10 Rules for Happiness!
Happiness, something we all strive for, something that often eludes us, something unspoken yet shouted out, hidden yet exposed. Happiness is a personal thing. Some people find happiness alone, on a mountain, serenading nature every day (that would be me!). Other people find happiness in groups of others, laughing and making noise, sharing food and drink, creating a happy chaos (that is my sister). And still other people find happiness surrounded by animals, or plants, children or old people, in cities or the countryside. We all find our own happiness and we need to understand that others find theirs too.
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
― Albert Camus
As we approach the third month into 2024, we can reassess 2023 and set goals for the rest of this awesome year! What are you grateful for? What can you do better this year? What can you take responsibility for in your life? Is your health important to you? Is your family important to you? Finding happiness every day can be a struggle but it often takes a simple change of reaction into positive action. Let’s do it!
10 Tips to Find Happiness in 2024
- Don’t blame others for making you unhappy! Take responsibility for making yourself happy.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
2. Permit yourself to make yourself happy — even if in so doing, others make themselves unhappy.
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
3. Make time for yourself to do things which bring you pleasure and enjoyment in the short term without sacrificing your long-term goals.
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”
― Roy T. Bennett
4. Do things for others and your community without expecting anything back in return.
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy — it’s all that matters.”
― Audrey Hepburn
5. Sacrifice short-term pleasures and put up with short-term discomforts when it helps you achieve longer-term gains.
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
― Dale Carnegie
6. Accept the fallibility of others as well as yourself.
“No medicine cures what happiness cannot.”
― Gabriel García Márquez
7. Don’t take things personally.
“If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.”
― Roy T. Bennett
8. Take healthy risks even when you might fail at things at work or in your personal relationships.
“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
― Charles M. Schulz
9. It doesn’t matter so much what people think about you and what you are doing.
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
― Tom Bodett
10. See uncertainty as a challenge — do not be afraid of it.
“To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.” — Christian D. Larso
Make it happen — choose the path of enlightenment today.
