Simply Happiness: A Short and Practical Guide to Maintaining a Happy and Contented Life
By Jen Matthews
()
About this ebook
What is happiness?
True happiness isn’t permanent positivity; it’s fluid with many subtle levels and allows full emotional expression. It’s a skill to be practised – not attained.
Life is full of ups and downs, but wouldn’t it be great if we could maintain a constant level of happiness and contentment – no matter what is happening around us?
Simply Happiness is a practical guide that shows you how to improve your happiness in 12 easy steps. It’s a concise and easy read which summarises and distils knowledge from ancient philosophies and wisdom, as well as modern evidence-based happiness research.
The author’s journey into happiness started as a personal project exploring the what, why and how of happiness, which then blossomed into a guide that everyone can benefit from. The book is full of practical examples of how this 12-step approach can be easily implemented in your life for lasting impact.
Happiness is contagious – by improving your own happiness you cannot help but share it with those around you. As the ancient prayer says – May All Be Happy.
Jen Matthews
Jen has lived in Sydney, Australia for most of her life with part of her 20’s living and working in Asia. Starting life in the corporate world she has gradually changed her focus towards philosophy, spirituality, psychology and art. A lover of knowledge and expanding experiences, Jen became an accidental author when trying to answer her own questions about life.
Related to Simply Happiness
Related ebooks
Happy Simple Life Habits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing Happy: Part 2 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Happiness Handbook: A Practical Guide to Finding Joy and Fulfillment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Ways to Optimize Your Potential Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Many Sides of Happy: Practicing the Art of Choosing Happy for Overcoming Adversity and Challenge to Live Your Best Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife Under Construction: Designing a Life You Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeeking Silver:: In Every Life Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMastering Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNew Thinking for New Possibilities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missing Happiness in Software and I.T Professionals: Tips for happy life and to live life on a higher plane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI AM....SUCCESS: A Roadmap for Defining and Fulfilling a Life Vision of Holistic Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 7 Key Abilities: How to Succeed 7 Days a Week Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBurnout to Engagement: Mindfulness in Action Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInner Leadership: Keys to making Breakthroughs in Work, Relationships and Life. An Integral Approach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMindfulness: From Chaos to Calm: The Simple Success System, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConquering Unhealthy Mindsets With Jazz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt's Not Your Life, It's You: A Deeper Journey Into the Power of Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Chaos to Bliss: Creating Clarity, Confidence, Control and a Life You Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart of Happiness: Restoring Happiness with Heart-Centred Healing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAffirmations for Positivity, Self-Love and Confidence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBegin Here. Discover Love the foundation for all else. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuccess Amplified: Mastering Elevating Strategies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Mindful Questions Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Happiness in the 21St Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecome Your Own Bliss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top Performer's Guide to Attitude Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Self Celebration: Celebrate Yourself Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gratitude Gateway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wesley Singh Becoming Positivity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Personal Growth For You
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think and Grow Rich (Illustrated Edition): With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big Book of 30-Day Challenges: 60 Habit-Forming Programs to Live an Infinitely Better Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfuck Your Brain: Using Science to Get Over Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Freak-outs, and Triggers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self-Care for People with ADHD: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Prioritize You! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Simply Happiness
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Simply Happiness - Jen Matthews
Simply
Happiness
A Short and
Practical Guide to Maintaining a Happy and Contented Life
JEN MATTHEWS
This is an IndieMosh book
brought to you by MoshPit Publishing
an imprint of Mosher’s Business Support Pty Ltd
PO BOX 147
Hazelbrook NSW 2779
https://www.indiemosh.com.au/
Copyright 2018 © Jen Matthews
All rights reserved
Licence Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author and publisher.
Disclaimer
Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
For my loves
Peter, Joshua, William and Mia.
May ALL be happy
Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.
– Aristotle
Introduction
I think what many of us are seeking is a way of life where we can maintain a constant level of contentment, no matter the changing conditions around us. Happiness for me means ease, comfort, contentment, peace, joy, fun, balance and love. It is not a fixed state of excitement and positivity but rather it is fluid with many subtle levels. I believe we each have an individual responsibility to determine what makes us happy and to cultivate that happiness for the good of all.
My aim in writing this book is to offer an easy and concise set of steps to improve happiness and to help you become a naturally happy thinker. This is a practical guide, providing basic concepts and ideas to experiment with and incorporate into everyday life.
Having read extensively from philosophic, religious and scientific sources, I sought to distil the common methods used by these disciplines to promote happiness. If something sparks your interest, there are plenty of references at the end of the book for a more in-depth analysis.
I hope you enjoy it!
The Why and What of Happiness
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
– Alfred D. Souza
Firstly, why do we want to become happier?
We seek happiness, as it’s an opening and expanding emotion. In contrast, unhappiness is closing and contracting. Happiness opens you up to the world; your awareness expands to see the bigger picture. This increases flexibility, awareness, creativity and wisdom. Being more open and receptive to the world makes us more socially connected, resilient and healthier. Happiness begets happiness, leading to an open, inclusive and fuller life.
By improving our own happiness, we can improve the happiness of those around us; it is contagious[1]. This gives us an opportunity, as Gandhi said, ‘to be the change that we wish to see in the world’ and to make the world a happier place.
Happiness is the cause and success is the effect, not the reverse. The reason for this is that when we are happier we are more creative, more motivated, form better relationships and are physically healthier – resulting in a more rewarding life.
Secondly, what is and what isn’t true happiness?
People often think happiness is searching for a constant giddy ‘high’, rather than long-term contentment.
Happiness is:
· A stable state of contentment and ease
· An internal focus
· A skill that can be practiced, cultivated and maintained
· A journey of continual practice and refinement – the potential to be happy or unhappy is available to us moment by moment
Achieving durable happiness as a way of being is a skill.
– Matthieu Ricard
Happiness is not:
· Dependent on external conditions such as wealth, health, status or other people
· A perpetual state of ecstatic joy
· A destination – we do not arrive at a permanent state of happiness but continually make choices in each moment to maintain our happiness
We cannot always control the world around us but we can control how we react to it. The search for happiness centres on internal, not external control or self-mastery. To find real happiness we cannot be caught up in the external events that surround us. Instead, we must focus on refining our internal interpretation of these events. This results in a stable level of contentment in which events arise and fall.
Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstance.
– Benjamin Franklin
I believe happiness is our natural basic state. Unhappiness occurs when our minds ‘add on’ to our experiences, judging them as either good or bad, desired or undesired. We obscure our happiness with these automatic or unconscious judgements. So, in order to allow happiness to occur, we must make a conscious effort to remove the cover of judgement from how we see the world.
It isn’t the things themselves that disturb people, but the judgements that they form about them.
– Epictetus
Think of happiness as a light bulb and judgements as dust. As layers of dust dim the light from the bulb, judgements do the same to our happiness. Eventually the dust is so thick that it’s hard to see the light at all. When we become aware of these judgements, we can then clean the dust off and let the light shine brightly again.
The Buddhist parable, The Arrow illustrates how our judgements cloud our experience of the