How Do We Become Happy?

• Everyday for many is a struggle. For some Happiness is a definition in a Dictionary. Are you someone that isn’t happy? Some people have never known or experienced the feeling of being happy. Happiness is, “a state of well-being that encompasses living a good life – that is, with a sense of meaning and deep satisfaction.” (Psychology Today- Happiness).
• Let’s look closer at this definition to start our process. It is interesting that the definition starts with the phrase, “state of well-being”. A “state of well-being” is also referred to as a state of mind. Ones state of mind can be subjective; meaning ones opinion of “well-being” may be completely different from another. The importance derives encompassing, “living a good life” which is another subjective statement, which is hard to define. 
• Many associate financial success with “the good life” and in the same breath often use the statements, “money is the root of all evil.” The problem with this association it is based in external variables. Money and the stuff you can buy are external. A state of mind comes from within, thus happiness in many ways derives from ones internal evaluations.
• The final level of the definition of happiness we are discussing talks about a, “a sense of meaning and deep satisfaction.” This is the area individuals may have the most difficulty with. People who struggle with happiness, financial freedom, etc. all struggle with “meaning and satisfaction” in their lives. 
• Our mind allows us to stay stagnate, thus perpetuates sadness, anxiety, despair and regret. We become happy when we find meaning and direction in our lives, which in-turns provides us with satisfaction and a internal sense of self.

The next questions is… How do we find meaning and direction?

• Usually this answer stems from imagining the one thing you always wanted to do and never had enough courage to do it because it was too hard or it would take too long or be too difficult. My family say, “ nothing in life worth while comes easy.” 
• We as humans are wired and we live in a society that promotes immediate gratification. This causes us to avoid long and arduous goals and focus on immediate items or fillers to occupy our time. This leads down a road away from happiness, meaning and direction.
• It would benefit our lives to put what is really important into focus, “slow and steady wins the race.” There is no time like the present; we need to continuously push challenge ourselves. 
• A huge part of happiness is building your sense of self. This is connected to our self-esteem and how we see ourselves. 
• We need to know we are on the inside because when we set our goals or are on the path of life we will experience haters and doubters who may not be against us, but hold us back from moving forward. 
• Our own convictions and self-beliefs block out the negativity and allow us to stay focus on our path, the more time you spend on your path the happier one will be. It is difficult to not allow others to hurt us emotionally, it takes hard work to build ones sense of self; however, is our strongest defense from depression and anxiety.