21 habits of happy people

21 habits of happy people
From mind openers...
Food for thought......
Interesting read....

“Happiness is a habit – cultivate it.” ~ Elbert Hubbard
Happiness is one aspiration all people share. No one wants to be sad and depressed.
We’ve all seen people who are always happy – even amidst agonizing life trials. I’m not saying happy people don’t feel grief, sorrow or sadness; they just don’t let it overtake their life. The following are 21 things happy people make a habit of doing:

1. Appreciate Life

Be thankful that you woke up alive each morning. Develop a childlike sense of wonder towards life. Focus on the beauty of every living thing. Make the most of each day. Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

2. Choose Friends Wisely

Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values and goals. Friends that have the same ethics as you will encourage you to achieve your dreams. They help you to feel good about yourself. They are there to lend a helping hand when needed.

3. Be Considerate

Accept others for who they are as well as where they are in life. Respect them for who they are. Touch them with a kind and generous spirit. Help when you are able, without trying to change the other person. Try to brighten the day of everyone you come into contact with.

4. Learn Continuously

Keep up to date with the latest news regarding your career and hobbies. Try new and daring things that has sparked your interest – such as dancing, skiing, surfing or sky-diving.

5. Creative Problem Solving

Don’t wallow in self-pity. As soon as you face a challenge get busy finding a solution. Don’t let the set backs affect your mood, instead see each new obstacle you face as an opportunity to make a positive change. Learn to trust your gut instincts – it’s almost always right.

6. Do What They Love

Some statistics show that 80% of people dislike their jobs! No wonder there’s so many unhappy people running around. We spend a great deal of our life working. Choose a career that you enjoy – the extra money of a job you detest isn’t worth it. Make time to enjoy your hobbies and pursue special interests.

7. Enjoy Life

Take the time to see the beauty around you. There’s more to life than work. Take time to smell the roses, watch a sunset or sunrise with a loved one, take a walk along the seashore, hike in the woods etc. Learn to live in the present moment and cherish it. Don’t live in the past or the future.

8. Laugh

Don’t take yourself – or life to seriously. You can find humor in just about any situation. Laugh at yourself – no one’s perfect. When appropriate laugh and make light of the circumstances. (Naturally there are times that you should be serious as it would be improper to laugh.)

9. Forgive

Holding a grudge will hurt no one but you. Forgive others for your own peace of mind. When you make a mistake – own up to it – learn from it – and FORGIVE yourself.

10. Gratitude

Develop an attitude of gratitude. Count your blessings; All of them – even the things that seem trivial. Be grateful for your home, your work and most importantly your family and friends. Take the time to tell them that you are happy they are in your life.

11. Invest in Relationships

Always make sure your loved ones know you love them even in times of conflict. Nurture and grow your relationships with your family and friends by making the time to spend with them. Don’t break your promises to them. Be supportive.

12. Keep Their Word

Honesty is the best policy. Every action and decision you make should be based on honesty. Be honest with yourself and with your loved ones.

13. Meditate

Meditation gives your very active brain a rest. When it’s rested you will have more energy and function at a higher level. Types of meditation include yoga, hypnosis, relaxation tapes, affirmations, visualization or just sitting in complete silence. Find something you enjoy and make the time to practice daily.

14. Mind Their Own Business

Concentrate on creating your life the way you want it. Take care of you and your family. Don’t get overly concerned with what other people are doing or saying. Don’t get caught up with gossip or name calling. Don’t judge. Everyone has a right to live their own life the way they want to – including you.

15. Optimism

See the glass as half full. Find the positive side of any given situation. It’s there – even though it may be hard to find. Know that everything happens for a reason, even though you may never know what the reason is. Steer clear of negative thoughts. If a negative thought creeps in – replace it with a positive thought.

16. Love Unconditionally

Accept others for who they are. You don’t put limitations on your love. Even though you may not always like the actions of your loved ones – you continue to love them.

17. Persistence

Never give up. Face each new challenge with the attitude that it will bring you one step closer to your goal. You will never fail, as long as you never give up. Focus on what you want, learn the required skills, make a plan to succeed and take action. We are always happiest while pursuing something of value to us.

18. Be Proactive

Accept what can not be changed. Happy people don’t waste energy on circumstances beyond their control. Accept your limitations as a human being. Determine how you can take control by creating the outcome you desire – rather than waiting to respond.

19. Self Care

Take care of your mind, body and health. Get regular medical check ups. Eat healthy and work out. Get plenty of rest. Drink lots of water. Exercise your mind by continually energizing it with interesting and exciting challenges.

20. Self Confidence

Don’t try to be someone that you’re not. After all no one likes a phony. Determine who you are in the inside – your own personal likes and dislikes. Be confident in who you are. Do the best you can and don’t second guess yourself.

21. Take Responsibility

Happy people know and understand that they are 100% responsible for their life. They take responsibility for their moods, attitude, thoughts, feelings, actions and words. They are the first to admit when they’ve made a mistake.

Begin today by taking responsibility for your happiness. Work on developing these habits as you own. The more you incorporate the above habits into your daily lifestyle – the happier you will be.

Most of all: BE TRUE TO YOURSELF.

original post: Global One
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography



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I see I have a lot I need to work on.... Baby steps....

too much work..... i think I will just take a nap and hope the house falls down on top of me.

This thread needs a big red TRIGGER symbol on it upfront.

These kinds of 'positivity dumps' of preaching from on high,
enforced with the 'shoulds' just rile me.

These are excellent thoughts and affirmations to grow from each day. Thank you for sharing this with the forum.

This does seem pretty overwhelming, but thanks for sharing.

Perhaps better in the other mental health discussion section or something...part of being depressed is an inability to do a lot of those things on the list on a consistent basis...and it sort of seems to define depression and happiness as simple 'choices' when its more complex than that...If I could just choose not to be depressed I would have done it a long time ago.

Appreciate your post...do you by chance have 21 steps to getting over/healing from an abusive and torture-filled childhood? I've been working on it for 25 years now and I have come a long way but any additional help would be great.
I'm not offended but your post may come across to some as a very generic step-by-step guide to ultimate happiness, which most of us have surely tried and are still working on.

Doesn't offend me, just isn't helpful for me...but if its helpful to others then that is good but I just feel that sort of thing is most helpful when presented as just a general approach to happiness rather then a solution to depression which it comes off as being having been posted in this section. Can't say much on that list is bad...but certainly very hard to implement and sometimes one cannot choose to do those things even if they make an effort due to the depression symptoms.

I've found respect and empathy to be significantly more important than happiness and positivity, especially because people's attitudes are going to vary as they go through different life phases. There's something to be said for limiting your intake of gloom and doom, but the friendships that last and provide long-term support are those that exist for deeper reasons than secondhand happiness.

I have two friendships that have lasted for over a decade now and one that's lasted for four years, and all were forged during difficult or uncertain times. One of them I was becoming close to as we both tried to keep away from unhealthy relationships, and my friend's ex was prone to emotional blackmail. But we had kindness and understanding for each other, and the respect to not abuse each other's support.

Those with good boundaries are also wary of "emotional vampires", people who search out those who are feeling better than they are in order to leech off of their good vibes and be validated by the acceptance of happier, stronger, more successful, or sympathetic people.

I think dancing is also very important to happiness but that's just me.

And dark chocolate !!!

That's how I feel, too. I had another session with my therapist today, and she said pretty much the same thing, that it's all about "choices". All this does is frustrate me. I feel mad enough at myself that I can't do things as I usually would if I weren't experiencing the depression. For the life of me I don't know why anyone would "choose" to be depressed. Of course I want to be happy! I want to live a "normal" life. If I could just do x, y, z to not feel this way, I would have. When people say that it's all about choices, all it does is fuel the mistaken belief that depression and other mental illnesses don't really exist and that our character is flawed. That list may work for some people, but not for me, not right now.

Far too often I find myself disappointed by the fact that I woke up and now someone wants me to be happy about it.

Is not allowing the happy proselytizers get to us.

Here they come and they brought their happiness machine!

Reading these life choices just makes me feel more guilty and in turn more depressed. I feel more now like it's all my fault and I'm a miserable failure. Sorry to the people who wrote it, but that's how I feel at least.

I'll just think happy thoughts.... o wait.... maybe that was my problem.

So the cure is... stop having the problem. MMmmkay.....

The DIY Couturier ? To the person who wrote "21 habits of happy people"

This is it, yes, puzzlebug.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Doesn't even look benign, does it?

Thanks for this alert.

Your twisted sense of humor always brightens my day!