The Only Guide to Hapiness You´ll Ever Need
Autor: Rebecca F. Barbosa | Publicado: 2010-05-26T09:54:00-04:00


Peguei este texto do blog: http://fashionmelon.blogspot.com/

É em inglês mas creio que a essência será captada. Aqui apresento a vocês "O único guia de felicidade que você precisará"





Happiness  shouldn’t be something that happens to us in the future, maybe someday,  if things go well. Happiness should be here and now, who we are now,  with the people we’re with now, doing the things we’re doing now. And if  we’re not with people who make us happy, and doing things that make us  happy … then we should take action to make that happen.

Be present. Don’t think  about how great things will be in the future. Don’t dwell on what did or  didn’t happen in the past. Learn to be in the here and now, and  experience life as it’s happening, and appreciate the world for the  beauty that it is, right now. Practice makes perfect with this crucial  skill.
Connect with others. In my  experience, very few things can achieve happiness as well as connecting  with other human beings, cultivating relationships, bonding with others.  Some tips on doing this.
Spend time with those you love. This might seem almost  the same as the item above, and in reality it’s an extension of the same  concept, a more specific application. Spending time with the people you  love is extremely important to happiness … and yet it’s incredible how  often we do just the opposite, and spend time alone, or disconnected  from those we love, or spend time with people we don’t much like. Make it a priority to schedule time  with the people you love. Make that your most important item of the day.  For myself, I have a time when I cut off work, and the rest of the day  is for my family. Weekends are exclusively for my family. And by setting  aside this sacred time, I ensure my happiness by letting nothing come  between me and the people I love most.
Do the things  you love. What do you love doing most? Figure out the 4-5  things you love doing most in life, the things that make you happiest,  and make those the foundation of your day, every day. Eliminate as much  of the rest as possible. For me, the things I love doing are: spending  time with my family, writing, reading, and running. I do those things  every day, and very little else. It may take awhile to get your life  down to your essentials like I have (it took me a few years of careful  elimination and rescheduling and saying “no” to requests that aren’t on  my short list), but it’s worth the effort.
Focus on the good things. Everyone’s life has positive  and negative aspects — whether you’re happy or not depends largely on  which aspects you focus on. Did you lose today’s softball game? At least  you got to spend time with friends doing something fun. Did you sprain  your ankle running? Well, your body probably needed a week’s rest  anyway, as you were running too much! Did your baby get sick? Well, at  least it’s only a flu virus and nothing life-threatening … and at least  you have a wonderful baby to nurse to health! You can see my point —  almost everything has a positive side, and focusing on the positives  make all the difference. My Auntie Kerry died last week (as you know),  and I’m still grieving, but 1) I’m happy I spent time with her before  her death; 2) her death has brought our family closer together; 3) her  suffering has ended; and 4) it reminded me to spend more time with the  people I love while they’re still alive.
Do work  you love. An extension, of course, of doing the things you  love, but applied to work. Are you already doing the work you love? Then  you’re one of the lucky ones, and you should appreciate how lucky you  are. If you aren’t doing the work you love, you should make it a  priority to try to find work you’re passionate about, and to steer your  career in that direction. Take myself for example: I was doing work that  I was good at (just last year), but that I wasn’t passionate about. I  was passionate about writing, and so I pursued blogging … and with a  year of hard work, was able to quit my day job and  blog full time. I’m so much happier these days!
Lose yourself in your work. Once you’ve found work you  love, the key is to lose yourself in it … clear away all distractions,  find an interesting and challenging task, and just pour all your energy  and focus into that task. With practice, you’ll forget about the outside  world. There are few work-related joys that equal this feeling. Read more.
Help others. Is there any better feeling than helping a  fellow human being? There aren’t many. And it’s not too hard — here are 25 ways.
Find time for peace. With the hectic pace of life these  days, it’s hard to find a moment of peace. But if you can make time for  solitude and quiet, it can be one of the happiest parts of your day. Here’s how.
Notice the small things. Instead of waiting for the big  things to happen — marriage, kids, house, nice car, big promotion,  winning the lottery — find happiness in the small things that happen  every day. Little things like having a quiet cup of coffee in the early  morning hours, or the delicious and simple taste of berries, or the  pleasure of reading a book with your child, or taking a walk with your  partner. Noticing these small pleasures, throughout your day, makes a  huge difference.
Develop compassion.  Compassion is developing a sense of shared suffering with others … and  taking steps to alleviate the suffering of others. I think too often we  forget about the suffering of others while focusing on our own  suffering, and if we learned to share the suffering of others, our  suffering would seem insignificant as a result. Compassion is an  extremely valuable skill to learn, and you get better with practice. Here’s how.
Be grateful. Learning to be grateful for what’s in our  lives, for the people who have enriched our lives, goes a long way  toward happiness. It helps us to appreciate what we have and what we  have received, and the people who have helped us. Read more.
Become a lifelong learner. I find an inordinate amount of  pleasure in reading, in learning about new things, in enriching my  knowledge as I get older. I think spending time reading some of the  classics, as well as passionately pursuing new interests, is energy well  invested. Try to do a little of it every day, and see if it doesn’t  make you happier.
Simplify your life. This is  really about identifying the things you love (see above) and then  eliminating everything else as much as possible. By simplifying your  life in this way, you create time for your happiness, and you reduce the  stress and chaos in your life. In my experience, living a very simple  life is also a pleasure in itself.
Slow down.  Similar to simplifying, slowing down is just a matter of reminding  yourself that there’s no need to rush through life. Schedule less things  on your calendar, and more space between things. Learn to eat slower,  drive slower, walk slower (unless you’re doing it for exercise). Going  slowly helps to reduce stress, and improve the pleasure of doing things,  and keeps you in the present moment.
Exercise.  I’ve written about the pleasures of exercise many times. It can be hard  to start an exercise program (here’s how) but once  you get going, it relieves stress and can really give you a good  feeling. I feel joyful every time I go out for a run!
Meditate. You don’t need to join a Zendo or get a mat or  learn any lotus positions, but the simplest form of meditation can  really help you to be present and to get out of the worrying part of  your head. You can do it right now: close your eyes and simply try to  focus on your breathing as long as possible. Pay attention to the breath  as it comes into your body, and then as it goes out. When you feel your  mind start to wander, don’t fret, but just simply acknowledge the other  thoughts, and then return to your breathing. Do this a little each day  and you’ll get better at it.
Learn to  accept. One of the challenges for people like me — people who  want to improve themselves and change the world — is learning to accept  things as they are. Sometimes it’s better to learn to accept, and to  love, the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to try to  make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal. I’m not  saying you should accept cruelty and injustice, but learn to love things  when they are less than “perfect”.
Spend time in  nature. Go outside and take a walk each day, or take the time  to watch a sunset or sunrise. Or find a body of water — the ocean, a  lake, a river, a pond — and spend time taking a look at it,  contemplating it. If you’re lucky enough to live near some woods, or a  mountain, or a canyon, go hiking. Time in nature is time invested in  your happiness.
Find the miracles in life. I  absolutely believe in miracles, and believe that they are all around  us, every day. My children are all miracles. The kindnesses of strangers  are miracles. The life growing all around us is a miracle. Find those  miracles in your life, and enjoy the majesty of them.