Feelings Matter

For most people, before you can truly be happy, you need to truly be sad.  
Why?
Because when you cut off your feelings of sadness,* you cut off your ability to feel truly happy.
*The same goes for anger, disappointment and other difficult feelings.

Suppressing or repressing feelings does not make them go away.
Instead they come out sideways
as explosions of anger, or self-hatred, or a dull depression. 
Your feelings matter. 
​

Tools for Happiness when You are Feeling Sad 

*About 5% of people in the world suffer from depression in any given time period. Life can be hard. Talking about your problems can help but sometimes it is wise to get medical help. Consulting a doctor if you think you are suffering from depression is one way to treat yourself with love and compassion. ​

You Can Cultivate Happiness. 

You are in charge of your happiness. Even though it may not feel so, you can cultivate your mind's capacity for happiness. 
How?
There are three main practices that will make you happier.
Gratitude
Generosity
​Mindfulnss

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
-Aesop

Tools for Cultivating Gratitude 

A regular practice of gratitude will open your mind and heart.  If you practice regularly, you will find yourself spontaneously feeling a great sense of grace. The trick is to find the right practice for you. 

We make a living by what we get.
​We make a life by what we give.
-Winston Churchill

Tools for Cultivating Generosity 

Giving freely without expectation of a payoff (from the person you give to or from the cosmos or karmically) will build up your sense of goodness, worthiness and happiness - with a caveat:  Never give in a way that depletes, devalues or demoralizes you. And remember to give to yourself. 

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
​If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
-Dalia Lama

Compassion is the ability to see when others or you are suffering, and taking wise and loving action.
Mindfulness is the gateway to compassion because it allows you to be aware of suffering and to understand what wise and loving action is.  

Tools for Practicing Mindfulness 

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. - Mahatma Gandhi

Mindfulness is the ability to see things as they truly are; not as you wish them to be.  Practicing mindfulness through meditation builds up your ability to be able to be present in everyday life and see things as they truly are in each moment. With the cultivation of mindfulness, you see how unskillful acts cause you and others harm, and you choose to live a moral and ethical life. Over time, this frees you from self deception, and allows you to live mindfully with compassion towards yourself and others. 

Our very being, essence, health, and happiness
depend on mother earth.
-David Sazuki

Connect deeply to Mother Nature

You are the earth. Imagine that you are looking at our planet from outer space. You would not see yourself as separate from the earth any more than you would see a tree as separate. Everyday celebrate your connection to mother earth. Take care of yourself because in doing so, you take care of the earth.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. One experiences oneself, one's thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of one's consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. 
― Albert Einstein

Take care of yourself because in doing so you take care of the earth.

Love your body.

Say nice things to yourself about your body. If you tend to see your body as not enough of something or too much of something else, replace the negative way of perceiving your body with appreciation. When you look in the mirror, imagine you are looking at the beautiful earth, and say nice things to yourself about your body.
Eat well. Five vegetables or fruits a day, and plenty of whole grains and legumes. If you have a habit of eating food you know is not good for you, instead of replacing junk food, add good-for-you foods to your diet. Eat a carrot with the cookies!  Notice how your body feels after eating good-for-you foods and after eating junk food. 
Exercise everyday. If you are healthy, bring your heart rate up for 15 minutes everyday.*   Walking is one of the best way to exercise all of your body. If you are not used to exercising, begin with a short relaxing walk in your neighborhood. If you exercise at a gym or outdoors everyday, take a relaxing and fun walk the days you are not following you regime. 
*Consult a doctor first if you are not already healthy!
Get enough sleep.  Most people deprive themselves of 2 plus hours of sleep a day. Sleep is when your body heals. Sleep is when your mind integrates your experiences of the day.  With enough sleep, you feel and think better, are more creative and resilient, and are happier. 

Connect to Community 

Having a sense of community is key to happiness. Some happiness scientists say that if you want to express what makes you happy in one word it would be: others.  Find a way to be a part of your community in ways that make you feel fully alive.

On community, communication and the shadow...

Connecting to community will most likely inevitably gives rise to conflict with other people or within yourself, and most likely both. Developing communication & listening skills and learning how to work with your own shadow can help resolve conflict in creative and helpful ways. 

Bring Happiness to your Community

 conduct a Happiness Initiative and become a leader in the happiness movement
Gather tools, resource and knowledge to bring happiness to your community from the Happy Community Toolkit.

Use the Happiness Index to raise awareness about the importance of happiness, broaden the understanding of happiness, and expand the conversation about the purpose of life and purpose of government.

You make a difference. 

Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.
-Eleanor Roosevelt

If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.
If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.
​- Chinese Proverb 
Your Happiness Counts.
Count Your Happiness.
Take the Happiness Index Survey,
Use your results to guide you in contributing to others' happiness in ways that make you happy.
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