1. They count their blessings. Happy people, no matter what, sit down on a regular and consistent basis and count what they are grateful for. They are grateful that they’re employed, they are grateful that they have their health, they are grateful that they have their loved ones, family and friends. So in order to be happy, it is important to not take what you have for granted and to understand the things that you should be grateful for.
2. They surround themselves with positive people. One habit of happy people is they do not spend very much time with people who are negative or pessimistic. Nope. They instead spend their time with people who are upbeat, optimistic, encouraging and fun to be around. There is no question that the quality of your life is in direct correlation to the quality of the people that you spend time with. If you spend your time around unhappy people who growl a lot, you’ll be less happy. If you spend your time around happy people, their happiness is downright contagious.
3. They enjoy the small things in life. Happy people do not have to wait for the “big events” — they make sure to enjoy the smaller things in life around them, whether it is a beautiful flower that bloomed in the yard, the belly laugh of a baby, a lovely sunset or sharing a laugh with a colleague at work. None of these things in themselves are earth-shattering, but happy people take the time to notice them and notice the small moments that make life so very sweet.
4. They say “oh well” when things go wrong. When things go wrong with happy people they say “oh well.” They don’t spend their time dwelling on the fact that something went wrong, and they also acknowledge the fact that it could’ve been worse. If there are in a minor car accident, they say, “well, that could’ve been worse. If the flight at the airport is delayed, they say, “well, at least it didn’t get canceled.” Happy people do not dwell on negative events — they just say “next.”
5. They help other people for absolutely no reason. Happy people help other people for no reason other than the fact that helping other people makes them happy. Opening the door for someone, doing someone a favor without being asked, showing kindness to another human being on the planet not only makes the other person feel better but makes a happy person feel happier because they are doing something good.
6. They expose themselves to positive materials: Happy people do not spend a lot of time watching violent movies or focusing on bad news on TV. They instead spend their time exposing themselves to positive inspirational and motivational materials. They watch movies that uplift them and bring them hope. They read books that inspire and motivate them. They watch videos online that make them laugh and bring them joy to see some something good.
7. They do things that bring them joy. Happy people have made a list of the things that bring them joy, and they try as much as possible to do things that bring them joy on a regular basis. They do hobbies and activities that they have a passion for and make them feel happier. It may be baking a cake in the kitchen, assembling a model airplane, or working out but they’ve identified the life activities that bring them joy and they do them.
8. They choose to be happy. There are many people in life who have faced a great deal of adversity. However, when you meet those people you don’t know it because they’ve simply have chosen to be happy. Yes, it may sound strange you can actually make the decision to think about how you think and decide to think happy thoughts instead of negative ones. When people choose to be happy, they are deciding to be the architects of their own lives, and they are deciding what attitude they are going to adopt, and guess what? That changes how they perceive the world at large.
Try to put these ideas into practice, and you will wake up every day as a happier person. After all, everyone wants to be around happy people.