Sometimes the handiest tool when making an assessment is a thesaurus. It tends to broaden terms and shed a little light on a situation. Take a gander at these words and see what comes to mind.

Merriment
Blessedness
Content
Blissful
Satisfaction
Rapture
Tranquility
Beatitude

If you guessed happiness you are right on target. I am not big on smiling. In fact, I spent more than 50% of my life trying to hide my teeth and it's a habit I still have. People often think that I am unhappy because there is no wide smile on my face. The truth is, my face is no way to determine my personal happiness. Often I must not look happy, because people question me to the point of annoyance. Perhaps this article will help show there are many ways to access happiness.

Today I got up and it was a beautiful fall morning. I took a cup of tea out to the swing and watched the sunrise. I was in my bathrobe and slippers and wasn't concerned about who may see me in my swing. I didn't smile, but I felt very content. According to my thesaurus, I was perhaps even happy.

My Mom called last week. She is ill and suffers from dementia. We had a conversation that made no sense at all, but I was grateful she called. I felt blessed. Again, I did not smile, nor did I share the experience with work associates or even my family. But I was happy.

I think perhaps the assumption we should try making about people is that everyone is happy unless they tell us otherwise. Do I know that this will not be true a lot of the time? Certainly. But perhaps powerful and happy thoughts will influence others. When some one might look a little down to you perhaps instead of saying "What's wrong?" you could point out something positive. "That green is a great color for you. It really brings out your beautiful eye." Even if you were in bit of a bad mood it would be hard to have a negative response to a compliment like that.

Or use one of you other words from the list that denote happinss. "It seems to be a very peaceful and content day here."

"You did a great job on that project. I bet you are very satisfied with a job well done."

Practice finding happy moments around you and sharing them with others. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to be happy and positive all day, but anyone can do five minutes at a time.

Notice the word that doesn't appearing the list is perfect. Too many people seem to be waiting for their life to be perfect to be happy. Keep it simple and enjoy content moments, blissful moments, happy moments, and satisfied moments.

Cheers.

Learn more about this author, Trenna Sue Hiler.
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