What it is like to be happy? Happiness, something remarkably essential for living yet we’ve literally underrated it more than anything. But what exactly this happiness means? It’s when one feels like smiling, one feels satisfied, and one feels good about everything! Precisely, it is the emotional state of mind where the person experiences pleasure, joy, contentment and fulfillment.

We know that it’s almost impossible to feel positive or joyous all the time. But Science has proven that we can synthesize these positive emotions deliberately. You may ask, how’s that possible to create and feel particular emotion? The answer is we can do it through assessing and changing the view towards our life events. As I read this somewhere that creating happiness is like ‘faking it, till you become it!’

So, until you practice and learn about how to stay happy most of the times, I’ve some quick fixes for you.

If happiness is something we can create in our mind, how’d we do it?

# Count your blessings!

Sometimes while struggling, we lose our nerve and start comparing our lives with the others. Believe me it’s the right time we should consciously compare our lives with the others. We must look at them not for “What they have and we don’t” but for “What we have and they don’t”!!

Mostly, people compare their lives with others about success, wealth, looks, achievements, responsibilities, and freedom etc. Now, my point is everything we’re comparing has a price to pay. Making it clearer, some of the people who’ve earned money or wealth must have compromised with the quality time with their people. The others who’ve succeeded in various fields may have compromised with time and health. Some of them may not have faithful, close relationship as you might have. They who’re free of all the other responsibilities may not have the courage to face hard times or the support of their people that you might have gotten while facing adversities.

Except that if you have parents, siblings, spouse, kids, friends, neighbors, pets with you, if you’ve a place to live (owned or rented never matters), have food to eat, can manage money for education and medication, you’ve people to share your happiness or sorrows and above all you’ve good health; do you think not having a luxurious sofa chair or a car or a bigger house should matter? My answer would be NO!!

So, changing the focal point of what we compare will do miracles I think, don’t you?

# Conserve Yourself!

I personally believe that all the people are good; the percentage of goodness the person holds may vary. Time, circumstances, company, upbringing and some other factors bring the change in one’s character. Now, as the life is, we can’t finish the whole journey by just keeping ourselves untouched by agony. Thus, we know that we can’t avoid pain or suffering but, how we tackle it is totally in our control. Instead of being pressurized or depressed, we can just let the agony come in, look at it neutrally, accept it and keep trying for the time to pass yielding us something positive. I say this because I believe that every cloud has a silver line! Complaining, suffering or mourning, nothing works when the time has decided to teach us by harder ways. What we can is to preserve our good character through the hard times. Feeling bad for yourself would waste your energy making the condition worse. Keep moving forward holding courage in your heart is rather a good option. It will help you stay yourself once the skies clear up! ‘This too shall pass’ is also as true as the unavoidable occurrence of pain in life. Don’t let the time affect you. Keep your goodness intact while the life is having an examination mode ON!!

# Don’t let your aspirations consume you!

In modern times, we’re told that life is a race against time. Everyone is running their own race with their own pace yet trying to overtake the other one. I disagree here. I think if each of us is made different and special, how could we be able to compete with each other? A horse and a sloth never contest, do they? (But we humans can make them do so!)

Equally no other animals on this planet translates the ‘LIFE’ as a tool or a time period to achieve something whether it is money, position, power, dreams or anything you could name as an aspiration. Yes, I do agree that we can think and can shape those thoughts into something material but, it doesn’t mean that we consider it as the only purpose of life. Working hard for something is really an admirable thing to do. But, once this persuasion starts transforming into frustration and takes a toll on your everyday life, it’s not worth sustaining. I am not saying that one should leave what he’s up to. Or one should let go his years invested in making things work. What I’m trying to convey here is one must keep a strict check upon the direction he’s working into.

If following your dreams or passion costs you more than you’re going to attain then it’s definitely not a good deal I guess. If your aspiration snatches away your originality, your basic character or it makes you forget what you are and why you are doing it then you must immediately STOP and THINK! Sometimes, this is the most needed thing that can save one’s self, relations, character, individuality, and preserving the core is a big deal, you know!

# Earn your honor of living!

We are the generation of those hard working people who work almost for 12 to 18 hours every day. But, for what are we spending our lives just working? The answer is, we have to do it for fulfilling our own as well as family’s basic needs, we have to earn for our present and future, we have to create wealth for our next generation, we have to work for honor, position, power, respect n much more… In doing so, we get tired and again we have to earn so that we can spend it on buying some comforting holidays. Expecting that the vacation (we call it a ‘well-deserved vacay’!) can replenish the energy we’ve lost working hard. And after those refreshing yet expensive holidays, we’ll be able to work harder moving towards our goals! So, can you think where would happiness fit in this busy schedule? Or we’ll plan this happiness thing somewhere in future, right??

But friends, the life doesn’t work like this. Those holidays might help us with fun but, the happiness we feel comes from the togetherness we have during that time, from the satisfaction of giving our loved ones something they enjoy. Yes, I agree that money matters here. Expensive holidays may add more value to the fun quotient. But, if someone doesn’t have it, it won’t change the reasons for their being happy! Here, what matters is to do SOMETHING for SOMEONE you love or care for.

Not only this but also doing anything good for anyone sums up to a happy state of mind. Random acts of kindness help us realize the pleasure of giving. It’s something beyond earning. I call it GAINING! Work definitely helps us earn joy and satisfaction yet; the selfless work for someone gives us the chance to earn the honor of living as a HUMAN!!

Do you think the above mentioned remedies are worth trying? I’d rationally say YES! As there are the least chances that we’d lose something but, if it works the resulting HAPPINESS is guaranteed.