Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness….It’s the American Dream.
The Pursuit of Happiness…
It’s the one thing that we all desire.
We wish for it. We want it.
We pray for it for others.
Books are written on it.
Songs are sung about it….
It’s probably the ONE and only thing we all have in common.
We all want to be happy.
I want to be happy. Do you want to be happy?
Go ahead, say it out loud: “I want to be happy!”
Do you believe you are meant to be happy?
So, what makes us happy?
The world would have you believe that happiness happens “out there”. That happiness is based on the car you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you wear, the title you hold, the degrees you carry, the size of your bank account, the size of your jeans, etc.
I disagree.
I believe that happiness happens “in here.” (tapping on my heart 😉
Happiness is an inside job.
I believe happiness is directly connected to our Essential Purpose.
Our Essential Purpose is our BIG WHY – our BIG WHY, as in WHY are we here?
In my experience, people are happier when they are tapped into their Essential Purpose. When someone knows his/her essential purpose, he/she is aligned in every area of her life — her physical health, her career, her relationships, her finances, and her spirituality.
People inherently know what to do to create happiness in their lives…
- get 7- 8 hours of sleep/night
- eat more veggies and fruit
- drink more water
- cut out fast food
- surround yourself with positive people
- exercise a few times/week
- have a good work/life balance
- get outside in nature
- meditate
- keep a gratitude list
- don’t gossip
- forgive others
- make sure to add in play
- reduce your stress
None of these are new ideas! We all know what to do, but here’s the problem.
We don’t do it!
Why do we know things that will make us happier, but yet we don’t do them?!
People are people.
We get busy.
We get distracted and overwhelmed.
We get consumed by the world.
We get caught up in what the world tells us is “happiness.”
While some of us are trying to get ahead, many of us are just trying to keep up.
We are disconnected from ourselves and don’t take time to get quiet and connect to our deeper self…to listen our Essential Purpose.
We do what we do because we think it will make us happy.
And we don’t always do what we know we “should” do to make us happy.
Five Minute Exercise:
- What are the things that make YOU happy?
- Write down the list of those things that fill you up, the things that make your heart happy.
- Commit to doing 1 thing once a day that is going to fill up your happiness tank!
Find your happiness.
