By having a puppy lick away your tears each morning. Oh wait, that only works in the movies. Or if you’re really sad.
I wish I had a puppy… Woof woof.
Actually, I take that back. This is what Stogie looked like when he had to stay with me for a week.
This is what he looked like before he came over.
Personally, what I find to bring me happiness each day (of which I’m happy) is to wake up, get ready and do whatever your daily morning routine is, then set aside about five minutes to close your eyes and think of what you’re grateful for. It can be simple things, from the ability to walk, breathe, etc. to the the amazing people in your life.
Exercise helps boost up endorphins, so I’d recommend maybe walking at least fifteen minutes a day. My psychology class said endorphins are like happy pills for the brain, but without the pill! Maybe you can even combine your what I’m grateful for time with your walk in the morning, killing two birds with one stone! Poor little birdy, at least the kitty didn’t eat him, right? Or did he?
Then comes meal time. Try to make sure to eat at least two meals a day. I’d say three like a normal person, but then I’d be preaching blasphemy, because I can only commit to two.
Now you’re prepped up to take on the world! What do we do now?
Hmm. Most of us human beings, we either live in the past, or live far into the future. We’re looking back at the mistakes we made in life, regretting what we’ve done, or looking so far ahead of where we are at our goals and dreams, that we forget where we are. We rush through lives trying to attain greatness. Or we look into the mirror and see how much we hate ourselves because of all the shortcomings we see in ourselves, due to past experiences.
Instead, what I find to work the best would be to live in the present. My friend used to tell me that your mind is like a parachute, it only works if it’s open. If you’re going to be somewhere, then be there, both mentally and physically. See a rose garden on the way to work or school? Go grab a flower! Smell it! Roll in the grass! Out with friends? Put away your smart phone and engage with them! Smile, laugh, basically just live in the moment.
Forget all the worries from before. Do not stress upon where the future will lead you. If you live in the present, the road map will automatically pave its own way for you.
Have someone whose wronged you?
Forgive them.
Can’t forgive them?
Keep trying. One day you’ll be able to. Then that day, you’ll be free from that chain that they’ve held over your soul for years. The chain that angers you for days, months, if not years to come.
Oh, and if you want ensure you’re happy, you can always volunteer. Or do that pay it forward thing, where you do one thing a day to improve the life of someone else. Buy the person behind you in line a coffee at Starbucks. Give a homeless person a hamburger. Stuff like that.
This creates a mindset of abundance.
When you have a mindset of abundance, you attract things into your life. Mostly positive. Positive things bring happiness, and sometimes great fortune as well.
Also, I noticed in my life that when I was young, all I wanted to do was grow up. To be older. To work harder. To become successful. However, what I forgot about was when I was maybe seven years old, playing in a jungle gym, without a worry in the world. I was so easily amused by the simplest of things, from sand, to bugs, to hanging upside down from a few bars.
In life, I find that the true key to happiness is to transform back to the person you once were when you were a child, without a worry in the world. To live life free from expectation, free from doubt, and with a mind as clear as a river and as curious as a kitty. To bring back that sense of innocence, before we were jaded with intangible goals of wealth, popularity, signs of status, or even pride. To just live life as it comes, one step at a time.
Have doubts?
I did too.
But I was at a point in life where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was willing to try anything that had even the slightest possibility to make me happy. Then it all just worked out. I mean, take a look at where I was in life a little over half a year ago to where I am today. I was miserable, lonely, poor, lost burned nearly my whole network and deemed a complete failure in life. Now I have everything I could have every possibly imaged.
This may sound lame as hell, actually it is going to be the lamest thing you’ll ever hear in your life because it’s so cliche, but hey… If I can do it, then so can you!
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Originally posted on Quora.
Leonard Kim consults startups and writes books like The Etiquette of Social Media: How to Connect and Respond to Others in the World of Social Media