Wednesday 8 April 2009

10 Steps to Happiness

I have often wondered how one can find real happiness in life. I have read many books on the pursuit of happiness and visited many sites on the same issue. I certainly got out of them a lot of constructive information. The first step I took towards happiness was to stop thinking negative or feeling self-pity. Here are the 10 steps I took and which led me to happiness:
1. Learn to love yourself as you are with your pluses and minuses.
2. Be confident but not over confident.
3. Be creative. Start a sport , a hobby....
4. Forget your own ego and concentrate on your spiritual self.
5. Dream - dreams often come true. It's up to you to realise them.
6. Greet your neighbours even if you don't like them. This is not hypocricy since wishing anyone a good day will make your day happier too.
7. Don't forget to smile! (at least 20 times a day)
8. Respect others as you would like them to respect you!
9. Have fun! Meet your friends, go out, enjoy yourself!
10. Count your blessings.
And as Alan Chalmers said : The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. It was very interesting to read it. But I don't think its easy to find happiness. Or if you like the problems of everyday life won't let us find it. I don't think that there is anyone who is 100% happy. There is always something missing from our lives. The perfect happiness does not exist.

Stefania said...

I really loved the quote on the top of your post. Happiness comes when you don't really expect it. As for me very simple things can make me happy - like an early-morning swim, my family, working in the garden. And yes, helping others as its mentioned in your link - that's very important because it can give you a feeling of self-satsfaction.

Constantinos said...

* I agree, Sophia, it isn't easy to find happiness and the more you are after it the less likely it is to find it. I think that what prevents people from being really happy is that they are too pre-occupied with their everyday problems. There will always be problems, yet despite them, you can adopt a different way of thinking and behaving and then you will feel happier. I loved that link and thought I'd share it here because by just reading it, it made me smile and smiling is one important step toward happiness.

* Stefania, little things in life can provide some pleasure or satisfaction but I don't think they are enough to make us happy-at least not me. However much I enjoy fishing, spending time on a Greek island admiring its beauty and talking to the locals, there is always a blank space. Don't you think so? To me happiness is finding the true meaning of our spiritual existence.

Stefania said...

I am not a very spiritual person, Constantine, so happiness for me is small things in life that I can see or touch.

Anastasia Marou said...

Finding happiness is like finding yourself. You don't find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Self-actualisation is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings YOU the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run.

Anonymous said...

happiness is sometimes very simple and sometimes very complex depending on what makes us happy. what makes me really happy is to be with people i love and thats enough for me.

Olga said...

I agree Constantine mou that you need to love yourself as you are so that you can love others. I am more happy when I give, when I offer than when I receive.

Katie said...

Happiness cannot be defined for a group, no one has the same view of what happiness is. Where happiness can be defined as a chemical reaction in your brain, it is what you do and experience which makes you happy. The sum of those experiences and one’s positive reaction to them defines happiness-and these experiences are unique for each person.

Anonymous said...

i feel the happiest when the people i love are happy too. there is always so much to love in the joy of another.

summer

ps. may you have a happy easter. hugs :)

Constantinos said...

* Stefania, spiritual happiness to me has a special meaning : if I love myself, I can love other people around me and by loving them, I find a new meaning of happiness which is within.

* Anastasia, the problem is that very often you have to choose between what you have to do - whether you like it or not - and what what you wish to do which will eventually bring you happiness. It's a hard choice.

* Christina, I have recently discovered that the quest of happiness lies in our inner dreams and desires. Once we matelialise these desires, we have a feeling of satisfaction that leads us to happiness.

* Olga, giving and offering is , I think much more valuable than wanting and receiving. And although we need to consider our own very personal needs in order to be happy, helping others and contributing to their happiness is one big step forward to finding our own spiritual happiness.

* I agree, Katie. Happiness is subjective. Different people can be happy because of different things or reasons. The sum total of our experiences can lead us to happiness or unhappiness. In the long run, I guess it's our choice. Thinking positive is the forst step to happiness.

* Yes, Summer, I feel the same way too. If the people I love are happy, certainly I am happy too, yet personal happiness also depends on how we feel inside about ourselves.