The Happiness Trick!

Today, as I was walking back to the park after having Amala and ewedu(a Nigerian dish) from a local restaurant. A little kid waved at me as I strolled pass his mom's shop.  I laughed and waved back.  There was instantly a look of surprise and then extreme happiness on the kid’s face just because I waved back to him.  This reminded me of how, as children, we need very little to make us happy.

As adults we somehow grow into the belief that we need everything to be a certain way in order to find and appreciate moments of happiness.  But the truth is, to be happy we need much less than we think we need.  In fact, I believe one of the best feelings comes when you realize that you can be perfectly OK and happy without the things you once thought you needed.  And that’s precisely what today's chat is about – and you need to TRUST me on this.

The Happiness Trick

*Ideal circumstances - Choosing to be positive and grateful for what you have now is going to determine how you’re going to live the rest of your life.  So remember to look for something positive about each day

*Everyone's approval - The biggest prison you will likely ever live in is your fear of what other people think.

*A perfect past - In fact, we often grow stronger in the places we were once broken.  Because it’s not until you’re broken for a while that you truly learn what you’re made of on the inside.  And this insight gives you the ability to rebuild yourself, stronger than ever before. 

*A conscious stress-free life - Great challenges make life interesting; overcoming them makes life meaningful.  Don’t wait until everything is just right; it will never be perfect.  There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions.  So what!  Get started now!  With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more skilled, more confident, and more successful.

*Series of events affecting you - Right now you are creating history – your legacy.  Don’t let life slip by without being aware of it.  Life works in a strange way:  You want something and you work and wait and work and wait, and feel like it’s taking forever to come.  Then it happens and it’s over and all you want to do is relive all the great memories you made along the way.

Happiness is the journey.  Open your eyes.  Don’t miss it

*Money - We all love money! We all want loads of it! 

Happiness formula = Do your best and appreciate what you have.

Unhappiness formula = Compare yourself to others and the things they have.

It’s nice to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s also important to make sure you haven’t lost track of the things that money can’t buy.  You don’t need a lot of money to lead a rich life.  Good friends and a loving family are worth their weight in gold.  It really is the little things that mean the most… like a long hug at just the right time. 

What would you add to the list?  What do we sometimes forget we do NOT need to be happy?