How to be Happy

[The Writer]

These are the principles I use to be happy. They work for me, and I hope they work for you

HOW TO BE HAPPY


1) Give more than you receive

Being generous makes me happy because it makes me feel like I'm overflowing with good things. I give more than I receive because I have so much to give to other people that it would make me burst if I didn't give some of it away. And I love putting a smile on a glum person's face.


2) Don't keep score

I don't think of life as a game with winners and losers. I think of it as a canvas that I'm painting, a book I'm writing. Sure, there are winners and losers out there, but I don't waste time on adding up numbers to figure out how far I'm ahead or behind. What's the point? I put the same amount of time into just getting ahead.


3) Hold the Groove

This is a tricky one. Call if the Funk, the groove, the beat, call it Jah, call it Ra, call it the Great Magnet, call it God, but whatever you call it, have it--not a deity, but a something that makes the day flow as smooth as a river. I love swaying my body rhythmically and listening to mix CDs of my favorite songs, whether I'm on the dance floor or on the street. I love walking down the street, playing music on the turntable inside my head, and grooving with the beat. I literally could not make myself feel bad in any way while doing this, no matter how hard I tried.


4) Treat time as a friend

I don't watch the clock. I try not to live my life by the clock. I play hooky from my social engagements when I feel like it. I make sure to call in sick every now and then for no reason. I gave away all my timepieces a while back, and it feels good. (If I really need to know the time I just ask one of the million people out there with watches). There's no pressure on me anymore, because the perceived length of each day now depends entirely on how I choose to spend it.


5) Be an optimist

Unlike pessimism, optimism can't hurt. Everybody knows the benefits of optimism. In short, I used to be a pessimist, and when I look back on that part of my life now I just shake my head with disbelief at how pointless my pessimism was. I love optimism and the feelings it generates.


6) Shake things up

Take risks. Do things differently, or do things that make no sense at all. I love taking pointless trips to places around the country, all by myself. There's nothing like the freedom of being alone and free in a strange city, with a million places you've never seen before in your life waiting for you to explore them, and a million people out there for you to meet. No obligations. No deadlines. Just me, my mind, a pad and pen, and a bunch of new experiences.


7) Exercise your mind

I try to always keep myself busy with some new project or idea or experience, and preferably two or three at the same time. I get very happy when I finish a project and rest just long enough to move on to another one. When my mind is busy working on something I am interested in, I am happy.


8) Work your body

I run and do simple push-ups every day to get the juices flowing. Like most people, I'm very happy when exhausted at the end of a good workout. If I skip exercising for a few days, I start to feel like a piece of stale moldy cheese, but when I exercise regularly I feel strong as a bull.


9) Smile and laugh a lot

It's self-explanatory, and it works.


10) "Specialize in having fun"

Thanks must go to Jim Morrison for the idea. It's a line from a song on the album The Doors. Anytime I have a lot of fun I try to figure out what got me there. What got me there once will get me there again, any time I please. There is an art to having fun, but I'm only beginning to discover this (and that's where the fun lies).


It's been good to be alive ever since I figured this stuff out! I hope it helps.

[PortugueseMeatball]

YOU'RE THE MAN, WRITER! Great summary!

[The Writer]

Thanks, PM!

I'll go ahead and credit Tony Robbins and funk music as my two biggest influences on the road to happiness. I don't know what Tony's up to these days, but his ideas from the late 80s when he rose to fame are gold. Funk music's self-explanatory. Grooving to funk = happiness as far as I'm concerned.

[vadrill]

Writer, GREAT POST!

Funny, I found myself in most of those comments. Absolutely right. Made my day to see that there is someone else out there that looks at life the same way as I do.

That post made me smile!

Thanks.

[Desperateforhelp]

Hey Writer excellent great great post!. I've been a real downer lately and been having mood swings.

Anyways to sum up my post I thought yours was very inspirational, gave me that extra boost!. http://www.sosuave.com/ubb/smile.gif

[raven_82]

I just wanted to say that a good book on inner pease and happiness is the orginal "Don't sweat the small stuff, and its all small stuff" I just got done with it and my life has already changed.

[Sociopath31]

You may be a happy guy, but this will get you NOWHERE with women.

[cynetix]

Originally posted by Sociopath31:
You may be a happy guy, but this will get you NOWHERE with women.

As a moderator you should know that the first step to getting women is building your own confidence.

While the tips here are under the goal of "being happy" they really point to how to believe in what you do, give yourself purpose in life, and maintain a positive outlook.

So it's quite the contrary, Sociopath: if you are UNABLE to do these things, you will definitely get NOWHERE with women.

[maknmovs]

That was a great post....i really like to read the posts that are a bit more philosophical then just reading ones that just try to give stupid useless advice as "pick up lines" or stuff like that....

These are essential to being a happier person...there's no better feeling than having stuff that you are looking forward to seeing or doing, such as traveling, or going to a realyl good concert or stuff like that..u have to have something that inspires u..that's why i LOVE tony robbins philosophies and his advice...u haev to have something that makes u want to get up in the morning...something that excites u..too many of us just get up in the morning to go to work and really have no meaning in life....

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Life is lost in dreaming, and dreaming is lost in becoming (Motto on the Hard Rock Cafe in Cancun, Mexico)

Ive failed over, and over, and over again in my life, and that is why i succeed..-Michael Jordan

"Success requires no explanations; Failure permits no alibis"

Square playaz get played, pimps get paid, macks persuade

[zonjuan]

Originally posted by Sociopath31:
You may be a happy guy, but this will get you NOWHERE with women.

LOL...

[Jester]

socio what kind of dumbass reply was that.

i just disagree with the giving more than you get thing tho. thats for people who want to reach nirvana, not get laid.

i like wearing my watch, it looks sweet.

everything else is very nice.

[affirmed]

Giving more than you expect back is a self-esteem thing, you're not showering a 'special' girl with gifts or complements, you just naturally make everyone feel happy who comes in contact with you, without expecting the same in return, simply because it MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD!

Trust me, this stuff is essential. If you can nail down an attitude like this then you'll not only easily deal with rejections and nasty people, you'll actually ATTRACT people. There's nothing more appealing than a naturally enthusiastic person. Nice Guys are NOT happy people, usually they are egocentric disgusing this behind acts of 'kindness' which are usually only handed out to pretty women they really want to ****.

The "Nice Guy" is ****ing around everybody including himself. The happy guy is just great.

[Ricardo]

Thanks, I needed a post like this. I've been feeling a bit stale lately.

For me happiness can be very momentum based. Once the day is going well, nothing can stop you.

I'm going to have to try to start doing my exercise first thing in the morning more often instead of the end of the day, and jamming to music sets the mood too!

[Create Reality]

This is a great post. I've always known myself to be happy, but this just makes it better and better!

And once you reach Nirvana, why would you want to leave?

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"You become a DJ when Left and Right unite." -Me

"How can you seize the day if you let fear stand in your way?" -Me

"I program a different kind of computer, and play a different game of chess" -Me

[kamikazemunky]

This is my most favourite post ever http://www.sosuave.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Tiandan007]

Being happy doesn't help with women ??? Are you on friggin' dope Sociopath31 ? It's nature that people are attracted to happy people not negative deadbeats...

...When your happy you exude a "force" that attracts people to you. Girls want to meet someone who can show them that life is great and that's your job.

[oreo_renegade]

im always in a very positive state of euphoria, almost always, i think im bipolar, but a better kind, cuz i dont get down into depression, but i get HIGH, really high, like off drugs high,

anyway, i always seem happy ad a lot of ppl are attracted to it cuz im laffing a shine with confidance, and can make em laff, most of them think i AM on drugs lol

but there are haters out ther who dont understand my joy, and get threatened, cuz they feel stupid, like "i kno the big joke" and i wont tell them TEH SECRETS OF HAPPYNESS

anyway, this post almost goes hand in had with this one: http://www.sosuave.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/003526.html

happy reading

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"... I'm tensed a bit,
and tempted,
when I see the sins,
my friends commit,
I'm infinite... "-EMINEM

Whenever I'm not feeling happy, I try to remember situations where I was the life of the party or when chicks were really interested in me. It seems to get my emotions back in a positive state.

[comic_relief]

Bumpity bump bump bumpity bump bump

comic_relief

[Berlex]

listen to Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin