As people around the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, it is important to find moments of happiness to help us get through these hard times. Many of us are confined to our homes, limited outside exposure to friends and family. The country’s borders are shut where many may not be able to return home to see their loved ones. Loved ones passing where you can’t even attend their funeral. Financially, it is an economic disaster for the global economy, businesses, and individuals that have lost their jobs.

It can be difficult not to feel overwhelmed by what is happening and spiral down a dark hole. But in the midst of all this, you can still find happiness.

I’m not a celebrity like Ellen Degeneres telling you this from the comfort of my mansion, nor a big-time executive. Everything mentioned above, I am experiencing myself like most people in the world.

Despite all that has happened and whatever situation you are in, you can still find happiness. Don’t just take my word for it, there are psychologists, experts, and research done on this.

So let us just jump in and see how we can be happy.

First of all, happiness is a choice. You don’t find happiness, you don’t create it, it comes when you open your mind to the possibilities of it.

Think about all the times you thought that attaining something will bring you happiness. As a student, you think getting into your dream college and everything will be perfect after and happily ever after.

Then you join the workforce and believe having a perfect job and house will equate a perfect and happy life. But very quickly that feeling dissipates, so you think you need to earn more money to regain that happiness, you need to travel, you need a bigger house, a nicer car and so on to fulfill that emptiness that you constantly avoid.

To “find happiness” is a choice. You choose to wake up in the morning and appreciate what you have already. You choose to be happy by building a life that is meaningful, fulfilling to yourself and not what you think others may perceive happiness to be.

So let’s dive in and see how we can decide our own happiness.

How To Choose Happiness

Negativity is worse than COVID-19 and spreads much easier. So you need to choose positive thoughts over negative ones. For example, there was a study on luck showing a scenario of two people being in the same car accident. The “unlucky” person perceived himself as always unlucky and kept dwelling on how bad the situation is. The “lucky” person perceived himself as “lucky” that he wasn’t injured at all being in such an accident and was very appreciative of the situation. Who do you think goes home a happier person, despite the terrible situation? It isn’t the easiest path to let things go and not let negative situations/feelings get to you. So you will have to condition yourself to fight that impulse of being negative, being the victim and overtime choosing happiness will be easier. Appreciate any little happiness you have before it flees as the world isn’t always kind. When you live a happy life, you have more resilience; your confidence and self-belief flourishes.

Choose To Feel Good

Do what your mama always told you. Get a good night's rest, eat a good diet, workout and take your vitamins. If you didn’t sleep well the night before, most people are going to be grumpy. When you’re grumpy, everything is bound to go bad somehow. Eating the right foods, working out and having the proper nutrients will make you physically feel good about yourself. When you feel good about yourself, you will feel more confident and have a mindset of embracing happiness.

“Self-care is a deliberate choice to gift yourself with people, places, things, events, and opportunities that recharge our personal battery and promote whole health — body, mind, and spirit.” — Laurie Buchanan, PhD

Practice Gratitude

You should feel incredibly blessed to live in such exciting times! We have the comfort and luxury of advanced technology that our ancestors could not enjoy even if they had all the wealth in the world. It’s easy to play the victim and dwell on failures. If you are able to read this article, you have running water, medical care on request and enough money that you won’t starve.

Take a moment out of your day and appreciate all that you have or all that brings a smile to your face. Gratitude journals have proven to really help and have positive health benefits. If you are unsure how to start a gratitude journal, you can take a look at WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP A JOURNAL (TIPS ON HOW TO START)

Once you get into the habit of gratitude, it can be extremely addictive with all the positive warm emotions you will be feeling every day. It will just feel so good you don’t want to stop.

Build the Life You Want

Getting off amazing Instagram pages and seeing people live their best life may not be the healthiest for your mind.

A big part of why most people aren’t happy is because they aren’t living the life they truly want. Social media gives us a snapshot of other people’s amazing lives that we end up believing we need that as well. And it is then that you feel unhappy because you aren’t living that life because you have responsibilities, you have a job and you are a grown-up. Be authentically you, and not what you think social media tells you to be happy. You need to align your own authentic values. Figure out who you want to be, what life you want to lead and make a plan to be part of that. When you have that roadmap, you will be much happier. Life is a constant journey, so you’ll need to appreciate the climb.

I’m a big hiker as you can see from my own personal page. Hiking is not an easy task, and it’s especially difficult if you don’t enjoy it.

You will never achieve happiness if you think “something else” or “someone” will make you happy. Happiness comes from within when you decide you want to be because it’s an internal emotion. What you think is happiness is just a temporary chemical reaction in your brain

Long term and true happiness is a choice to enjoy and appreciate every day.

In the end….

If you want to be happy, it’s all on you and in your control. You decide if you want to take things in a negative way or a positive way. All the struggles in your life are there so you will appreciate the better times. It makes you stronger and more resilient. That’s how one grows. That is how children grow. Imagine if you gave a child their way every time they cried and whined about something. How do you think this child will turn out?

Just remember, there is always something to be appreciative of. You just need to dig down and find it. It really helps to keep away from negative environments and people. Surround yourself with people that bring you joy, love, and kindness. That’s your shortcut to happiness.

Having a solid foundation built on the premise of living a happy life is the key ingredient to successfully navigating your way through the tough times in life.