When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. ~Hellen Keller
Life is full of contrast, and if it were not so it would be pretty bland.
We are surrounded by “good” stuff and “bad” stuff every day. Similar to light and dark, how could you know one without the other? You wouldn’t know what dark was if you didn’t experience light.
As we move through our day, we can choose to put our attention on anything we want – on the door that just closed or start looking for an open one.
Here is a great example from Forbes:[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” ]
“April showers bring May flowers” was coined by:
a) A grumpy old man named Bernie
b) An optimist who CHOSE to view inclement weather as the source of rainbows and tulips rather than bad hair and squashed worms [/box]
When you look for things to be happy about, that is what you will find, so why not focus there?
The Case for Seeking Happiness
Happy people are just flat out more fun to be around. I used to see it in my old friends Susie and Ellen.
Susie was always laughing. Every place she went she was like a magnet – people were just drawn to her.
Ellen was waiting for someone to bring fun to her. She rarely smiled, and as you can imagine, if they were out together most people were paying attention to Susie.
Happy people tend to be more successful at work.
And you know what else?
Dopamine, a chemical that is produced in the brain when we are happy, also improves your focus and creativity. Maybe that is one of the reasons they tend to be more successful!
Happy people are more resilient from the effects of stress.
And since stress is the root cause for so many physical ailments, happy people tend to be healthier!
How to be Happier
If you want to increase your ability to find happiness, you can start by feeling gratitude.
Start a gratitude journal and begin with finding one thing that you feel grateful for and write it down. Slowly start increasing the number of things you feel grateful for – people, places, events, pets. Soon you will find that the feelings of gratitude start spreading through your day.
Before you go to bed at night think of the best experience you had during your day. Review it in your mind and say a mental “thank you!”
The more time you spend thinking about the good things in your life and in the world, the happier you will be.