Happy for no reason
I´ve had a fabulous day today! Just awesome! I have a cousin who lives in Portland, Oregon and she is now here in Sweden visiting her mom and friends. I think it´s ten years since we met so it was wonderful to meet her today. She and her mother came to visit me today and I loved every minute. So right now I´m just sitting here with a big smile feeling totally happy. So, today it was really easy for me to reach my daily goal: to be happy. This gives me another memory to put in my bank of things being happy for another day when it´s harder to reach my daily goal of feeling happy. I guess that you already have figured out the topic of this post. Yes, today I´m gonna write about being happy for no reason and that´s really my favorite topic. Ready?
Happy for no reason? That´s not possible! I can´t be happy unless something special happens in my environment, right? Well, you can, you just have to know how to do. Let me tell you how!
Most people live their lives in a waiting state and by that I mean that they are constantly waiting for the right things to happen so that they can be happy. It is true to some extent that they become happy when that right thing happens, but after a while decreases happiness and they are back in the normal state of waiting. What the right thing means is different for different people but it can be about: getting a job, finding an apartment, finding a partner, to get more money, to buy a sweater, etc.
Research shows that we all have our own built-in level of happiness that we always return to after being really happy or really unhappy. So, at a scale between 1-10 then you maybe have 6 as your everyday level of happiness, but if you get your dream job then you reach a level of happiness at 10. After a while when you worked for a time at that new job your level of happiness gradually decreases and you are back at 6. Likewise, if something sad happens, say you lose your job, then your happiness level drops to 2 but gradually it rises to finally be back in a 6.
The first time I read this study I felt quite disappointed because I want to have the ability to stay in a high level of happiness all the time and not only when special things happens. But, I have studied this topic further and I finally came to the conclusion that we can raise our level of happiness through a conscious effort. It´s all in your mind and in your thoughts and there is plenty we can do to raise our level of happiness. The research has also concluded that external factors has little or no impact, it’s entirely our thoughts that has impact on our level of happiness. It is your perception of the external circumstances that controls your level of happiness.
This boy I met at an orphanage in India and he and the other children showed me true happiness. They owned nothing, had no great future to look forward to, but they were still happy. I see this as a proof that external circumstances doesn´t matter. If it only was the external circumstances that determined our level of happiness then all millionaires be super happy, right? All those who have reached tangible success would be super happy, right? (The reason for why I use money and material things as examples are just because the general perception in the community is that success = lot of material things and money. However, I have a different idea of what true success are.)
If you haven´t tried to be happy for no reason yet you have the perfect opportunity now cause I´m gonna tell you how and I will take myself as an example. I love music and I usually say that there are two kinds of music, there’s bad music, and there’s good music. And I listen to the one that´s good. I have created playlists with music that just snatches hold of me and simply forces me to be happy. Such music that just forces me to feel happy, free and on top of the world. So when I want to reach a higher level of happiness I just listen to my playlist at Spotify, and then immediately my level of happiness increases.
So music is really my shortcut for happiness but I also know that it´s not the case for everyone. So, all you have to do is to find your shortcut to happiness and I´ll give you some examples: it can be memories, dancing, running, training, favorite hobby, bird watching, bowling, cinema, smells, images, a special person, thoughts, singing, writing, surfing, driving, diving, biking etc. So, what makes you really happy? Dig in to your bank of memories and search for memories of times when you where really happy. What did you do? How did it make you feel? Can you do it again?
So, it´s your choice. Do you want to live your life in a state of waiting or do you choose to actively ensure that you are happy by doing things that make you happy? Life is too short for just waiting for things to happen so you can feel happiness.