How Spicing Up Your Life Can Make You Happier!

How Spicing Up Your Life Can Make You Happier!

by Olga Hermans

Happiness does not depend on your circumstances … it is a choice that you make. The first step is to make a conscious choice to boost your happiness; the bottom line is if you want to be happy, you need to make a decision to be happy right now.

An extraordinary number of people are asking questions about their own happiness on the internet, and many are not satisfied with the answers they often find. Why not? Don’t they want to make a choice? Happiness and other positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine by Carnegie Mellon University Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen.

If you want to spice up your life to be happier, you must develop a habit of happiness. You must learn to relax and go with the flow, instead of getting frustrated. You have to believe that God is in control, and that means you have no need to be stressed out or worried.

Moreover you need to be grateful for what you have, rather than complaining about what you don’t have. A habit of happiness boils down to staying on the positive side of life. Each day is full of surprises and inconveniences, so you must accept the fact that not everything is going to always go your way. Your plans are not always going to work out just as you scheduled them.

The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” 1Thess. 5:16 The Msg. Bible says: “Be cheerful no matter what” Another translation simply says, “Be happy all the time.” That means no matter what comes your way; we can have smiles on our faces. We should get up each morning excited about that day.

I can tell you that this does not come naturally to me; I am a person that really has to work on this. I have a more serious and observant personality. Although I can really cheer up when circumstances are good and all that good stuff. So, if I want to spice up my life to be happy and I do, I have to cheer up a little.

I have learned the hard way to not be so rigid and be set in my ways. Life is too short to live it stressed out. Besides, prolonged stress can damage your health and significantly shorten your life. I don’t want to live with knots in my stomach because some person is not doing what I want them to do.

You and I can make a choice to be more flexible and have a more easygoing attitude. Think about it. Ten years from now, many of the things that we are allowing to create stress in our life won’t even matter. You and I won’t care that we were stuck in traffic or that Thanksgiving will be different that we had planned.

Make a decision that you’re going to be happy even if you get stuck in traffic, even if the waitress spills something on your new outfit, even if you have to wait in that long line.

God did not create you to be a negative-thinking person. He didn’t make any of us to live depressed, stressed out, worried, or frustrated. God intends for you to be happy, content and to enjoy your life.

Take an honest look at your life. Are you as happy as you know you should be deep down inside? Do you get up each day excited about your future? Are you enjoying your family? Enjoying your friends? If not, what is stealing your joy and causing you to get upset? Why are you worried?

It is a good thing to take inventory and then take it one step further. Begin renewing your mind in those areas. Many times, you can make a small change; a minor adjustment in your attitude, or a minor adjustment in how you treat people; a minor adjustment in how you respond to problems and it will make a huge difference in your life and in your level of joy. This definitely will spice up your life.

There is so much sadness in our world today. Many people are sick physically because they are living so stressed out, uptight and worried. The apostle Paul said, “I have learned how to be content no matter what state I am in.” In other words, “This doesn’t come automatically.”

We must do the same thing. Happiness is not going to fall on us. It is a choice we have to make. Being positive doesn’t necessarily come naturally. We have to make a decision daily. Our mind, left alone, will often drift toward the negative. If we don’t stay on the offensive, little by little we will grow more sullen. Soon, we’re not as much fun to be around.

We start to find fault. We get critical. Refusing to allow these negative habits take hold of us will spice up your life and can make you a much happier person. When you get out of bed in the morning and put a smile on your face, Set the tone right at the start of your day.