12 Practical Ways to Feel Happier Today

We all want to be happy. In fact anything that any human wants, whether a relationship or a job, is ultimately motivated by the fact that they directly or indirectly want happiness out of it. And yet most people do not rate themselves to be very happy in life. Why is it that something so simple eludes most of us? In this article you will get to know super simple steps you can take to ensure you live the happy life that you were meant to have. Let’s begin with the steps you can take to be happier! Here’s what you can do to feel happier each day.

12 Ridiculously Simple Ways to Feel Happier Today

Accept that some sadness from time to time is okay

Nobody can experience great joy 24 hours of the day. There are always going to be events from time to time that will bring you down and make you sad. And guess what, it is okay. You need to experience sadness to appreciate happiness. You need to experience what it is like to be treated badly so that you can appreciate the right person when they come along. Embrace these experiences, they are a part of life.

Help people

There were two kids. Both were quite religious so they prayed a lot. But they both prayed for different things. The first one prayed to God and said, “please ensure that when I grow up, I don’t have to give anything to anyone else, I should always receive, not give.” The other one prayed to God and said, “God just ensure I am always in a position to help people and give them whatever they want.” Well guess what, the first kid who only wanted stuff grew up to be a beggar and the second one who wanted to give back became a multi millionaire philanthropist!

Remember that happiness doesn’t always come from getting. Sometimes there is so much more satisfaction in helping someone else and by doing so you find a tremendous amount of happiness yourself.

Try living in the present

Regretting the past is the root cause of depression, worrying about the future is the root cause of anxiety. In both you ignore what matters the most, which is the present moment.

Remember the past has gone and there is nothing you can do about it. So there is no point regretting it. The future depends on what you do about it now and not by you worrying. The present moment is where life is at. The more you can stay in the present, the more you can actually appreciate and experience life and be more happy as a consequence.

Practise detachment

Buddha said that the root cause of all pain is attachment. When you are overly attached to something, you are going to feel pain when it goes away. This doesn’t just apply to fellow humans or pets but even materialistic possessions.

Now this doesn’t mean that in order to live a reasonably happy life you have to give up everything and become a monk. In fact you can continue to do whatever you were doing and have relationships and buy stuff, but you cannot allow yourself to be excessively emotionally attached. This is certainly easier said than done but it is one of the most fundamental things required to lead a happy life.

Workout

There is enough research done over and over again that has indicated that regular physical exercise has more benefits than just the differences it brings to your body. It helps increase the amount of endorphins in the brain which uplifts people’s moods and positively impacts their sense of well being. If you give your body the respect it deserves by working out, it will reward you back. Not only will you feel more confident, happier but you will also be healthier which is absolutely essential for your long term goals. How will you achieve anything in the outside world if you are sick within?

Do mental workouts as well

Today we often give importance to physical workouts but we ignore the most important organ of all, the brain. In today’s world we are bombarded with so many real life problems which result in excessive anxiety or depression. And you can’t be happy in an overly anxious or depressed state. You can take vacations, try hypnotherapy, meditate, or do breathing exercises. Do whatever works for you but incorporate at least one of those to improve your mental state of well-being over the long run.

Sleep

In modern society, sleep is often looked at something to avoid as much as possible. If you sleep more, you are seen as someone who is lazy. Well, guess what if you constantly sacrifice sleep for career success, you may advance professionally faster, but you will end up being a professionally successful zombie. You are going to be much happier in your personal and professional life if well rested.

Be around positive people

We all know that attitudes are contagious. If you hang around unhappy people long enough, sooner or later they are going to bring your mood down. If you are around positive people, even if you are depressed, sooner or later you are going to feel significantly better, too.

Surrounding yourself with happy and energetic people can have a great impact

Stop hanging around people who are always jealous and angry or are chronic whiners. Make an active effort to be around people who are fun, motivated, joyful and love to help others. Sooner or later, their positivity will rub off on you. The environment you are in plays a huge rule in your overall happiness level. If you can change it, make sure you are in the right one!

Stop caring about what others think

One of the biggest reasons why people are unhappy with their lives is that they are forced to lead lives they don’t want to live. They fear that if they do what they love or live the kind of life they want, they will be judged, made fun of and ostracized. As a result, they do everything with others’ approval, even if it means that they hate what they do. And when you hate what you do, you will be miserable, not happy.

Life’s short. It’s better to be laughed at by others but still being happy, than conforming to the norm but badly regretting your life.

Spend time with people close to you

These days people often put career success ahead of relationships. But what’s the point of a great career if there is no one you can actually share your success with. Do you work to live or do you live to work? Is your idea of a great life spending 18 hours a day at your office or is it having a nice time with family and friends. Well if you are a loner who doesn’t enjoy others’ company, you can ignore this point but if you are not, then please ensure that your life is balanced.

Money will not make you happy. Even things that money can buy will only give you momentary happiness. It is the relationships you share with your loved ones that will give you long term happiness.

Be Grateful for what you have

Have you ever had a bad dream? A dream where you lose someone extremely close? Maybe you lost a parent, a sibling, a spouse, a pet or a very dear friend. Do you remember how shattered you felt during that dream? And then when you snap out of your dream and wake up, what happens? The shock quickly turns into a sigh of relief and gratitude. Because it was all a bad dream and the ones you love desperately are still there.

Most of us only appreciate what we have when we lose it. When we still have it, we take it for granted. Don’t be like most people. If you are grateful, you will be the kind of person who is happy for what they have instead of someone who whines about what they don’t.

Don’t hold Grudges

If you want to be a happy person you cannot hold grudges. Forgiveness is important, not for the benefit of someone else but your own well being. If you are someone who holds extreme grudges against someone, there is no way you can be happy, while still harboring the grudge. You may think that if something bad happens to them it will give you happiness and maybe it will for a short time. But in the long it is like a poison that only harms you and not the other person.

If you just can’t forgive the person then move on and ignore them. Don’t obsess over plotting revenge or wishing something bad happens to them. If they did something wrong, Karma will take care of them anyway. Just don’t kill your own happiness by constantly feeding your brain with negativity.

Conclusion

I hope reading this article about the strategies on how to feel happier has been useful to you. If you feel you have learned something from it, then in order to actually make a positive impact in your life, start applying the points mentioned. You do not become a martial artist by reading a manual. You become one by practicing kicks and punches and making them a habit that eventually becomes your second nature. The same is true for everything else you want out of life. So apply, practice and see your life change!

What are the things that help you to live a happier life?