything you do. Discovering what your purpose is can be an adventure in itself and a journey well worth taking! If you don't already know your life purpose, take the time to reflect on what it may be. Then make sure everything you do lines up with this purpose.
When you're feeling down, do something about it. So often, people become unhappy and depressed when life throws them curve balls. But the truth is that you don't have to remain in these unpleasant and negative states. Conditioning your mind to replace negative thoughts with more positive ones requires discipline and practice. But it is certainly possible to train the mind for happiness. You just have to decide to take the first step.
Think about all the things you have to be thankful for in life. Spending time by yourself and reflecting upon your life is another positive step toward achieving happiness. Often we get so caught up in what's wrong in life that we forget to look at what is right and good. Do you have children, family, good friends to be thankful for? They may not be everything you would like them to be but can you imagine your life without them. And what about your health? If you enjoy good health, this is another aspect of your life to be thankful for. What about your current job? Perhaps it's not your dream job, but given the economic times, those of us who do have a job should be thankful.
Practice the steps above and condition your mind to replace negative mental states with positive ones. Developing a meditation practice can help you recognize negative mental states as soon as they arise. Over time and with practice, you will be better able to replace these unhealthy and negative mental states with happier and more positive ones.
Starting from this moment onward, make a conscious decision to be happy! Once you decide that you want to be happy there will be no turning back. What's more, living your life focused on achieving happiness can renew your passion for life and enable you to be the best you can be.
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