8 Things Happy People Never Do
Do you know 8 things happy people never do so they can keep their everyday happiness? Many people believe that happiness is a thing–a tangible reward, an achievable goal, or a reachable place.
They have convinced themselves that it is something that can be attained and kept or that happiness is a finish line toward which they are running. French Philosopher Gaston Bachelard once said, “If our heart were large enough to love life in all its detail, we would see that every instant is at once a giver and a plunderer.”
Happiness is in the now, right alongside the pain, suffering, and disillusion that we all experience as part of the human condition. Happiness is in every moment, but it is up to us to establish habits and employ strategies that cultivate our ability to see happiness and prioritize our experience of it over all of the static.
Being happy doesn’t mean that you never feel disappointment or that things never go wrong. Happiness is knowing that what you do (or don’t do) on a consistent basis will carry you through the rough times and deliver you again and again to authentic living. Here some of the good habits or things happy people never do typically.
8 Things Happy People Never Do:
1. Worry about What Other People Will Think
What other people think of you is their business. Living a life of integrity is yours. BE YOU and you will find where with whom you BELONG.
If you spend your time changing to fit in, you’ll only find someone else’s pathway to happiness, not your own.
2. Root Their Happiness in the Opinions or Actions of Others
It is not the job of anyone else on the planet to make you happy any more than it is your responsibility to make others happy. We can do what we can do to not intentionally inflict suffering, but ultimately, we must make choices about how we will perceive things.
Neither the words and actions of others nor the events of the day can impact our feelings about them unless we choose to allow it.
3. Hold on to Resentment
Nelson Mandela said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” If you hold onto resentment, even with one hand, you diminish your capacity to reach for happiness.
We all have things that we carry on our journey, but resentment should not be one of those things. It is heavy and takes up space that we could instead use to carry kindness, compassion, love, and empathy we can use more on ourselves and others. Remember this as one of the things happy people never do.
4. Linger in Toxic Environments
Happy people create a canvas for cultivating happiness by surrounding themselves with positive energy. They do not engage in complaining, which is nothing more than the practice of prioritizing the good over the bad.
But they also believe the axiom that you are not required to set yourself on fire to keep others warm. Happy people know that they cannot give what they do not have and so, they take care of their minds, bodies, and spirits by avoiding situations and people that do not promote happiness.
5. Avoid the Truth
Happy people are not afraid of honest living. They seek the unedited truth about themselves, about others, and about their circumstances. Once they identify their truth, they believe it, they speak it, and they walk in that truth as their pathway to happiness.
6. Compare Themselves to Others
Teddy Roosevelt said it best, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Happy people don’t look too closely at what other people have or what they’re doing. You have absolutely no idea what it’s like to walk this earth as another person.
Even the friend or foe who seems to display their entire life on a social media news feed is likely only showing you their highlight reel. It’s a safe bet that if you compared your bag of problems with the person you envy the most, you’d take back your own bag before you’d be picking up theirs.
7. Live in the Past
Of course, it’s okay to remember the good times. It’s also helpful to reflect upon the bad times in order to learn from your mistakes. Attempting to relive the past, however, is futile.
Susan Sontag once wrote, “Time exists in order that everything doesn’t happen all at once…and space exists so that it doesn’t all happen to you.” Keep life’s events in proper perspective; everything in its own time and in its own space.
Recommended Book: I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough”
8. Focus on Blame
Do not over assign blame to yourself or others when things don’t go according to plan. There will be people who do things that impact you adversely–that is a fact of life. But you are ultimately responsible for your reaction to them.
Likewise, when you do something that yields negative results, wallowing in self-reproach about what you did wrong will keep you from moving toward happiness. There will always be variables that you can’t control. Change is the only constant. Playing the blame game will not prevent change or give you additional control over any future situations.
Read: 10 Habits That Kill Your Happiness
If you just remember these 8 Things Happy People Never Do, you’d have more chances at living a happier life.