Peter Stephen Shrimpton

How To Make Yourself Happy

Are you genuinely happy? Do you think people are happier or sadder nowadays? Would you like to be happier, and live in a happier world?
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In this blogpost, you'll learn how and why to make a Happy Plan. If you don't need any more happiness, stop reading. But, if you'd genuinely like to have more happiness in your life, keep going...

Hello there, champion of true wellness...

What on earth is going on? How come so many people are miserable? In these modern times, we strive to make our lives easier, better, faster, safer, richer. So, why is everyone so unhappy? It is a great paradox. We work so hard to make our existence more comfortable and convenient, yet our happiness keeps falling.
  
The Happiness Index is a survey that measures the happiness of nations. The researchers collect data on different areas of human behaviour, which allows them to evaluate how satisfied people are with life. Nationally representative samples of country's residents are asked to rate their own current lives on a scale of 0 to 10. The best possible life for them being a 10, and the worst possible life being a 0. Each year, the world is presented with a Happiness Report. Not surprisingly, the World Happiness Report finds that people are feeling worse. Negative emotions are rising around the world. Yes, unfortunately it’s true. Negative feelings, such as worry, sadness, and anger, increased by 27 percent from 2010 to 2018. There is a distinct and noticeable parallel between happiness inequality and income inequality, which simply means the poorer you are – the less satisfied with life you are. The gap between the happy and unhappy is also getting wider.

What's The Problem?

The problem is, we’re constantly sold a happiness fantasy. We’re bombarded with advertisements that tell us we need specific products to live better, look better, feel better, and be better. But, all this brainwashing only turns us into consumers who waste our hard earned money on things and stuff that don’t make us happy. Sure, we get a temporary fix of happiness, but it doesn’t last long, and it comes at great cost to us. Not just financially, but psychologically and emotionally too! Having spent our money on phony promises, we’re left feeling emptier, so we have to buy the next thing that comes along in the hope that it will lift us up. We’re mired in a rat race of joyless production and consumption.

When are you going to realize that material comforts don’t give life meaning?


Where Are We Going Wrong?

We all want to be happy but we’re going about it in the wrong way. We’re looking for answers to our misery on the television and in social media. Here, we’re drawn into an external world that is based on entertainment, glamour and illusion.

The tech revolution promises us everything our heart’s desire at the click of a mouse. Anything you want to buy can be ordered online and delivered to your door in a matters of days without you having to leave your home. It’s amazing! And extremely convenient! But this fantastic service is packaged in a highly addictive digital playground where most of what we see is actually beyond our means, and totally unrealistic for us. 

Our new icons are individuals who become rich and famous by doing something that goes viral around the world in seconds. But watching people become famous to millions of complete strangers doesn’t make you happy. It breeds envy, jealously, dissatisfaction, resentment; self-loathing, depression and – yes you guessed it – unhappiness. Seeing fabulous things you can’t have in reality is soul destroying.

Most of humanity are like poverty-stricken homeless people window-shopping at jewelry stores in a digital world of fantasy and delusion.

We’re on the outside of the screen looking into a fantastic universe that we can never truly enter. Yes, we can be entertained and buy what we can afford, but in comparison to the glitz and glamour that is presented to us our lives are empty and meaningless.

What Can We Learn From Studies?

Studies consistently find that people who value money, fame, and image are less happy than those who value personal growth and development, affiliation with others, and community. In truth, we’re all longing for connection. We desperately need to improve our connection to our true-selves, people, nature, spirit and the divine. This connection gives us a sense of belonging, it makes us feel whole, healed and happy.

Interestingly, studies also show that older people are happier, with happiness peaking when people reach their 60s and 70s. Why is that?  Well, the answer is slap-your-forehead simple. Maturity leads to more contentment and a greater appreciation of what really matters in life. The elderly are beyond the pursuit of personal ambitions, material acquisition, and the latest trends. They enjoy spending time with loved ones, doing simple activities they enjoy, and helping others. They are less and less engaged in the rat race. Whilst the rest of the world suffers from an epidemic of addictions, they disassociate from the madness of it all and focus on what matters most to them.

What Can We Learn From Our Elders?

We can learn a lot from our elders. We should be striving to break our addictions. We’re addicted to stress, consumerism, junk food, television, social media, work, ambition, harmful vices, pain and misery. In short, we are ruled by our ego-minds. We need to find our true-selves. We need to reconnect with what really matters in life. For one thing:

Happiness Matters!

You need to make yourself happy.
(No one else is going to do it for you.)
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What Can You Do About It?

So, what can you do to increase your personal happy index? A good place to start is to examine indicators that measure your satisfaction with life. Here they are:


  • Psychological Well-Being (Mental health is as important as physical health)
  • Physical Health (Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness)
  • Time Balance (Devoting time to what counts for our longevity, vitality and happiness)
  • Lifelong Learning (Constantly endeavoring to be the best version of yourself)
  • Community (Striving to improve your connection with others)
  • Social Support (Developing good relations with your loved ones)
  • Environment (Connecting with nature)
  • Work (Doing something you love to sustain your livelihood)
  • Spiritual (Devoting time to raise your self-awareness and connect with your Creator)
  • Emotions (Evoking positive emotions that make you feel good)  


Ask yourself:
What can I do to consciously and deliberately improve my satisfaction with life in the areas mentioned above?


Ways To Make Yourself Happy:

On a practical level, there are a few simple techniques you can apply to make yourself happy. Here they are:

Live With Intention:

Intention is the origin of thought and the seed of creation. You need to have the intention to make yourself happy. Happiness comes from within. It’s not just a response to external forces. It emanates from within you. So, set your intention. Ask yourself: What am I going to do tomorrow what will make me happy? And then do it! That’s how you make yourself happy. Try it. It works, you’ll see…

Be Grateful:

There’s no doubt about it: Gratitude is a proven path to happiness. It’s the easiest way to become happy. So, look for things to be grateful for every day. Keep a journal or even better start a Gratitude Book wherein you list and write about the things in your life for which you are grateful. Training yourself to look for reasons to be grateful every day conditions you to do it. Eventually, it becomes a habit. Practicing gratitude also makes you more resilient in the hard times.

Practice Mindfulness:

Practicing mindfulness simply means being fully present in the moment. We spend so much time thinking about the future or dwelling on the past that we don’t spend enough time in the here and now. But, your point of power is now. This moment is all that is real. Everything else is just sets of thoughts in your head. Try this quick exercise. Sit quietly, close your eyes, and think about moments in your life when you were very happy. What memories spring to mind and how to they make you feel? Hold that feeling. Let this emotion fill you completely. Now, ask yourself: Do I feel happier in this moment?

Look For Good:

It’s easy to see all the things that are wrong with the world. It’s easy to find fault in others. It’s easy not to be satisfied and to want more of everything we desire. But, this doesn’t make you happy. Try something different. Train yourself to see the good in life. When you focus your attention on good things, more good things appear. This is the law of concentration: Whatever you concentrate on grows in your experience. When you look for good, you bring happiness your way. Why? Because everything good makes you happy. Doesn’t it?

Finally... 

Make A Happy Plan

Very few people are genuinely happy, because very few people have a Happy Plan. It’s so easy to do, but people don’t make time to do it. It’s simple:

Make a long list of everything that makes you happy; plan to do at least one thing each day, and then do it. That’s it! It really is that simple, and it really does work. Try it and see for yourself!

Do the True-Self Challenge.

There's no better way to test the efficacy of a Happy Plan, than by actually doing it. The True-Self Challenge is a golden opportunity to give it a go.
BLOGPOST Benefits

What Did You Learn?

Blogpost Objective:

The objective of this blogpost is to inspire you to make yourself happier by creating a Happy Plan.

Call To Action:

Make A Happy Plan. Reread this blogpost - especially the section called What Can You Do About It? - and then create a personal plan of action to consciously and deliberately develop these aspects of your life. Do it, you won't regret it!

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NATURAL AND HOLISTIC HEALING SCHOOL OF HENRY JONES

Do you know how and why to make yourself happy now? 

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