Is happiness really homemade? These 10 easy steps will bring you closer to happiness
“Happiness comes from within. It is not dependent on external things or on other people. You become vulnerable and can be easily hurt when your feelings of security and happiness depend on the behaviour and actions of other people. Never give your power to anyone else.”
― Brian Weiss
What is happiness anyway? Is there any definition for it?
It is St. Valentine’s Day today. In many countries over the world, it is the day to celebrate love. Ideally, every day is a day to celebrate love I would say, but especially today people pay special attention to their partners, give flowers, presents, you name it. But, that’s not what I am going to talk about now. I am going to talk about love and happiness. Why being and feeling happy is not only pleasant but is also important for you? How could you help yourself with feeling happier?
Love brings us joy and happiness. When you are in love and you are being loved the whole chemistry in your body is focusing on the production of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Because of these four, you feel happy, joyful and you are more resilient to situations you come across.
The problem is that life these days is full of busy and stressful moments and these disrupt the chemical balance in your brain, hence your mood and your well-being in a long run. So, if you want to experience the influence of the four “happy” chemicals while going through your day you
should start making some lifestyle changes.
Why happiness matters? Health benefits of happiness
Being happy is nice, it is pleasant. But, come on you can’t walk with a happy smile on your face all the time, do you? Yes, you can’t but, you can choose to make the best out of it. Do you want to know why and also how? Then just keep reading.
Did you know that being happy does not only bring you good feelings? Happiness matters also because it does influence your well-being hence your health.
“Happiness and good health go hand-in-hand. Indeed, scientific studies have been finding that happiness can make our hearts healthier, our immune systems stronger, and our lives longer.” Greater Good magazine of the University of California, Berkeley.
- Happiness protects your heart. Together with love, happiness does not originate from your heart, but it is good for it. Research has shown that people which express more positive emotions like joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm, and contentment tend to have less chance to develop coronary heart disease.
- Happy people have a stronger immune system. Seems unbelievable, but according to studies, happiness seems to be literally working on a cellular level.
- Happiness combats stress. This seems kind of obvious. Stress upsets our blood pressure and our hormones. Happiness tempers these effects and helps us recover more easily.
- It promotes a healthy lifestyle. Happy people tend to eat healthier. They are more physically active too. Being happier may also improve your sleep habits.
- Being happy may increase your longevity.
The Happiest countries in the world.
There is even an annual World Happiness Report. It lists 156 most happy nations in the world according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The Scandinavian countries tend to dominate the top of the list with Finland as a leader in 2018 followed by Norway and Denmark.
Are there any foods which could influence your feeling of “happy”?
Proteins – As the happy hormones are made of protein, the intake of protein- rich food may have a positive effect on your mood too. Avocado, banana, red plums, tomatoes, pineapples, eggplants, and nuts especially walnuts contain a lot of protein. Also, beans (27% protein), lentils (36%), chickpeas (33%), peas (30%), and kale (22%) help you get micronutrients packaged with protein. Besides kale, other protein rich-vegetables are spinach and broccoli. All these you can deploy and let them work for you in each meal or recipe you prepare.
Eat omegas – the happy hormones love omega-rich foods. Your brain is made up of 70% fat. To let it function right and to let you have balanced moods you could add flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, soybeans, and leafy greens to your daily diet.
Don’t forget the minerals – To work properly your nervous and immune system need to have enough magnesium. You can get magnesium from whole foods such as nuts, pumpkin seeds and leafy greens. Another source of magnesium are the whole grains. One cup of whole grain oats of bulgur wheat provides you with 1/4 of the daily recommended amount of magnesium.
B-vitamins – these play important role in every chemical process in your body. To be more resilient while dealing with stress be sure to add bell peppers, spinach, baked potatoes with the skin, green peas, yams, broccoli, asparagus, and turnip greens to your diet.
10 tips which will help you to feel happy
- Stop thinking about things that have already passed. Do not lose your time in unnecessary pitying yourself.
- Find more good friends you can rely on. Loneliness is not a good friend of yours and a good friend can help you out of it.
- Enjoy the beauty of the small things in your life.
- Accept the things you can not change. Instead, focus on things in and around you that you can change. Don’t be afraid of changes.
- Look at the things that go wrong not as a failure but as one step towards improvement.
- Whatever you do for a living be happy if this is your calling. Even if in the beginning you are not rewarded with the amount of money you deserve.
- Pay attention to your health. You can not be completely happy if your health is an issue. Take good care of yourself. You are your dearest person after all.
- Don’t take yourself to serious and use your sense of humor while dealing with challenges along your way. So, you will not be afraid to fail.
- Keep in mind that your age is not a barrier to achieve your deepest wishes. All is in your hands. Your goals should inspire you to take action though.
- Never give up! Remember the winners in life are the brave and the decisive ones among us.
Conclusion
Happiness really comes from within. It does not depend on other things, situations or other people. Never give your power to anyone else!
