Soaking up every little bit of happiness in our lives requires some worthwhile attention. Left to its habitual patterns the mind naturally travels down the well-worn path of worry if we don’t consciously redirect it. Learn how mindfulness can help you experience more happiness in your daily life.

7 Days of Happiness

The Hard Work of Happiness

The moment-to-moment choices we make add up. It's normal to want to avoid the difficult or things, or the things we simply prefer not to do. We may even think we're holding onto happiness NOW instead of facing these things. But actually, the things we're resisting or pushing off until later, weigh on us and can even become bigger and more consuming. When we face them, we instead can tune into a sense of integrity, satisfaction, and even happiness in being responsible in our lives, to ourselves, and to others. Another happiness benefit is that by making choices that consciously moves our life forward in the direction we truly want to be going opens us up to even more happiness.

The Hard Work Of Happiness

Awareness

Curious Observation

Cognitive Flexibility

Attitudes of Mindfulness

Focus

Better Than Expected

Our expectations of what we hope a moment will be like can actually prevent us from being present and open to how the moment naturally evolves. If we’re holding onto the expectations we have, and they fall short, it’s easy to get trapped in thoughts of disappointment, anger, or anxiousness. We may even be so stuck in our thoughts of “it’s supposed to be like...” that we aren’t able to let go and embrace how it is now. Practicing noticing when your expectations are preventing you from enjoying the moment as actually can help you to shift gears and embrace how it is right now.

Happier Together

One of our greatest sources of joy and happiness we can experience is through connection with another being. It can be a mix of feeling fully alive, being content and at peace with who we are, being receptive to the other person, and connecting in that moment when both people are fully present. In these moments there is no striving to get the other person’s attention, or trying leave an impression, or trying to make anything happen. Instead, with full presence, we tune into ourselves, others, and the moment in a more satisfying and fulfilling way, and. You may even discover that when we're in this state of "being"and not trying to make anything happen in our connection, we naturally feel happier.

Happiness Balance

It may sound counter-intuitive, but we can feel a pressure or enticement to over schedule ourselves to try to capture moments of happiness at this dinner, or this reunion, this movie... And with social media so present in our lives, we can live in a state of FOMO (fear of missing out) as we tally up all of the happiness we're missing out there in the world. But actually, by listening to our FOMO thoughts, we may just be exhausting and depleting ourselves to a state where we don’t experience much enjoyment at all. By scheduling less and creating more downtime, we create more space in our busy lives to let our minds and bodies let us know what will bring joy. We can tune into our body and get curious about what would really bring happiness in that moment.

State of Mind

Our brains are actually hard-wired to look for the negative and dangerous aspects of life, and the people in our lives. While this brain habit keeps us safe, it also can skew our attention away from aspects of our lives that bring happiness. By overly focusing on the negative, we may spend less time and attention on what we're grateful for, what we’re enjoying day to day. Practicing gratitude –Simply tuning into what you’re grateful for in life can change your perspective about your day...and your life.

State Of Mind

Whats Yours is Mine

Riding on another person’s joy wave can feel wonderful. We might feel happiness and joy ourselves as we tune into theirs, and even a greater connection to the other person. Now consider what makes it possible to be truly happy for another person. These are generally moments when we’re not defining our self-worth based on comparison to others, we’re likely feeling secure with ourselves, we’re present in the moment and open-hearted.

What's Yours Is Mine!

Ill Take It

If we're waiting on a magical moment, or some future and unknown event to bring us happiness, we likely missing out on opportunities to be happy now. This often means redefining happiness. Instead of looking for perfection, or a fairy-tale, it may be enjoying the little moments and experiences. We often overlook the little things, waiting for something really special.

7 Days of Happiness

Categories