Do you ever feel caught up in all the mundane things of life while happiness seems to elude you?
Do you feel like life is just passing you by?
Are you confined in the lockdown that brings to you a lot of frustrations and anxiety?
Do you sometimes feel that you are doing so much but that you are not truly happy?
Life is too short to postpone happiness until the conditions are right.
So if we are waiting for something in our world to be just right before we become happy, then we are keeping ourselves in an endless cycle of waiting!
Everywhere around, people are trying desperately to find their happiness in things like - fame, relationships, expensive cars, mansions, overseas holidays, a ton of money, political power, the perfect place or the perfect job – and yet after they have experienced some or all of the above, they are still not happy.
Happiness is the special ingredient that makes everything else in life worthwhile.
And if happiness is missing, then even a life full of wealth and health is not meaningful.
"For the Scriptures say,
'If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies'"
1 Peter 3:10, NLT.
So how can one become truly happy?
What are the essentials of happiness?
Let me guide you to the 5 essential tips or secrets that will create real happiness for you.
SECRET NO: 1 – START YOUR DAY WITH GRATITUDE AND PRAYER
All of us have so much to be grateful for; it’s just that most times, we don’t realize it.
Gratitude helps to cultivate a positive mindset, which will help you to accept yourself for who you really are.
Remember, as your day begins, you don’t know what the day will bring to you, but you can decide what you will bring to this day!
So choose to bring a grateful and happy ‘you’ to your day and see the benefits happen.
Start your day with a prayer of thanks while at the same time maintains a positive attitude and a positive mindset for whatever you'll face.
Spend 3 minutes before you get active in the morning reminding yourself what is great in your life. By this, I mean that you should take some time each morning to count your daily blessings. Then you can offer a prayer of thanks not of request. When you're in the situation of need you can try first to pray along these lines in
the prayer for wisdom, and then go on to other specific needs for you at other times. Believe in God's providence.
Start your day on a positive note, because a spiritual law is that whatever is inside you is what comes out of you.
So if you create happiness inside by being grateful, you will ooze happiness all day, which in turn will make your day a happy one!
SECRET NO: 2 – DURING THE DAY, DON'T FLINCH IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
As your day begins to unfold, many types of things, results, and people will be encountered.
No matter what comes your way, choosing to be positive will help you to stay strong within the challenge and handle it in a peaceful and powerful manner. Don't give in to fear.
Resolve to go in the right direction no matter what comes in your way in any day. Please, don't flinch in the face of adversity.
Even when things are difficult, try being positive and strive to make the best of whatever situation you’re in.
It will help make even the most challenging situations easier to bear.
So as you live your life during the day, look for the positive, not for the negative.
Often, during the day, repeat positive affirmations about what you want.
Do so with faith, feelings, intention, and focus.
Your mind is the filter for this world around you, so look for the good in every situation, and you are sure to see it.
“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Is anything worth more than your soul?"
Matthew 16:26 NLT.
SECRET NO: 3 – JUST FOR TODAY, ACCEPT IMPERFECTION BUT ALWAYS STRIVES FOR PERFECTION
It’s a fact that we all have imperfections.
When we stop worrying about our imperfections and what others think about us and just start being what we are, then we can truly offer the world the best we have.
For as long as we are living a life of pretense, we are sure to be tense, and real happiness will elude us.
Moreover, you can’t expect people to be perfect all the time.
Perfection comes when you’re okay with imperfection.
Our ideas about the way the world works are based, in part, upon our expectations.
Those expectations color our experience, good or bad, and influence our reactions and responses to just about everything and everyone that we encounter.
Expectations help us form a world view, but they can also skew that world view in unexpected and sometimes unwanted ways.
The more the expectations, the more the disappointment.
Being a perfectionist at all the time will not make you happy, I promise. You must be realistic.
So ease up a little bit, check the expectations you carry and lower them if necessary, and see how much more you can enjoy life.
You will be happily surprised.
SECRET NO: 4 - DON'T HOLD GRUDGE BUT EITHER SETTLE THE ARGUMENT OR FORGIVE!
Keep your mind light. Don't hold grudges instead, forgives. Otherwise, follow the path of justice to settle the argument.
Love your enemy. In fact, hanging on to resentment, someone once said, is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill someone else.
Carry the good experiences with you, and the lessons from the bad experiences.
Both will help you and make you a better person.
But carrying negative memories will only take your happiness away.
The best short-cut to happiness is the meditation of revealed truth, which teaches you to train your mind to be calm and happy.
“I don't mean to say that I've already achieved these things or that I've reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No dear brothers and sisters, I've not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ Jesus is calling us."
Philippians 3:12-14 NLT.
SECRET NO: 5 – SHOW LOVE TODAY, YOU MIGHT NOT GET THAT CHANCE AGAIN
So many people keep themselves constantly busy but spend their whole life waiting to start living.
And in the meantime, this beautiful gift from life called 'today' is passing-by forever!
Give your attention to the value of today. This day is your life, and you are alive only today!
So value it, cherish it and live it fully while it is here. Because it’s soon going to be gone forever.
Who would have foreseen precisely the effect of
Coronavirus (COVID-19) - the global pandemic, on international lockdown, and the stressing of social distancing?
Think and take action in your life on the problems you face, if any.
Any action is better than burying your head in the sand, hiding from the world, and more importantly yourself.
But at the same time, don’t let your pains and problems define your experience; you also have a lot of blessings in your life, so let that be the flavor of the day!
"You're the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?
Can you make it salty again? It'll be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
You're the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.
Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives lights to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."
Matthew 5:13-16, NLT.
Quit waiting for life to work out. Instead, fan into flame the spiritual gift that is in you.
Make a change and take control.
You control your own happiness; don’t waste any more time waiting for it to come to find you.
So embrace humanity and show some love in your life today. Bring some happiness, understanding, and gratitude to your life today!
There is always a lot in life to be happy and grateful for.
Start living in the only moment that matters, right now.
The more you are focused on the past or the future, the more you are missing out on happiness right now.
Pay attention to this day and make yourself truly happy, no matter what!
A fun and life of fullness await you - maximize your potential by being truly happy.