The Mindset of Happiness

Most of us do not wake up in the morning with the goal of pursuing misery in our day, but rather we often consciously or not, want to pursue that which will make us happy.

Happiness for some is an endless and even relentless pursuit, often experienced only in short bursts.  And of course, our ideas of what makes us happy can differ wildly from person to person.

For some, it’s the satisfaction of working hard all week and enjoying a night out with the guys, the girls, or your sweetie on a Friday night.

Some people find happiness in new experiences, adventures or travel.

And others find their source of happiness largely coming from time spent with family, a significant other, or children.  

Any and all of these things can bring us a sense of joy, happiness or inner contentment.

But why does the feeling of happiness often feel so fleeting?

And just as importantly, since a feeling of happiness, joy or contentment is good for our physical, emotional and mental health, how can we extend it?

Two things come to mind!

The first is to consider your thoughts, choices, attitudes and mindset around the idea of inner contentment.  In other words, what small things might you begin to notice and derive some pleasure from?  Do you enjoy running errands? What is your ability to be present with your child and play instead of worrying about your “to do list”?  Happiness starts as a choice within our own mindset. We can choose it and look for small ways to bring in more of it.

Secondly, serving others – whether it’s happily doing chores, knocking out work tasks, or bringing your elderly neighbor some soup, has numerous benefits.

 It feels good to be of service to others.

Perhaps you have done volunteer work before and remember how good that felt to serve your community in some way. You might look for more opportunities to share your time and talents again with your community.

Many of us are looking outside of ourselves for an elusive sustaining happiness that never quite seems to arrive.

Consider that happiness is both an intrinsic as well as extrinsic event if we are intentional to focus on finding small moments of joy and happiness interspersed throughout our day.

Start each day with “putting on” the mindset of happiness.  That will greatly affect your perception of events and prime your brain to naturally identify and enjoy more moments in your day.