10 Rules To Live By For A Happier Life
A lot of people usually struggle with accepting their circumstances and that often result in them being unhappy with their lives and unnecesarilly living a miserable life which can be easily avoided. To have a happier life, follow these rules and be joyful for the rest of your life;
1. Make time to get in touch with your soul.
Your soul is your eternal essence — it’s who you really are underneath the chatter of your monkey mind, the social masks you wear, and the titles and roles you hold. Get in touch with your soul each week through meditation, writing a journal, spending time in nature, or making time to just sit and soak up the world without judgment for a few moments.
2. See the light in people.
People may do things which frustrate, hurt or anger you, or they may have nothing in common with you at all — but you can choose to see beyond these external factors and focus on the common humanity and mortality you both share. You are both souls in human bodies trying to navigate the world at this point in time in the best way you know how. Strive to accept and forgive other people whenever you can.
3. Let your emotions be your guide, but not your identity.
When people experience strong negative emotions like anger, jealousy or pain, they usually do one of two things — bury their emotions deep in their subconscious, or get so caught up in their emotions that they are consumed by them and adopt them as part of their ongoing identity.
Neither choice is healthy — instead, when a strong negative emotion arises, learn to observe the feeling (the act of observation immediately disassociates you from the emotion) and ask yourself what it is trying to teach you. Do you need to work on yourself and grow into a more resilient and peaceful person, or do you need to make crucial changes to your life situation?
4. Practice the art of acceptance.
If you are not yet living your ideal life, make peace with this fact while you work towards your goals. If you struggle against each day, resenting each task you need to complete, it will drain all of your precious energy leaving nothing left in the tank to go after your dreams. Do things with a happy heart and a light-touch, and you will feel freer and more energised.
5. Treat every day as a beautiful gift.
Hands up if you countdown the days until Friday? We’re wishing away more than half of our week while simultaneously lamenting that ‘life is too short’. We’re saving our favourite things for ‘a special occasion’ which automatically sends a message to our mind that today will be ordinary.
Make it a habit to wake up with an appreciation for the brand new day you’ve been given — a new amazing opportunity to experience life, grow, eat, laugh, give, explore, dance, dream, create and discover what it feels like to be you.
6. Let your emotions be your guide, but not your identity.
When people experience strong negative emotions like anger, jealousy or pain, they usually do one of two things — bury their emotions deep in their subconscious, or get so caught up in their emotions that they are consumed by them and adopt them as part of their ongoing identity.
Neither choice is healthy — instead, when a strong negative emotion arises, learn to observe the feeling (the act of observation immediately disassociates you from the emotion) and ask yourself what it is trying to teach you. Do you need to work on yourself and grow into a more resilient and peaceful person, or do you need to make crucial changes to your life situation?
7. Open your mind to new possibilities and leave room for surprises.
So much can happen in a single day — you could meet the right person, stumble across a new opportunity, come up with a life-changing idea, move jobs, move houses or move countries.
While it’s worthwhile clarifying your desires and making plans, keep a little room in your heart and mind for the unexpected — things might not go to plan, and that might be the best possible outcome.
8. Be led by joy, not fear.
So many people make decisions based on their fears, rather than following their intuition, interests and passions. You are a once-in-a-humankind combination of talents and quirks and there will never again be anyone like you. When you make decisions based on what you enjoy and what feels right with your soul, you light up and the whole world benefits.
9. Decide to accept yourself no matter what.
Love yourself on the good days — and love yourself on the bad days too. Love yourself when things go to plan, you light up the room, and kick all of your goals — and love yourself when you make mistakes, succumb to bad habits, and let your fears get the better of you. Unconditional self-love gives you the strength and courage to try new things and go after your dreams, because you know that no matter what the outcome, you will still love and accept yourself regardless.
10. Redefine your definition of failure.
What if, instead of seeing it as a failure when we give something a go and it doesn’t work out, we see it as a victory that we tried in the first place? Perhaps the word failure would be more aptly used in situations where we don’t attempt things at all, because we’re ruled by fear, self-doubt and the lure of mediocracy.
You didn’t fail when you went on a date and it didn’t work out — you succeeded at putting yourself out there in the world where true love is found. You didn’t fail when you went for an interview and didn’t get offered the job — you successfully make a worthwhile attempt to improve your circumstances and you gained vital lessons from the experience. Apply this new way of thinking to everything in your life.
