Become Happier Without Even Changing a Thing in Your life
It won’t take more than 1 minute of your day
Feeling content with life is a peaceful satisfaction.
To be able to appreciate where you are in life and what you are doing with it is an underestimated skill. It takes conscious effort, practice, and time to develop.
It feels like being content with life gets harder every day. We see our friends, celebrities, even people we don’t know by name doing something with their life in social media.
Every time you check your social media timeline. Here it is. Someone doing something and it is not you.
You were happy a moment ago but now you feel dissatisfied with your life. It has taken all of your contentment away from you.
Push It to The limits
We push ourselves to do more, to be more successful, to earn more money. Just to do more with our life. Even after we have done all of these things. Now, there is more to do. There is no limit to the things you can do.
Life is full of opportunities and we have to achieve more and more. Don’t stop now. Push yourself. Push it to the limits. Earn more. Get a promotion. Marry. Have kids. Send your kids to the best schools. That’s what we have been taught.
We are never been taught to appreciate what we have.
Did any of your teachers tell you to appreciate your life?
Told you appreciate the fact that you get the education you want?
Told you to appreciate that you have a family?
Told you to appreciate that you are healthy?
Told you to appreciate the sunny day you are having?
Told you to appreciate that you are alive?
Enjoy The Journey
Being grateful doesn’t mean to stop trying to achieve more in your life and settle down. It means enjoying the journey and not to rush life. Enjoy the life you are living. Keep trying to achieve more at your own pace.
We have a natural focus on what goes wrong in our daily lives. Our automatic response to worry about even the smallest of problems.
We often take the good things in our lives for granted. So we have to consciously learn to get into the habit of being grateful. This skill is incredibly powerful. It’s about taking the time to notice the good things in our lives.
People who are grateful tend to be happier, healthier, and more fulfilled.
Counting Blessings Versus Burden
Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, did an experiment on gratitude.
They divided participants into 3 groups:
- The first group was asked to write down five things they were grateful for that had happened in the last week for each of the 10 weeks of the study. This was called the gratitude condition.
- The second group was asked to write down five daily hassles from the previous week. This was the hassles condition.
- The third group listed five events that had occurred in the last week, but not told to focus on positive or negative aspects. This was the events condition (Control group).
Before the experiment began participants had kept daily journals to record their moods, physical health, and general attitudes. This used to provide a comparison for after the experimental intervention.
At the and of 10 weeks, relative to the hassles and life events groups, participants in the gratitude condition felt better about their lives as a whole and were more optimistic regarding their expectations for the upcoming week. They reported fewer physical complaints and reported spending significantly more time exercising.
Simple yet Powerful Practice
It takes practice to appreciate “ordinary” things you have. I noticed many things that are ordinary to me are the things many people in the world don’t have.
I use this simple practice every morning to be aware of the things that I am grateful for.
I think of three things I am grateful for right at that moment.
Shockingly easy and uncomplicated.
I don’t dwell on them. I don’t write them down. I don’t want it to become another item on my to-do list.
Three things I was grateful this morning:
- For the beautiful sunny day
- For having close friends around me that I can have a close conversation
- For my morning meditation
Quite simple list, right? It doesn’t have to be complicated. It shouldn’t feel like another chore that you have to do. It usually takes 1 minute of my time. Just the 3 things pop up on my mind.
New Perspective on the Ordinary
Sometimes we take things for granted and don’t appreciate them until we lose them. Having a family, having close friends, having a job. When you consciously think about them. You notice how valuable these things are. It gives you a whole new perspective on them.
Even thinking about these 3 things effected my mood immediately and I carried this feeling throughout the day.
I tried to enjoy the sunshine as much as I can. I spent most of my day outside. This gave me a lot of positive energy.
I met my best friend and told him how lucky we are to have such a close friendship that we can count on each other in every situation
And I was grateful for the meditation I did because I had already accomplished the first goal I set myself each day.
I have noticed that I am getting more grateful for the things in life since I have started this practice. I am learning to be more grateful without even trying.
You become happier without even changing a thing in your life. Just with changing your outlook on the things you have.
