Be Happy

If you watch children play, they are laughing, smiling and always having fun. They seem to be in a perpetual state of being happy. When they become teenagers the look on their faces is not one of happiness. Maybe they just smelt something that was bad, but the smell must be lingering for a very long time. The wave of adult happiness goes like this: people are happiest around age 20, it then drops, reaching the lowest point at 50. It starts a slow incline again and happiness returns around retirement until the age of 70, followed by another drop off.  

Happy is defined by three little words; delighted, pleased or glad. Happy people are described as being warm, considerate, respectful, helpful and pleasant to be around. Their behavior is one of not gossip or wasting their time complaining. Happy people will focus on what has, is, and can work, rather than on what is problematic. 

There are three simple things that make people happy: close relationships, a job or past time that they love and helping others. 

We all know that a relationship can make or break happiness. Possibly, several times during one day. Overall, being in a close relationship not only with a partner, but with a friend or family member does contribute to being happy. 

Some people say, "I love my job", some use other words to describe how they feel about their job. I have found myself in a situation with people that have a pastime that they love. That is my fellow seniors that go to MOVE class or CrossFit as I like to call it. My new friends are so happy. No one is ever late, by late I mean 10 minutes early. They are warm, considerate, respectful, helpful and extremely pleasant. There is no gossip or complaining. Everyone has a nice smile, works very hard and at the end of the hour, we all high five and say, "that was a workout". I often hear the MOVE clan say, "I never thought I could do what I do, I love it!".

As I write this, it is very early, and I am anticipating going to volunteer in a few hours. I look at my time there as helping others. I know that they are helping me to become a happier person. When I am there I laugh a lot, I smile at others often, and I have some of the most amazing conversations. In other words, helping others makes me happy. The magic number of hours for helping others is 100/year, that is only 8.5 hours a month.  

Happiness is defined as a feeling of pleasure or contentment. Often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction. It seems we are always in the pursuit of happiness. It is far easier for us to identify a person, place or thing that is responsible for our unhappiness, than stating what creates happiness for us. It takes some thought and concentration to determine what brings happiness into our lives. The bottom line is, we are all responsible for our own happiness. 

Three simple things can provide you with happiness: 

1. Someone to love.

2. Something to do.

3. Something to look forward to.

I don't have a pet, but I admire the love between a pet and its owner. I think the unconditional love that a pet gives their owner must be an overwhelming sense of happiness for that person. 

For me, having something to do is usually created by having a project. Right now that project is knitting booties for an organization in Saskatchewan. They provide Teddy Bear booties to sick children. I'm not sure how many I will knit but it will either be 24 booties or 24 pairs of booties.

I still do this, and I think I am not alone in saying, if I have a fun thing planned, I don't sleep well the night before. I am excited like it is Christmas morning. When I lived on the farm and a shopping trip to the city was planned for the next day, oh my goodness, the excitement I felt was unreal. Many people stay in a perpetual state of planning holidays. Others like me move from project to project. Humans need something to look forward to. You don't have to plan a trip to Paris, just keep it simple, and plan something.

I found this list of small tips on how to enjoy life. Enjoying life is an effort to provide our own happiness. Many of them I practice on a regular basis, some could do with more attention from me.  

1. Develop a gratitude attitude.

2. Find a reason to laugh.

3. Take a nap. If you sleep more, you are less sensitive to negative emotions.

4. Exercise, 7 minutes each day is enough.

5. Find out what makes you tick.

6. Nurture positive relationships. Spend more time with friends and family.

7. Go out and meet people. 

8. Create a bucket list and set goals for yourself. 

I hope everyone is taking some time to reflect on what makes you happy. I feel that we don't recognize the feeling of being happy or the sense of achieving happiness. There is so much stress and decisions that have to be made in today's world, taking the time to recognize being happy doesn't seem to happen. Maybe, we need to say, "that makes me happy" or "I'm in my Happy Place" more often. It is your choice to be happy, choose it.

"You'll never be happy unless you try"