Why are happy people happy?
"Your beliefs become your thoughts,your thoughts become your words,your words become your actions,your actions become your habits,your habits become your values,your values become your destiny"
- Mahatma Gandhi
I'm a happy person. In my deepest core of being, I believe people are good, that things will work out and that essentially life is good! I'm an optimist, what can I say? I often have people say to me, "How come you are so happy? Why are you such an optimist?" And to be honest, I don't have a pat answer for that. So this weekend, when I got asked that, I decided to do some research, and I found some pretty interesting stuff.One article I particularly liked was on a very cool blog called Successify! The creator of Successify, Dr. Kris Heap, credits Chiara Fucarino for the article. So I say thank you to both of these women for an amazing list. The list boils down to the fact that happy people have positive habits. They claim that there are 22 things that Happy People do that create positive habits.
1. Don’t hold grudges.2. Treat everyone with kindness.3. See problems as challenges.4. Express gratitude for what they already have.5. Dream big.6. Don’t sweat the small stuff.7. Speak well of others.8. Never make excuses.9. Get absorbed into the present.10. Wake up at the same time every morning.11. Avoid social comparison.12. Choose friends wisely.13. Never seek approval from others.14. Take the time to listen.15. Nurture social relationships.16. Meditate.17. Eat well.18. Exercise.19. Live minimally.20. Tell the truth.21. Establish personal control.22. Accept what cannot be changed.
For the full post and explainations of the 22 habits, do go visit Successify! It's a great site.But according to Gandhi, (and honestly, who's gonna argue with him?) - Habits themselves come way down the list, following actions, words, thoughts and beliefs. So I decided to explore each of these in turn. On my next blog post, I'll explore beliefs, both positive and negative, and how they impact us.But in the meantime, I'd like to leave you with a song. When I was thinking of a happy song, I was brought back to 1968, I was 10 years old, at Lincoln School, in the 5th grade. Our teacher, Miss Brown, let us listen to 45s in the class sometimes. And I loved this song. It made me happy - it's just a happy song! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdT3tn1lWZo] I'd love to hear about your habits - are they positive or negative? Do they make you happier or bring you down? And as always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.