Let’s uncover the natural roots of happiness. After all, anything could make you happy and everyone has their own tickle spots. I find YouTube videos of pranks and dancing cats to be a small bundle of happiness. But some people find watching bloody horror films as their source of happiness. It really depends on what our brain considers as a best source of relief.

But a concern I wanted to tackle was a concept of happiness I noticed a variety of people claimed. You may have heard it before, but it’s a myth I’d like to shove out of your mind.

A myth everyone gets wrong about happiness is …

“The state of being happy.” (Because that totally explains itself)

Psychologists define happiness as a combination of life satisfactions and having more positive emotions than negative. It’s almost like having more desserts than vegetables on your plate. You could eat a few baby carrots and broccoli, but it’s totally worth it after receiving a giant bowl of ice cream.

You can’t always expect to be happy because it’ll destroy the positive emotions you receive when you’re happy. You can’t truly enjoy your ice cream if you’re constantly fed ice cream. You’re going to have to know the feeling of eating a few vegetables to receive the great benefits of sweets.

But you can be content with yourself and life, and that’s what I want to do for you today. I want you to be aware that you don’t need to smile every minute of the day or else, something is wrong with you. You can frown or hold an emotionless look over your face. And yet, how can you escape a content feeling to embrace a happy spirit?

Michaelgregoryii has many very attractive depressed readers, and we noticed many of them explaining how they knew their depression like the back of their hand. But another thing we noticed was the fact our depressed subscribers weren’t too familiar with their source of happiness. After all, it’s the emotion we thrive for while dealing with depression.

We want happiness to come knocking at our door, ready to embrace us with a giant hug. And yet it doesn’t seem to be that simple. Or maybe there is some sort of happiness superhero living in another country. After all, according to the University of Illinois, the happiest places in the world are Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.

Outside the common illusion of happiness, people occasionally find something that boosts their spirit such as food, drinks, spending time with people, or with themselves. But after that happiness fades away, they become lonely again, looking for ways to spark that fire from within them.

The only problem you face is discovering how to find happiness, which leads you to doors that only deepen your sorrows. This is known as the “wolf in sheep clothing” approach. It’s when you assume something makes you happy at first, but soon discover it only increases your worries and anxieties. Next thing you know, you’re on the street corner looking for a small scrap of joy.

In various studies, it’s well known that happiness is one of the main goals people desire. It’s what led people to build empires and become successful in various things. Some people find it as others continue searching for it despite what they already have. If you’re on the path of looking for happiness, the myth that most people are usually told to find it is:

You find happiness by just thinking about it:

Before the torches come my way, I wanted to point out that the average person simply can’t escape a depressed, sad, or fearful state by simply thinking about happiness. Sure, it’s a fruitful thought to imagine yourself smiling and having a good time. But whenever the average person does that, their negative thoughts jump into their mind, ruining any chances of joy they ever wanted.

But to add science into this, when someone try thinking about happiness, it works for a few seconds, but then that’s when they suddenly feel a sudden pressure as it begins slipping away.

People conjure up bits of fears, disappointments, and failure from their past. They question the true concept of happiness. They deal with the critics of the world and hide in their shells because they’re afraid no one cares about them. This feeling then causes them to dig a deeper hole of depressing thoughts.

The correct method to apply when told to think happy thoughts is a formula that was created in Positive Psychology. The concept is pretty simple when you think about happiness because it breaks it down into 3 cycles:

Positive Emotions:

This means accepting your past for what it is whether you liked it or not. You learned your lessons about life and use those experiences to make you into a better person. You’re often held back from your true potential because you hold onto a sense of denial based on your past experiences.

Maybe after dealing with a book rejection, you believed your writing suck and it’s not meant for you. Maybe after finding out how hard it was to program a video game, you gave up.

Haunting memories remind you how horrible life could be, causing you to make future mistakes. Pride and rejection of the past are the obstacles that makes self improvement difficult because you define yourself by your failures. By acknowledging and accepting your past, your mistakes, and why you’re the person you are today, you’ll be able to move on in the present.

Maybe you made a series of economic mistakes? It doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means you need to find a way to pick yourself back up. Or perhaps you didn’t have the best judgments when it came to relationships. So long as you accept those mistakes, you’ll find the type of relationship you’re searching for.

Positive Individual Traits:

Start focusing on your strengths and virtues. Reflect on your skills as you think about your flaws. Are you good at drawing, running, dancing, learning, speaking, or moonwalking? Add positive notes to your mind, which adds self value as a person. Discover the skills that make you a unique individual because that’s how you find confidence within yourself.

If you can’t think of a single skill or talent, discover what interests you. In my previous posts, I mention 8 websites that provides very useful skills to learn. Check it out if you’d some tips on that.

Part of life is learning ways to strengthen your character and state of mind. It might be difficult at first whenever you start something new. And chances are, you will fail at it a couple times. But self improvement towards anything is a trail and error game.

If it helps, look into the life of successful people and analyze how they reached the top. The more you increase your skills in anything, the more you expand your potentials.

Positive Institutions:

After accepting your past and viewing your skills, this is when you brainstorm ways to use those traits to improve a community, environment, or heck, even the world. How can your past experiences and skills help someone near you?

Maybe you had a crazy childhood and creative writing skills to which you could share online and help those struggling with the same issues. Maybe you like playing the piano and had a happy childhood, giving you the chance to teach others to play.

Look for methods to build other people lives, and this raises the self-worth portion within your brain. It’s sometimes difficult to imagine the benefits of giving to others because it could be a foreign concept to most people.

We live in a world where people only know how to take rather than give. It’s not because we hate people, but because we become insecure about what would happen if we helped someone. There’s many reasons for our insecurities, but by supporting others and making them feel better about themselves, this raises our own self esteem.

In final thoughts….

It’s not simply telling someone to just think happy thoughts to find happiness, but knowing how to apply those thoughts efficiently. The 3 method approach towards happiness won’t be mastered the first time you apply it. It will take time and effort to stick to it such as dieting and exercising. You’re going to have your good days and off days.

You’re still going to have bad thoughts that’ll get in the way. You’re going to doubt yourself and your abilities. But rather than thinking blindly about what makes you happy, think of what your next step should be.

Start off by accepting your past for what it is and moving on from there. Next, observe your skills and learn new ones you’re interested in. The last will be finding ways to contribute those skills to others.

The 3 cycle approach is an effective strategy in positive psychology because if gives you more freedom in mind, body and spirit. You’ll achieve more in different fields while moving towards something bigger than yourself. As you explore your virtues and self worth, you’ll be more prepared to chase after your dreams.

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