Where To Find Happiness

The title of an article on the internet, “Finding Happiness Doesn’t Have To Be Difficult,” grabbed my attention.

‘Finding happiness’ is a misnomer. ‘Finding happiness’ suggests happiness is somewhere, but, where? Obviously, it is someplace other than where the person is now.

Happiness is a state of mind and has less to do with something or somewhere. Happiness: Happiness is an inside job. You create your happiness from the inside out.

All the things people have–cars, vacations, houses, wealth, les objets d’art, and social status are things. These things bring a short-term sense of happiness. However, it fades quickly or is subjective.

Happiness is derived by creating happy relationships. To respect and love and to be respected and loved by others–having a happy, harmonious home life. Get along well with people, having the respect of people, who are important to you. Your involvement in social and community affairs results from your desire to have happy harmonious interactions with others and to give back to the community.

Everything: Yes, Everything you do is to enhance the quality of your life in these categories:

Relationships (love/belonging)

Interesting and challenging work (to create safety, food, shelter, clothing)

Financial security/independence (to create safety, food, shelter, clothing) Good health–Mind, Body, Spirit (Self-Esteem Self-actualization)

Interesting and challenging work: Love what you do and do what you love.Making a good living is only a tip of the happiness iceberg. Being passionate about the work you do is the most important. Many people wish they were someplace other than where they are or doing something different than what they are doing.

Achieving a renewed sense of inspiration may require you to move away from those life-long beliefs about what ‘should be’ and teachings that left you stuck in order to walk down uncharted paths of accomplishment.

If the notion of becoming unstuck frightens you, remember that bringing about change is often a matter of reaching beyond what you have known in the past to expand the boundaries of your future experience.

Financial Security/Independence: Everyone wants to be free from money worries. Everyone wants to have enough money in the bank to decisions without counting pennies. Everyone wants to achieve a certain financial state so that you can retire in comfort and never have to be concerned about whether or not there is enough money to support the desired lifestyle.

Good health–Mind, Body, Spirit: Everyone desires to be pain and illness free and to have a continuous flow of energy and feelings of well-being. Your health is so central to your life that you take it for granted until something goes awry to disrupt it. And then, people rush to the Traditional Western Medicine doctor demanding a ‘quick fix.’ Prevention is the best medicine.

To create good health you need to have a total focus on a healthy mind, body and spirit regime.

Peace of Mind: Last, but not least, Peace of mind is essential to achieve these aspects of your life. The greater your peace of mind, the more relaxed and positive you are, the less stress you suffer, the better your overall health will be. The more peace of mind you have, your relationships will benefit, the more optimistic, friendly and confident you are with everyone in your life. When you feel good about yourself on the inside, you will perform better at work and take more pride in it. You will be a better boss and co-worker. And the greater your overall peace of mind – the more likely you are to earn a good living, save regularly for the future and ultimately achieve financial independence. Our comprehension of the world around us is based on perspective. To regain your inspiration as well as the drive that empowers you to pursue an inspired path, you need to alter your outlook by exploring new paths of accomplishment, contemplating many ideas, and opening your mind to a fresh range of possibilities.

By broadening the range of your experiences, you can ensure that your life remains as stimulating and purposeful as you were when you first embarked on your journey of growth and enlightenment. The wish to be somewhere else doing something else will dissipate as you begin to investigate your life and your place in the universe in a wholly new way. Begin by asking yourself questions: Do I like my career/job? If not, why not? Am I willing to find another job to have work fulfillment? If not, why not? Are my relationships fulfilling? If not, why not? Am I willing to examine the aspects of my relationships, which are not working and work to change them or terminate an unfulfilling relationship? Am I willing to look within and make the changes I need to make to fulfill myself? If not, why not? If you are unwilling to make changes then consider accepting what is, Stop complaining. Yes, STOP complaining, when you hear yourself complain say, “STOP! Accept what is.”

Out of your acceptance of what is, you will gain a new perspective. Within that new perspective will stimulate the inspiration to change that which you no longer desire. Over a lifetime, we have thousands of different goals, albeit they are in one of four categories.

Abraham Maslow’s psychological construct, ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ sets-forth humans’ ‘Basic needs.’ Humans inherently seek to satisfy successively ‘higher needs’ that occupy a set hierarchy.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs begins with the most basic of needs: Physiological, Food, Water, Shelter, Clothing, and Sex. Yes, sex.

Humans need to procreate to ensure the species continues, not only that it is fun and delicious, followed by increasingly more sophisticated needs, Safety, Love/Belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. When you accept happiness is a continuum on your life journey, you will notice you ARE the source of your happiness. When you accept you are the source of your happiness, you will no longer need to search for happiness. Happiness was and is inexplicably within, without fail. All you need to do is Look, Listen, and Trust. Ultimately your personal character, personal strength and courage will evolve. Happiness requires you to make healthy choices in nutrition, social contact, work, exercise, leisure, and relationships.

Source: spiritualnetworks