We all want to be happy. Or most of us do anyway. As Americans, we remember the immortal words penned by Thomas Jefferson and preserved in our Declaration of Independence that we are endowed by our creator with "certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In pondering the topic of happiness, or the pursuit of happiness, the obvious question arises. What can we do to be happy? How do we pursue happiness? Here are a few thoughts Disclaimer much of the following can be credited to the great thinker, Gad Saad. He is a Canadian professor, author, podcaster, and all-around good guy, who smiles a lot. I recently ingested a short video that he made for PragerU (great resource prageru.com) and I think this information is worth sharing. What follows are practical ways to maximize your happiness in life.
FIND the RIGHT SPOUSE - There is a great old movie (don't remember the name of it) where Jimmy Stewart as the father has a young man come to him asking for permission to marry his daugh - ter. Jimmy knows the young man loves his daughter, but his question is this "do you like her?" Love is wonderful, but finding a spouse that you like will make your life infinitely more bearable. Imagine that you are buying a pair of shoes that you will have to wear every day for the rest of your life. They'd better be comfortable. Make sure your spouse is a good fit before you decide to love them. Finding the right spouse can make the difference between marital bliss and marital torture. And, if you are already married and find that your marriage now leans toward torture instead of bliss, determine to improve things. This can be done. Focus first (and primarily) on making yourself a better spouse, and work towards a happy marriage. WORK to FIND the RIGHT PROFESSION Find your game. Ideally, your life's work should be fulfilling and meaningful. Most of us must work towards this ideal. We spend much of our lives engaged in our work, so it behooves us to find something that we enjoy and can excel at.
SEEK the SWEETSPOT in whatever you do If you can apply an inverted U curve graph to your activities, it will help clarify this point. On one side of the curve, you have apathy. At the opposite end you have perfection. Either extreme can lead to unhappiness. The perfect approach is found in the middle. For example, let's say you enjoy woodworking and decide to start a small business selling handmade furniture out of your garage. If you become apathetic and neglect to do good work, you will not be successful. But if you are so much of a perfectionist that you overwork each piece to the point of exhaustion, then production will suffer, and you will burn yourself out. Strive to do all you do with excellence, but without burdening yourself expecting perfection. STAY PLAYFUL Life is serious enough as it is. Without time out to play, it can be overwhelm ing. Make sure you take time to do the things you most enjoy in life. Enjoy these with the ones you love and like.
PURSUE MANY INTERESTS Maximize your happiness by taking advantage of opportunities that you can find everywhere. Pursue knowledge across multiple disciplines. Explore those things that seem interesting to you. Simple acts of trying new things can lead to fun activities and new avenues for happiness.
BE PERSISTENT and RESILIENT Use adversity and challenges to your advantage. Be persistent. Refuse to quit when things don't work out. Learn from every mistake and failure and keep trying. Be resilient and stay in the game even when things get hard. Hang in there. In the end, it will be worth it. FOUNDATION of FAITH This thought was not in Gad Saad's message, but I am adding this one myself. Numerous studies have found that people with religious faith are consistently happier, healthier, and more engaged in their communities. For me, faith is found in orthodox Christianity, the Bible, and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If you are a believer, faith in God can offer what psychologists call a "stress buffering" system which better enables us to deal with the difficulties of life. Faith fosters happiness.
One final thought for the most part, happiness is within our control. Abraham Lincoln once said "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." We can decide to be happy. Be happy, it's a better way to live.
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