learn how to be happy

Being happy is not easy, but we can learn how to be happy, through certain positive thinking and gratitude techniques that can help us live better.
Discover what you can do to live better, feel better and be happier.

Nowadays we hear more often how much our relationship with ourselves, others & the world can affect our happiness, there are many theories that claim that one must learn to be happy, that is try to force happiness in some way because even if forced like a smile or giggle at the end it can really help.

The first step for growing happiness is:

GRATITUDE

Even when it comes to gratitude a lot can be done, we can learn how to be grateful and make the most of this feeling to be really happy and improve our lives, infact the latest scientific researches claim than being grateful increases psychophysical wellbeing and improves the quality of life, starting from the relationship we have with ourselves and with the outer world, but it is the so called “neuro-science” that explains how learning to say thank you has an anti-stress effect, we need it to feel in peace with ourselves, to put in evidence the positive side of life and hence here is where gratitude becomes a daily workout. When we are grateful, the sense of control presses us less, hence gratitude generates mind opening, relaxation, connection with others, stress levels decrease and something physical and emotional in our organism starts rolling. Various studies amonngst which the one held out by the National Institutes of Health explain how gratitude starts a change at cerebral level. This change is than able to affect the hypothalamus’ activity, stimulating the production of dopamine and serotonin, the famous HAPPINESS hormones. Certain authors (even Italian ones) wrote about the importance of saying thank you and being grateful and also explain how to start being grateful by setting a series of habits:

WORKOUT: Working out towards gratitude means not missing even a moment and starting right from the morning, already the fact of waking up in the morning and being able to live a new day is already a magnificient gift that we receive, hence we must see it so and be grateful for this but especially train ourselves to do it ecah and every day.

BREAK THE NEGATIVE ROUTINE: complaining is of no use, but rather certain studies underline seein things in a negative way limits also our creative impulse, blocks the exploration and discovery of new resources and increases the sense of frustration, therefore lets stop complaining can go on a hunt for happiness, hence maybe in the evening we can do an easy but helpful exercise, think about all the things that made us smile during the day and be grateful for at least 3.

LOOK FOR AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS: Being able to see the bright, positive side of life does not necessary mean being always merry, joyous or full of energy, this is a commonly done mistake, mixing up happiness with joy. The human being is made out of sensations and emotions that usually contrast each other, like an Italian saying we are made from “light and darkness”, therefore we must find a link between sadness, anger, pain in order to metabolise these sensations and start discovering happiness, only through the deepest feelings and sensations we can get to the point were we start seeing things in a totally different way.

LEARN HOW TO SAY THANK YOU: we must slowly regain humaness and probably the education lost, in any place we find ourselves be it in a shop, with a colleague or with friends start looking at people in their eyes again and thanking them for things. If gratitude comes from within, than we can cancel distances and even cure old wounds; lets learn how to surprise ourselves an hug.

Learn also how to improve your mental attitude in the dedicated chapter of our book