Optimism Brings Happiness

Optimism Brings Happiness
Author: Larry Lloyd

Recently, institutions of higher education and other groups conducted surveys and studies on "What makes people happy?" The following steps are a few of the answers they received.

Step #1: Doing good. The universal law says that there is absolutely no happiness in doing wrong. Individuals who do wrong (live the untruth) suffer from anxiety, stress, depression, rage, distrust, lack of confidence, fear and pessimism. Breaking a universal law empowers other people to control your life, such as a judge, jailer or warden, etc. Doing good is the first step in becoming a happy person.

Step #2: Control. People report that they are most happy if they are in control of their lives. Self-control and being in command of one's destiny brings immense amounts of freedom and feelings of security. People who possess a powerful mental self and are able to control their physical self are most happy.

Step #3: Seek the positive. Optimistic people constantly expect the best. They have hope for the future and dwell on the positive in life. They tap into the positive side of their subconscious by conciously thinking optimistic thoughts. Remember that your mind is similar to a stage and you always have control over the players on that stage. You can choose to think the positive or negative; it's your choice.

Step #4: Belief in a higher power. Researchers discovered that people who believe in a higher power are happier than people who don't. Nearly all people who recover from a severe drug or alcohol addiction report the need of a higher power. Faith in the unknown is a satisfying experience.

Step #5: Close relationships. The strongest force in on earth is love. To give love and receive love is the highest human experience. The amount of happiness in our life depends on the amount of love in our life. We can see how powerful love is by observing those who do not receive enough love- it's terribly damaging to a person to be rejected, lonely and unloved.

Step #6: Meaningful activity. The happiest people in life have meaningful activities that they enjoy such as work, hobbies or other activities they participate in. People who don't have meaningful activities to participate in often experience unhappiness.

Step #7: Helping others. Researchers learned that one key activity common in happy people was helping others. Helping other people provided them with immense joy and satisfaction. We see that life is a mirror and people who give, receive. What is it that people receive when they help others? It's an interesting question to contemplate.

Step #8: Forgiveness. Happy people forgive themselves and others. They fully grasp the fact that to err is human-that life is full of trials that help one grow if we let them. They realize that everyone's only human and they treat others how they would like to be treated. Unsuccessful, unhappy people do the opposite.

The very first step that unhappy people must take to find permanent happiness is to become self-aware. Self-awareness through cognitive restructuring is effective therapy for self inflicted problems. The bottom line is if people aren't happy it's their fault and responsibility. No one can make them happy except themselves.

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Larry Lloyd is the founder of American Community Corrections Institute (ACCI), which sponsors a news blog on the subject of criminal behavior and related issues.