The 8 qualities of happiness

Happy reading to everyone,

The 8 qualities of happiness

1. Love. It is the fountain of happiness, renewable and eternal. We often think that being loved is the best feeling in the world, but in fact it is the second-best feeling. The best is to love someone else. Love is the opposite pole of fear, both emotionally and neurologically. Therefore, it is the antidote to fear and the first step toward happiness.

2. Optimism. Optimism allows you to have power over painful events. Optimism consists in realizing that the more painful the event, the deeper the lesson. When you let this knowledge penetrate your heart, you no longer view events as bad things in themselves. Optimism gives you power over the fear of the future and the regrets of the past.

3. Courage. It is the most powerful weapon for destroying the power of fear. You cannot rise above fear without courage, because fear is an integral part of your neural circuitry. If fear is eternally programmed in your brain, so is courage. It comes from the neocortex and is a product of the mind, the intellect, and the higher emotions of love and generosity. It is part of nature’s natural balance, for fear has helped us survive. It is the quality that allows us to grow.

4. The Feeling of Freedom. Nothing can fill the soul more than freedom. Freedom is choice, and choice is what makes us human. When we make choices, we define who we are. Everyone has the power to make choices, but unhappy people do not know that they have this power. They think that it is only for rich people. That is not true. There are many rich people who do not feel free. Choice belongs to everyone, to all those who have the courage to exercise it.

5. Be proactive. Happy people create their own destiny and their own happiness. They do not wait for events or other people to make them happy. They are not passive victims.

6. Security. Happy people know that nothing lasts over time: not money, not recognition, not even life itself. So they do not measure security with a calendar or a calculator. They simply love who they are. They are not slaves to fame, longevity, or financial status. They know that security is an inner work.

7. Health. Happiness and health are interdependent. It is difficult to be happy if you do not feel healthy, and it is difficult to be healthy if you are not happy. Special importance must be attached to what is called a healthy inner alchemy for happiness. You can have a happy life and not even know it if you are tormented by a bad mood due to a bad inner alchemy. An imbalance in neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, for example, can cast a shadow over the happiness that is nonetheless present in your life.

8. Spirituality. Happy people are not afraid to go beyond the limits of their own lives. They let go and welcome extraordinary experiences. They tend not to be afraid of death. Dying does not concern them much; they are more concerned with not living fully.
   (c)2007 Christophe Daroux

Marylena