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What Causes Happiness?
I won’t attempt to list all the reasons why people aren’t happy, so I’ll stick to the first question and look closely at the causes of happiness, and ultimately, how to achieve happiness. Here are the specifics of WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS:
Belief In A Force That Wants Your HappinessI’m not trying get theological here. I don’t care if you believe in the Judeo-Christian God with personal characteristics and purposeful will or some sort of impersonal Universal Force that simply responds to our energy and intentions. I find that those who are happy individuals have a faith/belief that a force greater than themselves, a force that is good and “seeks” to bring good to people exists.In other words, that you believe that happiness is something that is achievable and ought to be sought is the foundational reason as to WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS. Ultimately, this means that we live in an orderly universe with laws, that there are causes and effects constantly at work. In this orderly universe happiness is an effect that we can achieve and ought to be sought/pursued. Going further, that this force desires your happiness and has arranged the universe so that you can discover how to achieve happiness as well as have the ability to achieve it is incredibly encouraging and motivating. Self-LoveI used to struggle with this concept. I was a minister for almost 20 years and I was certainly supposed to preach about God loving us, but to speak about loving ourselves was construed as arrogant and self-centered; NOT ANYMORE! If you do believe in a personal God who has a profound, eternal, self-sacrificing love for you and that you ought to love others in that way, why would you not “save” some of that love for yourself? Otherwise, you end up feeling God is great, other people are wonderful, but yourself? Just a “wretch like me.” Think of it this way, what hope do you give to people about being happy and being loved if you can’t even love yourself? Jesus said, And for those of you who thought that Jesus was bringing a “new” message, he was simply quoting the old(er) testament! If you are to love your neighbor as yourself, then it’s best that you start showing some self-respect and love yourself a lot more! Go on, try it. Then, spread it around! Believing you have the power to make yourself happyLet’s make this simple. If there is a universal force or God that desires your happiness and that this universe is orderly with causes and effects, then why wouldn’t you have the power to make yourself happy? So many people simply have given up on this belief. They have passively accepted their “lot in life” and how it makes them feel. They have grown dependent on waiting for favorable circumstances. Happy people depend on themselves. Once you really believe this and then start taking responsibility for your own happiness as well as acting in ways that bring happiness, then the sky is literally the limit. Therefore, what causes happiness will be you! Choosing to be HappyIt’s up to you. It’s not going to happen to you by magic. You’re insane if you’re going to passively sit around and wait for some feeling to come over you. You’ve got to make it a choice. You’ve got to commit yourself to that choice on a daily basis. It’s your responsibility. It is a dynamic force in regard to WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS. Acting to make yourself happyYou’ve got the belief that it‘s your birthright. You believe you can make your own. You’ve made the choice and commitment to make your own. Therefore, you only need to take concrete, consistent actions that will bring authentic happiness to you. There are some specifics about WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS in another page on this site, Seven Keys To Happiness, as well as some great Happiness Quotes on another. Again, it’s about taking responsibility and making choices that are aligned with your beliefs that happiness is something you deserve and can have. It is wonderfully self-satisfying and empowering to make those choices that result in your achieving authentic happiness. Be Happy! Keys To Happiness
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Loving yourself will therefore mean that you have great respect for yourself. Loving yourself means that happiness can and ought to be a “default mode” and not some “accidental” or incidental feeling that happens to you; rather, it’s your “birthright!” It’s another critical reason in WHAT CAUSES HAPPINESS.
