Find Happiness Within and Make Life Better * Spotlight My Health

We all think about our happiness at different times of our lives. All of us want to be happy, but many of us don’t know just what causes us to be happy. We struggle with that. Many don’t realize that we have to find happiness within before we can be truly happy.

Your happiness should be a part of your regular self-care. It’s part of you and reflects on you to the outside world. Personal happiness helps determine how you react to the world and how that world may react to you.

If you are someone that is struggling with finding happiness in your life, read on. We are going to take a quick look at how we can determine what makes us happy so we can make changes in our lives so more happiness comes our way.

There are different things you can do, but first you have to determine the things that are important to you and bring you happiness. Usually, our true happiness is associated with some of our core values, so we are also going to look at those core values.

Determine What Makes You Happy

Making ourselves happy is unique to each and everyone of us. What makes me happy may not do a thing for you and visa versa. And what makes us happy may not make the people around us happy either.

We all find happiness when doing certain everyday activities like eating a certain kind of food we like, getting a new pair of shoes, our pets or spending time with our families.

But there are fundamental patterns that can be found in most of our lives that can be attributed to making us happy. And that is what we are looking for. So, lets start by breaking this down and working a plan so we can reach some conclusions.

Core Values and What’s Important

First, let’s look at what core values are: Core values are the fundamental beliefs of a person or organization. These guiding principles dictate behavior and can help people understand the difference between right and wrong. (yourdictionary.com)

To me core values are what make up a person or what type of person you are deep down inside you. It’s what we hold close to ourselves and contribute to what makes us….well, us. For instance, integrity is important to me. To me, when someone has integrity other core values usually follow such as, honesty, trust, justice, responsibility and loyalty. Integrity means all these things to me and is therefore, a core value for me.

Take some time to think about what your core values are and write them down. Here are some common core values to get you started.

Core Values

Service to others
Responsibility/duty
Faith/service to others/hope
Honor/Integrity/honesty/respect/loyalty
Trust
Freedom/courage
Justice
Family

What Is Important To You

By now, I hope that you have started a file in google on your phone for your notes. Or you can write them down. I say phone, because that is something that most of us have with us at all times. And you don’t need to find paper and pen when you think of something that is important to you.

Right now, you should have your core values noted. And now I’m asking you to start making a list of things you can think of that are important to you.

For me this includes my family, of course. Then there is the beach. Oh, and I hate it if I don’t have enough books to read or I wouldn’t be able to travel with friends on occasion.

I also like doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I like having enough money in my accounts to pay all my bills without worrying and then a little extra, just in case.

Having alone time to myself every day so I can rejuvenate is important to me. See where I’m going with the “important” part of this.

Tracking What Makes You Happy Within

This is where you start getting down to the nitty gritty of what makes you happy within. Bring your phone out again and start taking notes on anything that puts a smile on your face. Take note of how you are feeling at the point in time that caused that smile.

Yes, it may sound corny, but how else will you really be able to determine everything that makes you happy and keep track of it.

Do it in google notes on your phone—no one will ever know. And don’t be surprised that this may take several weeks, or longer. Everything that makes you happy won’t occur in just a day or two and wouldn’t you rather have good data to look at when this part is complete.

While you are taking your notes, hopefully you will start to see some patterns. Patterns of things that make you happy or that you think are important.

But, try not to think too hard about being happy. Focusing on this to the point of thinking of nothing else, will cause you to miss when you are feeling happy.

Include Important Things

Include things that you think are important to you, not just things you come across that makes you happy. For instance, I absolutely love the beach and I’ve told hubby we will be retiring somewhere near the beach. But, it has to be within distance for a day trip drive and back to see my kids. They are important to me too—go figure!

For me, my kids and family are very important, and even though the beach is important, I can’t put it into the same category as my family.

Travel to new places makes me happy too, but again, I want to travel with family and/or good friends. Spending down time with my friends is also important to me.

Believe it or not, I shop online as much as I can, cause I don’t like crowds. Being able to do this makes me happy. (Yes, I’m an introvert, at heart).

I’ve always felt like watching TV was a waste of time, but it’s something I love to do, especially movies. So, a long time ago, I started doing something else, while I’m watching. Like right now. I’m writing while I’m also enjoying a show.

I’ve learned it makes me happy to stay busy, but the caveat is, it has to be things I want to be doing. And housekeeping isn’t one of them.

Use A Rating System

It may also help you to rate your day at the end of the day on a scale of 1- 10 with ten being the best. Don’t put a lot into this, just a general rating will help. If any day goes over a five, look back over the day so that you can determine what it was that made you happy during the day.

If there is anything specific, write it down. What made the day good or bad? This can go a long way toward helping to see patterns and determining what really makes you happy.

What Made You Happy Within As A Kid?

Kids have it easy, don’t they? In general, they really don’t do much else but what makes them happy. And they don’t care who is watching. But they figure out what is fun to them and continue to do whatever that is.

For me, it was reading. I couldn’t get enough of it. I still enjoy it, but I certainly don’t do as much as I used to. Going to amusement parts was incredible to me. Riding my bike and flying down the road was thrilling.

Meditation

Meditation is good for you in more ways than most of us realize. When you meditate, you have no other choice but to spend time with yourself. You are basically alone with yourself, leaving you this time to confront your thoughts and feelings. This can lead you to what genuinely makes you happy.

Besides, when you meditate it releases endorphins and serotonin into your body which makes you feel happier. Try making meditation part of your daily routine and see how you begin to feel.

If you can’t meditate right off the bat, try sitting quietly with eyes shut and do some deep breathing. On the count of four breath in and then on the count of four again, breath out.

When I first started meditating, I used guided meditation from YouTube. Give it a try—its very relaxing and helped me to focus much better.

5:00 and 10:00 minute meditations for beginners, by The Honest Guys

The Blessing
Mindfulness

Translate Your Collected Data Into What Makes You Happy Within

This may be one of the harder parts of this search for you finding happiness within. It’s time to take a long look at the notes you’ve written down and decide on the things that make you deep down happy.

These things will make your soul smile way before the smile hits your face. Look for patterns of what you were doing when happiness hit you. Those are important tidbits of information that only you can decide what to do with.

When you come up with these answers, then you’ll know what things you need to keep doing more often to bring you more happiness. Afterall, that’s the in goal in this search. Finding out what brings you happiness and then keep doing it.

You may have to change things in your life to bring about the happiness, but at least by the end of this exercise you’ll know which way to turn and what changes to start making.

Final Thoughts

It may feel strange when you are beginning an exercise like this, but if you stick with it until you’ve at least got some data to look at, your rewards could be incredible.

Image knowing exactly what makes you happy so you can continue doing those things on a regular basis. Your happiness is just as important as your family, your livelihood or anything else you can come up with.

Remember, we all need balance in our lives and happiness is part of that equation. The better you know yourself and realize that your happiness is part of your self-care, will always be a winning combo. Do you really know what makes you happy? I’d love to hear from you.