Many people wonder what they can do to be happier or what is the secret of happiness, if there is a secret that can discover and implement to change their lives and feel more satisfied and happy.
To achieve happiness, many tend to look to the future, think about what they do not have and would like to have, how to achieve that goal would make them feel happy, and try to fight tooth and nail to achieve that goal that supposedly will bring happiness to their lives.
Others look to the past, regretting missed opportunities, mistakes, blaming and punishing himself for not having acted otherwise and thinking that if they had, now would be much happier; thus are tortured revolving in his mind his past mistakes, and those who will never change.
The problem is that happiness does not exist in the future or the past. It is an emotional state, an internal state that can only be felt in the present. You may remember a past event that was positive and feel happy to remember, but that happiness feeling now, you live it now, you experience it in the present, not the past now, and that’s what gives it value, which the becomes real and what everyone looks for when he says he wants to be happy.
Is there a secret to happiness?
Really does seem to exist, or at least that’s what researchers who have studied this issue say. And best of all, the secret to happiness is very simple and is available to anyone, at any time or situation.
What researchers have found is that people’s happiness increases when major changes occur in their lives, such as starting a relationship, getting the desired job or make that coveted trip abroad but, over time, the level of happiness is again the same as before the change for most people. However, it was not for everyone. There are some people who do seem to know the secret of happiness. These people actively seek and experience these changes in their lives but, more importantly, appreciate what they have for much longer than the others and do not begin to crave other things quickly. The sooner you sick of what you now have in your life (in your present moment) and you start to crave new things will be less happy.
In a study by the University of California interviewed 481 people about their happiness. Those who experienced a positive change in their lives felt happier. However, just six weeks later, their happiness levels returned to be the same as before. So if you think you achieve that you so desire will bring happiness, think you may be so, but it is also possible that happiness you want it lasts just six weeks, unless you are able to continue to appreciate, assessing and being aware of what you need as time passes. That can only be achieved living in the present, enjoying the positive that exists in your life and not taking too long to dream of something better.
Of course, this does not mean you should not have dreams or desired changes. Do not forget that these changes are positive experiences and those which increase happiness, but to keep only have two options: either looking for a major change every six weeks (which can be very stressful for many and probably quite complicated for most) or you learn to appreciate what you have for as long as possible.
In research at the University of California, most of the people studied are accustomed to the change that has made them happy and “stop being happy because they keep wanting more and raising their standards or because the change has ceased to provide them with new positive experiences. For example, do not do fun things with her new boyfriend and begin to wish that was more attractive.” But a few were able to appreciate what they had and continue to have new experiences. They were, for example, those who were making fun new things with their partners, instead of getting used to a status quo in the relationship and start worrying about what is missing, as do those who are not able to maintain that increased happiness I felt at first.
In large part, this is due to a passive attitude to one’s own happiness. When it happens a positive change in your life that makes you happy, you can not expect your happiness remains the same without doing anything to keep it, but you must have an active attitude, finding ways to experience each day in a new way that you’ve managed and appreciate every day what brings you. Whether it is a new relationship and a new home, if you want to keep the happiness they bring you, you will enjoy, be with your partner or in that house all the experiences that you can not compare yourself with what others have.