What will it take to make you happy? Do you need a new house and vehicle? Perhaps you want a perfect partner. Maybe you need a long time with no problems arising. For a few minutes, imagine that has happened. You have it all. What action do you take next? Where will life lead you? Your life achievement goals have been satisfied. Do you set new ones? Do you retire and do nothing?

Think of past holidays and birthdays. You may have wonderful memories of Christmas. You are lying in your full size loft bed. You discuss the coming holiday with your sibling below. Perhaps your sibling is above you. Can you remember the excitement? Do you remember why you are so excited? Perhaps it is the anticipation of something great.

The excitement from special events like Christmas can slowly build. The closer it gets, the more exciting it becomes. Then the day arrives. You enjoy it and the feeling that it brings. The next day, you feel empty. What is the reason for that? Do you mourn the event that has passed? maybe you mourn the lack of desire?

Maybe your personal happiness is not about things and events, like holidays. Perhaps it is the way that they make you feel. You may find two people in similar circumstances. The first person may be contented. The second person may be distraught and unhappy. There are just as many smiling faces among the poor, as among the rich.

Perhaps you work at a desk all week. Maybe you use a Poulan chainsaw and trim trees for a living. You may be just as happy in a tree, as in an office. It matters very little. Inward conditions may be more important than you think.

How can happiness be achieved? Try taking responsibility for your states of mind. Try not to allow others to affect your happiness. This may empower you. You may find yourself in control of your own destiny.

Summation

Happiness is not what you have or who you are. It may be how you feel about those things. You can be happy whenever you choose. It is entirely up to you. No one can make that decision for you.

Most people spend much of their time thinking about their problems and wondering how they are going to solve them. Most people think about all the things that could go wrong with their lives or about the people or events that stand in the way of their success. Most people think and think and think about whatever it is that worries them, because they believe that that is the way to resolve the problem. The fact is that most people focus so much on what they are afraid of, or what bothers them, or what stresses them, or what they don’t know how to solve, that they are giving all or most of their conscious and subconscious energy to a negative outcome ?the problem. What Kind of an Outcome Do You Want? Consider this: the more you give your energy to one thing, the more that thing has a possibility of coming into being. If you concentrate on getting a university degree, you will most likely achieve that goal. If you concentrate on writing a book, you will again probably achieve that goal.

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Part of the problem might be that you are searching outside of yourself. Happiness is not found anywhere but within you. We all have the power to choose right here and now. The things happening in your life are immaterial because you choose how you are going to let these external factors affect you.

Sometimes we experience just how harsh reality can be. There are simply things that are way beyond our control, people who we just can’t change and circumstances that are just impossible to avoid. In times like these, we can choose peace. We can simply opt to forgive and experience an inner calm that gives us the strength to move on and continue.

In order for us to be able to use our power to choose happiness over everything else, we need to know what happiness is and what it truly means. Happiness is relative. Because we all came from different backgrounds, we don’t share the same likes, dislikes, and pet peeves. In other words, only you can really define what happiness means to you, and only you.

A lot of people are guilty of constantly making happiness a future occurrence by preceding every sentence they say with an “if” and a “when.” These phrases trap happiness in the future. Joy can be attained immediately by anybody, no ifs and buts about it. To make this even more possible, you need to focus on those things that leave you with a powerful feeling of gratitude. This may be your greatest tool because when you begin to focus on what you are grateful for, you can’t help but feel hopeful and excited.

So take time everyday to sit and write about what you are most grateful for. If you become vigilant with this practice, you will notice more and more things to be grateful for. The fact that you are alive or that it’s a sunny day are the small things that you can smile about.

Happiness can be yours now. It is entirely up to you to make the choice to claim it. Just know your worth. Everyone deserves to be happy, no matter what kind of person they were in the past. The point is, you just have to be happy about life in general and stop comparing yourself to others. No one has everything, and there are surely things you have that others don’t. Life is just a big box of wonderful surprises. Though you may go through difficult days, there are still blessings waiting for everyone along the way. Give yourself a chance and start seeing the glass half full. What sets optimists apart from the pessimists is their ability to succeed by simply being thankful for what they have, no matter how small it is or how little it is worth.

If you are a believer in fate, then you must have an idea on how many opportunities you can have if you just take a moment to look for and recognize them. To learn more about gratitude, you should simply look at the following things you can be thankful for:

1. Clothes to wear
2. Food to eat
3. A house to go home to
4. Loving friends and family to lean on
5. Life

Of all the things mentioned above, life is your biggest gift. As long as you are still able to wake up each day to stand up and start your work, then you also have the power to change all the negative aspects within your zone. A good exercise would be to name all the things you still have before you go to bed at night. Of course, you should also never beat yourself up on taking things for granted. Growing up, you might have heard your parents tell you to think of the homeless children that are out there in the streets, wishing that they were in your place. Thinking about them didn’t change anything. In fact, your thoughts never did any good for those suffering. Ironically, many of you grew up with the notion that you must have everything just because you are able to. Talk about gluttony of every form!

The secret to happiness is acting on what needs to be done just so you are able to lengthen your list of things to be thankful for. Reading this article, for instance, is another one for your list. Realistically, not everybody will get the chance to read things that will help them grow as a person. You had that chance, and that makes you even more unique.

Appreciation, though hard as it may seem, brings more pleasure than it does pain. Start with the small stuff and work your way from there. It does take practice, but like all efforts, the result will outweigh everything else. The first step to make a better you, a better life, and a happier disposition is to start right now. This is no time to procrastinate. Life is just too short, and good things will pass you by if you let yourself get pulled down by its weight. Get your brain’s limbic system started, and let happy emotions flood this part of your head. By knowing what you have and what you can achieve, you can give yourself a pat on the back because you now have learned one of life’s most valuable lessons, and that is gratitude.