You may live a happy life but not a successful one in the eyes of the people around you. On the same token, you can be very successful but totally unhappy with your life. Personally, I never heard of happy people committing suicide. But the suicides of successful people (top movie stars, billionnaires, or other big shots) do not surprise anybody anymore.
Happiness is rather a subjective and qualitative state of the mind while Success can be more objective and quantified with common measures. And success is mostly related to one's career or economic activity, to the level of income one is earning or the level of fame one has achieved in the pursuit of their career.
On the other hand, happiness is mostly based on one's personal life after the day work is over. Of course, you can get an immense satisfaction from the success of your work or your career for a while but don't forget that you will sooner or later abandon your work or career whether you want it or not (unless you are an artist or a writer or any other job you have total control). So happiness derived from work is just a supplement, sometimes an important one, I have to admit, but nevertheless fragile and temporary. You need to have a more basic, stable source of happiness to counter the adversities that may show up in your life.
Happiness comes from your mind. In other words, it's up to you!
World Happiness Survey - Bangladesh The Happiest Nation!!
Research led by London School of Economics professors into the link between personal spending power and the perceived quality of life has conclusively proved that money can buy everything but happiness. The 2005 study revealed that people in Bangladesh,one of the poorest countries in the world, derive far more happiness from their small incomes than, for example, the British (32nd on the list) do from their relatively large bank balances. In fact, people in most rich countries including Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Japan and others are much more unhappier than their poorer counterparts in countries like the Dominican Republic and Armenia....
Happiness and Real Life
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacles in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, or a debt to be paid.
Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were "my life". This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way.
So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you get married, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a nicer car or home, until you go to on a nice vacation, until you car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you're off welfare, until you die, until you're born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. If not now, when?
Our life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
Happiness is a journey not a destination.
Happiness Strategy
1. Dont worry, choose happy
2. Cultivate gratitude
3. Foster forgiveness
4. Counteract negative thoughts and feelings
5. Foster friendship
6. Engage in some meaningful activities
Secrets of Happy Families
1. Enjoy each other: parents come home and the kids are happy to see them and when the kids come home, the parents are happy to see them.
2. Swap stories: something to share with your kids.
3. Put the marriage first: set a real example of love
4. Break bread together: families that eat together, stay together. It’s that simple. Family dinners are essential. It’s a time to connect.
5. Play together: have one or two unifying activities that the family does together.
6. Put Family before Friends
7. Limit children’s after-school activities: if your kids grow up not knowing how to ballet, they will be OK. Create your own after-school activities as a family. Take your kids rollerblading or swimming after school as a family.
8. Build and Honor Rituals: they can be unique to your own family such as a weekly dining out or movie watching at the theater. Rituals tend to bring family members close together because they are repeated over time.
9. Keep your voices down: talk to your kids, give them strict rules, and punish them when neccessary, but don’t lose control and yell.
10. Never fight in front of the kids
11. Don’t work too much: prioritize your kids.
12. Encourage sibling harmony.
13. Have private jokes
14. Communicate
Happiness again
"Happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy today! You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfectly straightened out in your family or with your business, or for all your problems to be solved. You don’t have to forgo happiness until you lose weight, break an unhealthy habit, or accomplish all your goals. No, God wants you to be happy right where you are, right now.
You might as well choose to be happy and enjoy your life! When you do that, not only will you feel better, but your faith will cause God to show up and work wonders in your life.
If you’re always waiting for some events to make you happy, you’re going to spend your whole lifetime waiting. Something will always be “not quite right” in your life. You will always find some reason not to be happy. No other person can ultimately make you happy. You must learn to be happy within yourself. Life may not have turned out exactly like you’d hoped, but you must make a decision that you’re going to make the most of that situation. Learn to be happy in spite of your circumstances."
Pastor Joel Osteen
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