It’s always amazing to me how many people tell me that they lead happy lives, and yet they don’t really spend much of their time doing any of the things that they claim makes them happy.
People do lead busy lives, that’s for sure. In this economy, more and more people are having to get a 2nd job or expand the amount of time they spend at their one job, just to keep their heads above water. And yet still these people say they are happy, but don’t have time to really do any of the things that they think are what makes them happy.
So what is happening here? Is it that people are happy with the jobs they have? Is it that they don’t realize that secretly all of the chores and running around they do to keep their lives running smoothly is what makes them happy? I don’t think that’s it, and I don’t think many people reading this think that’s it either.
What I think is happening is that there are lots of little things that make people happy every day that they don’t even notice they do. They simply take for granted all of the daily things that make them happy. It’s very easy to identify the bigger things that make us happy, like vacations, shopping, working at a fulfilling job, getting together with family, etc. It’s also very easy to notice how often these activities don’t happen in our lives.
What’s a lot more difficult to notice is the little things that we enjoy every day. These can be things like taking a hot shower in the morning, enjoying that first cup of coffee, having a speedy drive to work with little traffic, enjoying your favorite meal at dinner, or having a beer and watching a movie with your loved ones after a hard day at work. These things and hundreds of things like them happen so often that we take them for granted, and yet these are the exact activities that keep us happy from day to day.
Imagine if only the bigger things in life are what made us happy. Can you even think what it would be like if you took one vacation a year like most people, and that was one of your happiness prerequisites? You would go to Mexico in March, come back a couple of weeks later, and then that’s it until next March. Now you have to find something else to make you happy until next March, or somehow find a way to hang onto the happiness you experienced when you were on vacation. Pretty hard, huh?
It’s the little everyday things that fill in the gaps between the big things. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the little things are even more important than the bigger things for making us happy. The everyday happiness is what sustains us, is what allows us to make it through every day without getting depressed and thinking that our lives are miserable. If we were to eliminate all of the little things that make us happy in one day, can you imagine how that would be? I think the amount of people of anti-depression medication would skyrocket.
I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it. Everyone should make a list of all of the things that make them happy, except this time, make sure you count all of the little things that make you smile or satisfy you on a daily basis. Instead of having a list of a few things that you will try and work into your life, you will see that you already have tons of little things that already make you happy every day.
When you take notice of these daily doses of happiness you can tap into the feeling even more and make sure that you don’t take them for granted. Doing this will increase your happiness levels and make every day seem even more joyful than it was before this exercise.
As usual, let me know how it works for you.
Be Happy. J