Living A Happy Life

When asking "What makes you happy" People will say many things like: a raise, a better job, a new car, a bigger house, a nice long vacation and so on. Does any of these things ring true for you? Are you truly happy with your status in life. I am going to give you 5 things to help you become focused on what true happiness is and how to achieve it.

Yes, having material things can make one happy but for how long? Let's take a look at the list and see how we can experience happiness from within.

1. Family and friends

When you really think about it. Family and friends are what makes our world go around. There is nothing better than going to your grandmother's house for a good home cook meal or hanging out with cousins at the family reunion. Let's not forget the barbeque at the neighbor's house last summer. Something about being with family and friends once in a while gets the blood pumping and happiness is not too far behind. Even in the times when you are having difficulties understanding why your sister married him or why your son wants to date her, having family around that truly cares about you and you can trust gives you the sense of you are not alone, there are others that are a part of your world.

2. Giving back

Remember the movie "Pay It Forward", well that is what gives us that feeling of being complete. Doing something for nothing is not what we have been taught. Letting things go and not keeping score is a novelty idea, but when you do it you feel great. Donating to a charity or just giving someone a smile. Not wandering what the homeless man begging for change on the corner is going to do with it but handing him a dollar just because. Letting your heart lead you and not always being logical. Giving a helping hand when it is needed, makes you smile and you must admit puts an added bounce in your step.

3. Meaningful Work

What are you here to do? Not all of us can afford to do the one thing that we are passionate about. Most of the time it will not make us money so we settle for the high paying job. We soon find out that we are not happy, we are actually quite misreable but we continue to do it because it is a paycheck.

Some people will try to offset it by doing volunteer work. Listen, if you are not happy doing the job you are doing you need to rethink it. Life is too short to spend 2080 hours being miserable. Find your purpose and even if it is just on a volunteer basis, DO IT! If you can get paid and do it, even better.

4. Freedom

It's impossible to become truly happy when you don't have even a small ounce of freedom in your life. Whether it's being able to express yourself creatively or being able to make a choice for yourself, personal freedom is important. Suppressing yourself only brings forth a lot of negative emotions and discontent.

5. Success

Who doesn't want to succeed? Here's the deal people that have experience success continue to push past their fears and boundaries into new and exciting terrority. Why, because they understand the process. Those that live by fear will never experience the contentment that comes with being successful. What is that old addage,"if at first you dont succeed, try again." This means that not everything you do will be a success but dont give up. Look for what you are good at and do it well. With every failure or mistake it's just an elimination. It only means that was not it. But what is right for you is still out there. You will find that making and keeping your goals are easier once you start to experience true success. The success of not giving up on you.

These are just some of what makes people happy. Not everything is about materialism. There's happiness to be found in even the simplest, intangible things.

Be Empowered
Coach Linda Hillman
Copyright 2010 Destined 2 B U Empowerment Coaching