Double Your Happiness With Appreciation

Double your happiness with appreciation. A positive outlook will help you live in the moment and enjoy happiness for a prolonged duration. You can derive happiness by appreciating things that you already possess.

The Pursuit of Happiness

All self-help books teach us how to live life to the fullest, and how to make the most of our abilities and opportunities. Few books however, teach us how to achieve happiness through appreciation. People chase things because they feel that achieving those things will bring them happiness.

What happens in actual life is that unless a person is happy from within, material things are likely to bring superficial and short-lived happiness. Such a person who chases happiness in material things has been compared to a dog chasing its own tail.

The secret to happiness is to appreciate the things already present in life. Experts believe that appreciation for all the blessings helps bring even more happiness in life. By expressing appreciation for all good things in life, we help make life happier for ourselves as also people around us.

It was tea time and I was enjoying tea with my friend Jaya who was on a rare visit to my house. During the conversation I could hear the sound of drizzling. I jumped to my feet and ran towards the balcony spontaneously and unaware of my friend’s presence.

Blame it only habit developed over decades have this habit of enjoying the first few rain drops falling . . . it is so uplifting . . . the sight, smell, the sound and the feeling . . . everything. It may seem small, but it is pure bliss which I would never want to miss. My friend agreed with me that appreciation of good things, however small, can bring immense joy and has a positive effect on our psyche.

How to Develop Appreciation of Good in Everything

Appreciation does not have to be felt or expressed solely for the big things in life. In fact, our life is a series of miracles, both big and small. We need to feel and express gratitude for the small and big favors that our loved ones do for us.

The fact that members of our family love and take care of us, the food that they put on our table and the roof that they keep over our heads—all these are things for which we need to express thanks.

Most of us take the daily miracles for granted and fail to appreciate them. The very fact that the air we breathe, the light we see, the wealth of love from loved ones—are these not blessings which we take for granted?

An occasional message to friends or loved ones, a phone call, a word of appreciation for a job well done, a pat on the back for a child’s helping gesture or a sincere word of thanks to anyone like a cab driver, watchman or postman—all these can bring great joy and goodwill leading to the well being of all.

Make it a Daily Habit

To cultivate a habit of appreciation, we can start by reaffirming the following thoughts:

At the close of every day, I count my blessings and give thanks for all that I have.
I appreciate all the joys in my life and am open to additional joys which life may bring.
I give thanks for all that enriches my life.
I thank the Universe for the gift of life.

Conclusion

Expressing appreciation is a habit which needs to be cultivated in earnest. When this habit becomes part of our persona, we truly become positive individuals, looking for good in every person and every situation.

The key to happiness is to appreciate what you have. If it’s so simple, why are so many people unhappy. ~ Rabbi Noah Weinberg (Tweet this)

Many of us hesitate to express appreciation in words for fear that we may be misunderstood. But the fact is that appreciation is a universal need. Appreciation is to the soul what rain is to parched land. Honest appreciation expressed without reservation encourages the person receiving it and enriches his life with joy

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” William A. Ward (Tweet this)

Appreciating and focussing on the good aspects in our lives helps us enhance the positive vibrations exponentially.

Go ahead, tell someone how much you appreciate them. Tell them what you appreciate. You will be increasing the happiness quotient of the world—the person will be happier, and so will you!