“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.” ~ Agnes Repplier
Happiness means something different to each and every person. One person’s “happiness” is another person’s nightmare. Therefore, to suggest that there could be a step-by-step process to get to the end goal of feeling “happy”, would be to discount the billions of different perspectives and versions of what happy really means, and yet, true happiness is what almost everyone is looking for.
If there’s not a one-size-fits-all version of a “happy life,” then it means that happiness is a feeling we must cultivate within our selves, based on our own personal dreams, desires and wishes.
Nurturing happiness within our own being is an ever-long process. But if we’re lucky as time progresses and we become more in tuned with our inner world and our true nature, happiness is what we will feel a majority of the time.
Below are five ways to cultivate the feeling of happiness within
1) Know that nothing outside of you can bring true lasting happiness
“Happiness is a state of mind, a choice, a way of living; It is not something to be achieved, it is something to be experienced.” ~ Dr. Steve Maraboli
To believe that anything or anyone is going to provide an endless supply of satisfaction or fulfillment would be a misstep. Nothing outside of us can ever be the source or reason for our lasting happiness, because eventually it just becomes another thing that we are afraid to lose.
When we are afraid to lose something it begins to sneakily become another attachment that we are depending upon to make us feel ok, which translates to a soul who is afraid to change and let go of things.
By walking in to every exciting new purchase, or job, whatever it may be with the knowing that this thing, although has brought excitement or feelings of joy to our life, will at some point come to an end or change, we give ourselves the permission to enjoy everything but also be willing to move to better horizons ahead when it’s time to move on.
2) Accept everything about yourself
Have you ever noticed that as soon as you accept a situation as it is without fighting it or trying to change it anymore an instant feeling of peace overtakes you? That is because we are not here to have a showdown with life and to manipulate and control every outcome.
We are here to come into alignment with unconditional love which starts with acceptance. By accepting everything about ourselves, everything about our lives, (even if that means accepting that we don’t know how to accept, like fear, failure, or defeat), this is the energetic antidote to transforming judgments into inner peace.
Many people are afraid to accept what they don’t like about themselves or their lives because they think that to accept it is to either manifest more of it, or to tell the universe that ‘this is ok with me, I don’t want things to change.”
Nothing could be farther from the truth, our higher selves already knows what our soul’s deepest desires are, and it’s trying to guide us to those things by helping us unravel limited belief systems.
Before that it needs us to lay down our personal will by way of unconditional acceptance of everything happening to us, so that it can come through and resolve things on our behalf.
3) Follow your bliss
The universe guides us always into the most fulfilling choices, and circumstances by feeling excited. And following our excitement doesn’t have to mean spending every day jumping out of airplanes or buying expensive things.
It only means that throughout each day, pay attention to the choices that feel better or more blissful in your body, it may be reading a book vs watching a tv show or drinking tea instead of coffee, but whatever decision brings with it a good feeling will lead to more and more exciting choices, which eventually turn into bigger and better possibilities being invited into your life.
4) Let love make all choices
Imagine a life where you only put the most loving things in to your body, where the words you speak to yourself and to others come from a place of love, where all adversities are met with the most loving approach.
This is truly the secret to happiness. The happiest people are those that allow love to guide them, that take the high road when in doubt, and let it show the way. This one intention alone, will drastically improve the quality of our lives.
5. Stop looking for it
So much unhappiness and suffering stems from the underlying belief that something is happening that should not be, or we are feeling something that we shouldn’t. To think that something is happening that is not supposed to is the source for most suffering in the human existence.
When we switch our perspective to stop wishing things to be as they aren’t or wishing to feel something that we are not, we learn the art of true surrender. With surrender we learn true inner peace and ultimately happiness.
Make peace with yourself and your life exactly as it is in this present moment, even if that means making peace with the fact that you wish your life looked differently. Ironically, happiness is never something that we find as a result of (insert goal or achievement here), it’s something that we come into alignment with as soon as we stop looking for it.
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