Simple Steps Towards Loving Your Life!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Marla Williams, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Appreciate the Simple Things
As you go through life and grow wiser, you begin to discover that it is often the little things that become meaningful or important to you and bring joy to your heart or a smile to your face. When we take time in our busy lives to stop and enjoy these moments or small achievements, we feel good inside, which results in a deeper connection to ourselves and our own internal happiness. It helps you get into the “Now,” or present moment, instead of worrying about the past or future. Those moments or little things can be almost anything from completing a chore or project to listening to a baby coo or a cat purr. It might be feeling your dog’s unconditional love, or seeing flowers begin to bloom, sunshine and blue skies overhead, hearing the birds sing, or simply enjoying nature in its entire splendor.
Different moments in time can bring delight to your face or happiness into your heart. When you can be “still” in the moment, you will find time to listen, observe, and enjoy! When you live in the past or the future, you miss the joys of being in the moment and being in touch with yourself. This is your life! To make the most of each day, look at each moment as if you may never have it again, and live your life to the fullest. Make each moment in time special, and you will begin to discover the magic in your life once again!
 
Include Laughter
A key part of happiness is your inner joy, and laughter will help you find that. I once heard that the best time to laugh is when you don’t have time for it. Take a minute now and laugh! See how you feel. You will actually have a physiological response as your endorphins increase inside of you during laughter. It’s hard not to feel good when you are laughing. Milton Berle said, “Laughter is the best medicine in the world,” and I concur.
Humor is also infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When you take time to observe, you will find when laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Many studies have shown that laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter can strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.
The ability to seek and find humor and laughter in any given situation is a gift you give yourself, but one that takes work. This gift of laughter has the ability to create a positive feeling even when surrounded by negatives. You will find it can give you back time lost to stress and worry. It is not carelessness or denial of the bad, but an embracing of the silver linings therein.
Life can be funny with all of its quirks and contradictions, but it may not always seem so funny when you encounter tough situations. Your ability to embrace a different perspective on a bad situation through humor is a real testament to your character. Start to look for the humor in everything in life, as you will find it will help you to gain a new perspective, reduce stress, and make others smile.
Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hopes, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for overcoming problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health.
If you have a friend who makes you smile or laugh, connect and spend time with them more often. If you have favorite stories, sayings or cartoons that make you smile, read them daily. Watch positive TV shows and movies or listen to radio stations that make you laugh or bring you joy. What makes you smile or laugh? Do more of it.
 
Learn Resilience
What is your ability to bounce back after tough situations? The human spirit is more resilient than you might believe. Have you ever wondered why some people remain calm in the face of disaster, while others seem to fall apart? People that are able to keep their cool have what psychologists call resilience, or an ability to cope with problems and setbacks. According to many experts, resilience is actually quite common, and people are very capable of learning the skills that it takes to become more resilient. – Below are a few ways that you can exercise your resilience muscle:
• Build Self- Esteem. Research has demonstrated that self-esteem plays an important role in coping with stress and recovering from difficult times. Remind yourself of your strengths and accomplishments and abilities to get through hard times. When you feel more confident -in your own ability to respond and deal with a crisis, you will feel more resilient in this situation and in the future.
• Seek Support. Surrounding yourself with caring, supportive people acts as a protective factor during times of disaster. It is important to have people you can confide in so you can share your feelings and feel heard.
• Include Self-Care. Focus on building your self-nurturing skills, even when you are troubled. Make time for activities that you enjoy. Listen to your body. By taking care of your own needs, you can boost your overall health and resilience, and be fully ready to face life’s challenges.
Resilience means living in the present the best you know how, even in the face of anger, hurt, or sadness. It means taking whatever hand you’re dealt, and turning it into a learning experience. Everyone, no matter how good their life is, experiences tough times along their journey. It is how you respond to them that makes the real difference. These bumps in the road provide you with wonderful life lessons. The key is to stop thinking and talking about your problems or issues and focus instead on the present moment. Take the time to evaluate what is good or what you have learned from each moment. There is good in every situation you face and every person you interact with, and there is good in you. In doing this, you will find your whole perspective and approach to life aligning more positively. Sometimes you just have to turn in the other direction to find it.
On a scale of zero to ten, how happy have you decided to be today? Is your score five out of ten, two out of ten, or eight? Choice is a powerful tool. Can you find a place in your mind where you have already made a decision about how good today will be?
Never give up! Did you know Walt Disney went bankrupt twice before achieving success? It took Edison 10,000 tries to invent the light bulb. He never gave up; he just learned one more thing not to do. If you hit tough times, don’t stay focused on what went wrong. Instead, ask yourself, what did I learn? What was good about this opportunity I faced?
If you fail, you’ll know that happiness is still possible because you can learn from the situation and bounce right back. And if you succeed, your sense of accomplishment is twice as gratifying, because you looked uncertainty in the eye, and answered back with courage and faith.