“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung

1) Live in the Present

“Spiritual teachers have told us that life is unfolding in the now and that only the present moment exists,” says author Lawrence Doochin in his Creations Magazine article (Leave Your Fears Behind).

Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle writes beautifully of how waiting for the future to give us those things we want in life is actually a rejection of the present. When we are so focused on the future where we will feel better about our life, we experience a lack of quality in our present.

2) Pay Attention to the Good

Take a closer look at the types of posts that you are drawn to on social media. Before you share or comment, stop and consider the content. The choice you make is one that can make the world a better place for others and for yourself.

3) Take Social Media Breaks

Studies have found that extended time on social media sites negatively impacts our happiness.

“By choosing to take breaks from Facebook — or changing the way we use social media — we can boost our happiness,” says Tchiki Davis, Ph. D. in Psychology Today (How to Be Happy: 23 Ways to Be Happier).

4) Listen to Music that Uplifts Your Mood

Music has been shown to decrease anxiety and affect your emotions and feelings.

(See the Music – Sound Resources section at the back of Inquire Within: A Guide to Living in Spirit.)

5) Keep Your Posture Positive

Good body posture can help you feel more positive. You can support this by standing up straight, pulling your shoulders back, holding your chin high, and stretching your arms wide. Feeling more confident positively affects hormones and leads to less stress and more happiness.

6) Give Yourself the Gift of Less

In our blog post The Path of Subtraction, James talks about how hoarding clogs up energy. Clearing away physical and mental space creates more room for growth in the same way that transplanting a tree into a bigger pot helps it thrive.

Walk the path of subtraction and see how much you gain. Our possessions are not what make us who we are.

7) Build a Growth Mindset for Happiness

“A growth mindset refers to the belief that we can change ourselves,” says Tchiki Davis. “When we build a growth mindset for happiness, we believe we can change our happiness. This is super important, because if we don’t believe we can increase our happiness, we won’t even bother to try.”

8) Spend Time with Nature

The feeling of harmony and joy received from being outdoors comes back home and affects our lives in a wonderfully healthy way. Repeated visits in nature increase this benefit over time and improve the way we feel in our home life, in our social life, and even in our work life.

When we say we need to “get some air,” it is often more than that. Being outside makes us feel better. We have an unconscious need to be with the sky and the Earth because we are part of it. This is the world which relaxes and energizes us and gives us all we need to live.

9) Be Kind

Remember to always be gentle on your path. Be gentle with yourself and be gentle with others. 

10) Be Thankful

The practice of gratitude involves a voluntary thankfulness for our life and all that is in it. Gratitude is not passive. Instead, it is an active process which we consciously initiate that is not dependent on receiving anything beyond what we already have. There is an intellectual component to gratitude which is not based on emotion.

I want what I already have.

“Be grateful for the simple things, such as the fact that you’re alive, you’re breathing, and you can read these words,” Lawrence Doochin says. “Your choice is making room for the joy of the present.” 

In this space of gratitude, in the now, you’ve made room for happiness.

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REFERENCES:

Lawrence Doochin. (2021) Leave Your Fear Behind [online]. Creations Magazine.

Tchiki Davis. (2018) How to Be Happy: 23 Ways to Be Happier [online]. Psychology Today.

James K. Papp. (2017) The Soul of Social Media Is . . . Us [online]. Inquire Within

James K. Papp. (2019) Happy New Year: The Path of Subtraction [online]. Inquire Within 

James K. Papp. (2016) Inquire Within A Guide to Living in Spirit. Planet Papp.

Photo credits: James K. Papp