Positive Thinking Happy Living
What you think influences how you feel and how you feel affects the way you perceive your life and yourself. Depending on which kind of thoughts you choose, that cycle can lead you to happiness or despair.
According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, “Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment.” This means that happiness is a present state, something that you can experience in the present moment. Happiness is not something that you’ll achieve in the future when you have “this” or “that.” That present state is now influenced by where you are focusing your thoughts.
Thoughts and emotions are deeply intertwined: if you change your thoughts, your emotions will automatically shift. If you have positive thoughts, you’ll feel happiness and joy.
And how do you know if a thought is positive or negative? You know the quality of thought by how it feels thinking it. The better it feels, the more beneficial it will be for you. The more pleasant that your thoughts are, meaning, the more satisfaction that you get by thinking them, the more happiness they will bring to you.
Our mind can be used as a “problem solver” or as a “pleasure focuser,” and depending on where we put our intention, our mind will attract more of it.
So you could choose to focus on the pleasurable part of your present moment, enjoying each detail that you like. And that will make you feel happier.
What could you appreciate right now?
It’s worth trying, because the happier you are, the bigger the chances you have for having higher success.
That is demonstrated by a meta-analysis of 200 medical studies (involving 275.000 people around the world) made by Lyubrobiski, King, and Diener. In this analysis, they demonstrated that happiness helps people to improve their success in practically all the areas of their lives, including relationships, work, and finances.
What do you think if we add something like: “We all are born empowered to create the life we consider is best for us, but people who are in a positive state are happier, and according to this study, they are more creative, more intelligent and have higher levels of energy.”
And how can you direct your thoughts to become happier?
One of the easiest and most effective tools that I explain in my book Be Happy NOW! is reflecting on your happiness in order to expand it. Asking yourself the ideal questions will help you to receive the answers you want.
When you train your thoughts towards your happiness, you will generate pleasant emotions, which will help the creation of new neuronal connections. These happy thoughts and emotions will rewire your brain to help you be more joyful and optimistic.
Take your time to reflect on this question:
Why are you happy today?
Illustration // Ines Glavas