Health care - happiness is a state of mind

                                       

How to live happily ever after

The million-dollar question: what do we need to know to live happier?

In the Western world, where existential needs are mostly met, the pursuit of happiness is being pursued through various techniques and teachings, beliefs ... But happiness may be much closer and more accessible to us

The pursuit of happiness is nothing new to human beings. Throughout history, it has been studied from the aspects of philosophy, art, religion, psychology…

As an example in psychology, we can mention the psychologist Abraham Maslow, who in the last century created the famous hierarchy of needs. He says, in short, that one first strives to meet basic needs such as the need for food, drink, and safety, and only then can one embark on the path of satisfying the need for happiness and self-fulfillment.

In the Western world, where most people are provided with basic living conditions, the question has been increasingly raised lately - how can I be happier? Books on this subject are becoming bestsellers, and the profession of life coaches is becoming more and more sought after. After all, the rise of scientific research on happiness moves this phenomenon out of abstraction, so happiness is no longer a banal term reserved for Hollywood movies, but the subject of interest of many.

What is happiness?

Most agree that happiness is not just an unbroken series of positive events that cause us to feel euphoric. It is mostly described as a sense of peace that comes partly from positive feelings, but also largely from the way we think.

All this indicates that happiness is a state of mind, more than the pure feeling that occurs as a result of an event outside of us

How do we treat our inner critic? How will we understand life's challenges - as punishment or as an opportunity to show our strength? How will we choose to relate to the success of our friends? These are just some of the many questions that determine the feelings that will arise in us, and ultimately, determine whether we spend our lives in peace.

All this indicates that happiness is a state of mind, more than the pure feeling that arises as a result of an event outside of us. As such, we can work on it, here are some ways.

Exiting the comfort zone

As the word goes, the comfort zone is comfortable. However, research shows that happier people tend to get out of it more often, risking the initial anxiety that accompanies the unknown. Happy people seem to understand intuitively that the point of life is not always to do what we enjoy.

Each growth is accompanied by a phase of discomfort, insecurity, and vulnerability (see only the awkwardness of children when they start to grow rapidly in the pre-pubertal phase). But growth is a natural need for all of us, and usually, the only way to do this is to get out of the comfort zone.

Practicing gratitude

Gratitude for the positive things in life, such as good friends, healthy children, or a partner who supports us, is one of the things that happy people practice regularly. It's not a point to push all the bad things that happen to us under the rug.

The point of gratitude is to realize that there is so much good in our lives. The goal is to understand that by practicing gratitude, or by awakening some positive things in our lives, we can evoke positive emotions in ourselves. This way, we take control of what we think and feel, which is a really good feeling that we all strive for.

Acceptance of "negative" emotions

People who live in peace with themselves realize that life is not going straight. Happy people know that it is full of waves and that emotions serve as a compass to tell if we are going in the right direction or something we need to change. For example, if we constantly feel bad in the presence of a friend, it might be time to rethink that relationship.

Happy people also know that negative emotions like anger and guilt exist for a reason. Anger can allow us to stand up for ourselves, and guilt motivates us to repair and/or change something in ourselves.

Accordingly, the famous writer Tolstoy said long ago that happiness depends not on what happens to us, but on how we choose to look at what is happening to us.