A lofty new year goal for 2017: resounding happiness!

Instead of boasting resolutions often broken in a month’s time, why not set goals and integrate practices that repeatedly guarantee success? When we are happy, we produce better work, we love greater, we give more, and aspire to new heights of creativity.  So, if everything falls into place when we are happy, why would we waste time focusing on anything else?

Happiness is a mind-set

According to the National Brain Institute, we have roughly 50,000-70,000 thoughts running through our head on any given day.  We’re only conscious of some of these thoughts. Have you ever observed your thoughts and how they impact you? Are your thoughts serving your best interests? Are they getting you where you want to go? Are your thoughts making you more of who you want to be?  Some people believe they are wired to think a certain way. My father used to tell me “a tiger can’t change his stripes.” I tend to disagree with that philosophy when it comes to thoughts and patterns. I believe we have the ability to change our thoughts through awareness.

 We’re in charge of our happiness

Have you ever heard the expression, “happiness is an inside job?”  No matter what someone says or does to you, happiness is your responsibility.  It’s what you say to yourself afterward that matters. This is a standard many people aren’t fond of.  “You mean we have to do it ourselves?”  We are brought up to think that other people have some great power over us, like the little man behind the giant curtain in the Wizard of Oz, and if someone does something that is not to our liking, we have to suffer and lose our sense of joy.  This is a fallacy.

Happiness can begin at any moment

You may need a touchstone or a reminder, but I don’t believe happiness is something we need to search for.  We make it harder than it is.  If our goal is to feel good, we can make step by step decisions in alignment with that goal.  I do not understand how people continuously complain and participate in circumstances or with people that feel bad.  I have a wise friend who has a saying, “Follow the feel good.” It’s a simple philosophy: if something is healthy for you, and when you think about it, talk about it, or experience it, if it brings you joy…you follow it!

 Define happiness standards  

Do you know what makes you happy? You’d be surprised how many people do not know how to answer to this question. We know without a doubt what frustrates us and can describe to a T what gets us angry, but that’s so 2016!  Most of us are unclear or oblivious as to what actually brings us joy. There are standards you can set for yourself around happiness. Standards are behaviors we hold ourselves to. For example, one happiness standard I hold is; I spend time with optimists.  I have to, I’m an empath. I absorb other people’s energy like a sponge.  Spending too much time around pessimists drains me very quickly.  People who consistently choose happiness have something to share.  You get to play together, take turns flying in each others tail wind, and soar to new heights!

 Expanding happiness

A continuum of happiness takes practice.  It is like a muscle we build, lifting weights at the gym. It is a frequency we tune into, like a radio channel. It increases or diminishes depending on our focus.  The problem in our society is that we have not been taught to blueprint happiness like we blueprint failure. When we feel good, have a win, or experience success, we don’t take the time to sit down and analyze it.  We forget the circumstances surrounding it.  We do not review our model of success like we do when we fail or make a mistake. In order for us to increase our happiness, we must blueprint our success and repeat the thoughts, behavior, and action that got us there.

I just arrived home from my family vacation in a state of bliss.  My happiness was palpable both during the trip and returning. So much so, that I asked my husband if we could sit down and assess all of the experiences that made my heart full. After a brief analysis I realized:  This trip filled all my senses.  I was surrounded daily by majestic beauty.  I spent days skiing with my family.  I traveled to new places beside my beloved and all our children. I spent time with extended family connecting in meaningful ways to all of us.  I visited sites that are power sources for me. I spent time with friends who nurtured us and we played in the great outdoors. I was embraced by the silence of the mountains.  I had snowball fights and hiked beside a winding river, as snow gently fell upon us.  I trusted the natural unfolding of events and allowed our itinerary to flow. In 2017, I will connect more with nature, bond with family and friends in meaningful ways to all, challenge myself and my family to new sources of adventure, and prepare well to embrace present and unexpected opportunity.

Happiness is something all of us need to define for ourselves, and as all other productive endeavors, initiate blueprints, models, and practices to reside there more often.  When was the last time you found yourself in bliss?  What will you do this coming year so it happens again, and again?

To resounding happiness in 2017!

Stefanie