How can you re-ignite happiness? Appreciating the value of true happiness and learning to cultivate happiness in good times and bad is critical and doable.
I can write these words because I have lived them and I have also worked with clients to help them achieve greater happiness and success for more than a decade.  Yes, I have been to the back of the dark forest to the edge of challenges, changes, defeat, despair, illness, tragedies to recognize that our ability to truly build happiness is not reflective of what we have, but who we are.  Our ability to reset the GPS, adopt new ways of thinking, communicating or doing is real and critical to our happiness and an evolution of self that will help us live our best lives and do our best work.

Here are 10 of my favorite quotes and accompanying top ten simple, powerful tips on feeling happier.

If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.” Chinese Proverb
Tip One →Find the light and share it with someone else.  Step out of sadness by helping another person. Try it, because it is scientifically proven to work!

“Happiness never decreases by being shared.” Buddha
Tip Two→Share a joke or funny story with someone who will appreciate it.

“Don’t rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can’t love and respect yourself – no one else will be able to make that happen.  Stacey Charter
Tip Three → Apply love.  Spend five minutes a day thinking about how you love yourself.   Yes, think of all the qualities that make you special,            because each human being is gifted with attributes that are truly lovable.  If you had a dysfunctional childhood, learning to re-parent yourself, learning to                comfort the child within, to love him/her can be pivotal.  If you are going through a difficult experience or challenge the need to love yourself,
appreciate yourself is critical.

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” Winnie the Pooh
 Tip Four →Take time out each day for blank time; time when you DO not worry, time when you are just at peace and at one with the
universe.

 “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Frederick Keonig
Tip Five →: Adopt an attitude of gratitude.  Keep a gratitude journal or simply make a mental note before you go to bed and when you wake up of what         you are grateful for.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Tip Six: → Smile because science tells us that the simple act of smiling will elevate your mood.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”  Helen Keller
Tip Seven →Beware of the abyss.  The longer you stare at the darkness, the more it will overwhelm you.  Look for the good, no matter how hard it is to
do so.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop
 Tip Eight → Be kind because there is not enough kindness in the world and one small drop can make a huge ripple in your life and the lives of others.

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Tip Nine→Get coached.  Learn to change your thinking by taking very small, consistent steps to think in ways that will help build
happiness and success.  Work with your coach to find the right small steps that work for you and actualize/integrate them in your
life/work.

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassions, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”  Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Tip Ten → Understand and appreciate your true beauty by moving past the abyss, through the struggle or pain by holding on to the
faith, hope, courage, integrity and humanity that  no one can ever  take from you.

I hope that this simple post will speak to your heart and soul, because nothing can be more important than preserving and cherishing them both. Your heart and soul empower your greatness, and ability to rise to the challenges before you and use them to do good, be good and lead in a way that makes a positive difference, an important difference in your life and the lives of others.  Carpe diem.

©Irene Becker, 2016

More on Happiness in Disruptive or Turbulent Times?  YOU Betcha!
How to Live Happier in the Midst of a Storm
The Secret to Peace and Prosperity
Refocus, Repurpose, Repower
I Choose the Road Less Traveled
The Happiness Course
Picking the Golden Apple
Recharge, Repower in 3 Minutes or Less
100 Stressbusters
True Happiness
Rediscover Your Genius

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