How to Experience Happiness Now

Happiness is an emotion that can only exists in the present moment.

If you take a moment to think about and really understand that statement, it can have a profound effect on your life. Imagine being able to set the emotion apart from any external circumstance and literally choose to be happy… right now. Sounds impossible or just flat-out crazy right? Well… it’s not.

But before I get into how to experience happiness in the present moment, and how to get out of the habit of waiting for it once “this” or “when that” happens, I’ll first outline the importance of choosing happiness:

Happiness promotes optimism, which helps you keep moving forward when certain steps you must take become difficult (the opposite, pessimism, is a very limiting attitude and only encourages you give up and make excuses).
When you experience happiness, “feel good” hormones are released into your bloodstream, which helps you to automatically put less mental significance on your problems (providing you with the exact strength you need to overcome your problems—constantly worrying about your problems only makes them worse).
The same “feel good” hormones boost your immune system, helping your body fight off sickness and disease—negative emotions (stress, anger, etc) on the other hand, only serve to weaken your immune system. Being physically healthy is one of the most important aspects of personal growth because it’s hard to be motivated about anything when you don’t feel good.
Aside from strengthening your body and making you “feel good”, happiness is an emotion that empowers positive emotions and literally repels negativity and pessimism.

Knock, Knock…

If happiness is simply an emotion that can only exist in the present moment, and can be experienced on command despite external circumstances… then how do you do it?

Stop dwelling on the things that upset you. If you live your life on auto-pilot, this can be difficult, but if you make a conscious decision to stop thinking about “that thing” which happened in your past that’s constantly upsetting you, then simply stop. The past and the future are merely illusions because the only thing that exists is right now… so does the past actually exist? It’s up to you. Take a moment to think about that when the past is upsetting you.
Sometimes when you’re upset, or simply feeling less than happy, your body might want to just lay around and do nothing because you’re not in “the mood” for anything else. Realize that this is the worst thing you can do—force yourself to get up and do something.
Whenever you’re feeling less than happy, take a moment to stop and think about something that makes you happy. Perhaps it’s a memory, or your children, or your spouse? It could be anything, just step away from whatever you’re currently experiencing and re-live a moment, or re-think a thought that truly makes you happy.
Emotions that you focus on actually make changes to your physiology, so focus on happiness in your mind, and allow your body to assume “happy” positions as well (keep your head up, smile, etc).
Use brainwave entrainment audios that promote feelings of happiness and optimism. Take a break, relax, and listen (my Entrainment Lab service offers an audio called “The Optimist” that focuses on putting your brainwave in the perfect state for feeling happiness and positivity).
Meditate for at least 15-20 minutes and focus fully on feelings of happiness… don’t allow negative things, or worry to invade during this time.

While the things above isn’t an all-inclusive list of how to be happy in the present, you should be able to see the point of it all: do something to get your mind off of bad or negative emotions and take some time and effort to focus on being happy. Everyone is different, but at least one (or a variation of) one of the things listed above should give you a good start.

And remember, contrary to popular belief, happiness does not depend on external circumstances or need to be driven by them. Realizing that is the first step to creating happiness whenever you want to, and choosing to experience it despite what may be going on around you.

I understand that it’s a hard concept to wrap your head around at first, but if you put in some effort and believe you can do it… I guarantee you won’t regret giving it a shot

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Stop Waiting For Happiness… It’s Already Here

Knock, Knock…

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