The Velvet Type

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The Key to Happiness

By: Kassandra Lippincott

How to Find What Makes You Happy

Happiness is often seen as a destination for some individuals, a long road of challenges and difficult experiences that continuously happen until we finally reach a place in our lives where we can finally be happy. We often hear phrases like ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ or ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’. It makes it sounds as if we are supposed to experience struggles until we reach our ultimate goal where we are able to truly find happiness. What they don’t tell you is that the key to happiness is letting go of the idea that it’s a place of everlasting joy and bliss. Life is like a roller coaster and we are bound to run into unpredictable challenges and bumps on our journey.

There are a lot of different opinions and paths to take, some may look into religion or a higher power to guide them, and others may look at a more universal and divine power that influences them. Science itself has a large amount of research on the matter. In today’s society, we consume a large amount of information every second due to technology and it can impact how we see ourselves or the world. This can highly impact our mental health and overall affect our mood and quality of life especially if you let what you see online dictate the perception of your life and how you see yourself.

The key to happiness isn’t working so hard and carrying the weight that one day we’ll be in a place in life where we can be happy. Anyone can be happy, and they can start today.

Letting Go of Expectations

From a young age, we are often told what our lives should look like, and if someone doesn’t rebel against those ideas they then put pressure on themselves to live up to them. Expectations are what we think will happen and when it doesn’t play out the way we thought and a whirlwind of unsettling thoughts and emotions can occur. When we let go of what we think our lives should be and pay attention more to what it is, a weight is lifted. There is no longer the pressure you put on yourself or others to live up to some ideas in your mind that may be entirely unrealistic. Letting go is a practice that takes time to master, it shifts your mind from a place where negative thoughts circulate to a healthier thought process.

Finding Joy

Joy can be defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness which coinsides with overall happiness. In order to live a happier life, joy is at the core of that. The feeling of happiness is temporary, those feelings fluncate as we each go throuogh various experiences. Joy is a more reasonable feeling that is more lasting than happiness. Finding joy in the little things is actually quite simply and it’s quite easy to do. You can integrate it in your daily routine, here a few examples of where I find joy:

It’s all simple and little things that make you happy and they add up at the end of every day. Sometimes people put pressure on themselves to be as happy as they can be and try all these different things outside of what they already have. Finding joy helps you discover yourself and what you life. It’s apart of your journey that overall benefits your quality of life.

Here are some larger things that make me happy and I find joy in:

Practice Gratitude

Often times we are quick to want things in life and aim to gain more whether that’s in a material form or mental. It’s human instinct to want the nicest car and the biggest house, especially in today’s society. One thing that is highly impactful in altering someone’s life is practicing gratitude. To look at what is currently in front of you and appreciate all that you have. This can come in many forms either from social interactions and challenges we face or the material aspect and appreciating you have a roof over your head and running water. It forces you to be present and find the good in every situation you encounter which overall greatly impacts your quality of life.

There is endless information on various ways to incoporate joy in your life. These are a few ways in which I personally find happiness and it varies on every person. Hopefully you can learn something and start the process of changing your life for the better. Below are various resources to articles with even more information!

Resources:

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