How to be happy

By Mani Jack, M.J.

1. Love yourself first

Can you sincerely love others if you hate yourself every time
you look at yourself in the mirror? I believe that we should learn
to sincerely love ourselves first before we learn to love others
from the bottom of our heart. Bill Gates already shared his
words of wisdom when he said “if you compare yourself to
others, you are actually insulting yourself”. If your nose is not as
sharp as the white, make sure that your mind is sharper than the
white. If your skin is not as white as the white, make sure that
that your heart is as white as the snow. If you are not as
beautiful as Nicole Kidman, make sure that your body is as
beautiful as Megan Fox. If you are not as handsome as Brad Pitt,
make sure that your wallet is as fat as Warren Buffet. If you
spend the rest of your life cursing God about your weaknesses,
you will not be able to see the many parts of you which can be
turned into your greatest strengths especially the gift and talents
that you have. You can only be happy when you start to
acknowledge every blessing that you have.

2. Expect less or little

Problems are parts of our lives. Whether we like it or not,

problems will always be there. There are two types of problems;
problems which meant to be there and the man-made problems.
Last but not least, there are many types of problems such as
financial problems, mental problems, emotional problems,
spiritual problems and etc. These problems remain as problems
if we focus too much on solving the problems in one day. Some
problems cannot be solved in one day. Some take days, weeks,
months and years depending on how we respond to the problems.
If we have financial problems, sleeping, gambling and drinking
alcoholic drinks will worsen our financial problems. It is better
for us to revise our own spending habits instead of doing
something else which could make things worse. If you have
spiritual problems or in other words you have problems with
your faith, talk to religious figures whom you trust. Every man
must acknowledge that supreme power does exist in this world.
If you have emotional problems, study the causes of those
emotional problems. If you have problems with your anger,
study the cause of your anger. Sometimes, the main cause of our
anger is our failure to make peace with our past.

3. Choose what we read and watch carefully.

If you are emotionally sensitive, avoid reading Facebook

postings which could trigger your negative emotions. Trying to
change the world is a waste of time. Everything that is bad or
good has been there ever since. In general, we tend to forget that
our brain is just like our stomach. If what we eat determines our
health status, what we read determines the health of our minds.
Our brain or our mind is connected to our heart. If the mind
always reads or sees something negative such as abuse, war,
hunger, murder, abduction, rumours and etc. the heart will
always be in fear. No matter what we do or say, the status quo of
this world remains the same. It is neither heaven nor hell. If we
can’t protect our mind, our heart will always feel the pain. I
understand that we want to be updated with the latest current
issues as we want to know about what is happening in the world
today. However, the balance must always be there. We should
spend more time reading and watching good things so that our
minds and hearts can have a good rest and most importantly we
will believe that good things and good people exist on earth.

4. Enjoy little things in our lives

Make a list of little things that you have in your life. Those
little things could be your job, house, happy family, independent
and helpful children, good friends, food on the table,
understanding spouse, parents or grandparents who are still alive,
extra money in the bank, good health, understanding boss,
cooperative colleagues, helpful neighbours, talents, peace, less
natural disasters and most importantly the chance to see the
world for another day. Focusing our minds on these blessings
will help our minds and hearts to stay happy because emotional
support is just a click away.

Our happiness is our responsibility but we have to decide who

or what should live on that island of happiness. M.J.
more motivational essays at https://yourdailycandle.blogspot.com/