Is It Possible To Be Happier? Find Out Here!

Does life get any better than this? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Read on for the answer!
No, not really.....yet sort of.... keep reading! 
It doesn't get "happier" according to my recent learning (The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathon Haidt.) However my thinking is that it could get more balanced: pleasures could be steadier; our productive flow could increase; which in turn, could balance the roller coaster of good and bad days. Would we be happier? No.
We have a genetic and historic baseline of happiness that tends to gravitate back to where it has always been, no matter what circumstance life throws at us. Be it winning the lottery or having a major loss of freedom, we gravitate back to our baseline. Don't be fooled by the way we glorify our memories so it seems that we used to be so much happier. 

If I could infuse what I know now on my 23 year old self who was married and living in a crowded mobile trailer with 2 babies, I would say...

Dear Cindy,

Don't waste any minutes or hours in your day thinking about "if onlys..."
If only I was done with college and had a teaching job....
If only we had a real house....
If only we had more bedrooms.....
If only our van were a little newer....
If only we made a little more money....

I'd be so happy......

The truth is that when you acquire all those things there will be more to want, more to do, and your desire for more of something will not change. As you acquire all those things you may even start saying... "If only life were simple again like the GOOD OLD Days..." Your happiness is what it is right here, right now, today. It comes from the inside. It comes from gratitude and appreciation for every moment as it is exactly. Enjoy the unfolding of each moment, each morning, all through the day, and each sunset. Believe the phrase "it's all about the journey...”
Be gentle on yourself, and you will become more gentle with others....don't search so hard for purpose. Love others with your gifts and receive the love that is gifted to you. Your happiness will be the same later as it is right now, so chose to embrace each moment as it is. You are enough. You can't fill voids with anything but love. The power is yours to embrace. Embrace the process towards the "if onlys" because that's the best part. Once you reach it, the pleasure fades.... and there you will still be. The same you!

Love, You

Even though you experience intense pleasure at times, your happiness will always retreat back to your baseline.
This sounds hopeless right? 
No! It's not. 
We need to know ourselves. We need to learn how to obtain presence and balance out our pleasures so that we can stabilize our "constant" state of acceptance and therefore our "happiness".
Things that bring us pleasure: Achievements, titles, food, drinks, desserts, vacations, sex, hobbies, silence, music, etc....
Excess of any of it leads to a "numbing" to the pleasure. Too much of a good thing makes the good thing lose its power and the pleasure is gone, yet we can't do without it anyway (even to the point of addiction sometimes.)
So what do we do then? 
We plan our day and routines in such a way that we balance our pleasures out. We are able to look forward to them and yet be productive in our creative flow with some other things that increase accomplishments in between. 
Thus- we created a flow that raises our presence, balance, expectations and we no longer need to search for happiness. Our baseline stabilizes.

We need to search for balance and a productive flow as well as acceptance to optimize our contentment in life! That's the goal and target that leads to more well being. This combined with giving and connection to others will help us balance, accept, and stabilize that baseline of happiness.

If you’re sitting there saying "NO, I am less happy than I used to be,” it may be you're projecting grandiosity to a time in your life. Ask yourself if you have been focusing on the past or working on your present balance and flow....change your focus and you change your life.

Take a minute to write out the things that bring you pleasure. Reflect on how many of them you abuse to the point of excess or don't make time for at all. Create a plan in your routine to spread these out, work them in, and create a regular balance to your life that will allow you to truly enjoy the things you get pleasure from! Enjoy the unfolding of each day.

If this was helpful please SHARE on FACEBOOK! All comments are welcome. You can agree, disagree, challenge our thinking further.....all comments are appreciated.

Consider yourself challenged to accept and embrace your happiness level NOW!

Cindy