Wouldn't it be great if there was a secret method for happiness and contentment!
People who move through life seeming happy all the time, have not necessarily been blessed with luck, love, success, and prosperity. Such people have, however, have grown the ability to take their circumstances by the horns and make them into something great.
Every second of our life, what we believe is real is coloured by our perception - basically what we have interpreted, through our senses to be real. This means that what we feel as excitement and hopelessness come from within us, rather than being imposed on us, and is only our perception of the situation in a moment - there are many other perceptions available to us, but we have chosen that one. We tend to be happy with pleasing situations but unfavourable situations can cause us misery. Yet if we can just focus on what we have accomplished without dwelling on our perceived misfortune and make each new circumstance our own, the world as a whole becomes a brighter place. In every situation, moment, relationship and setback, there is always an opportunity to find the hidden gem of fulfillment, just by shifting our attitude and seeking another perception. As humans, our natural inclination has a negative bias. This is deeply ingrained in our DNA from how we have evolved and has helped us to survive as a race to this point. And so in our often unpredictable and crazy world, we continue to focus on the negative and we assume the positive will just 'happen' and take care of itself - not a great strategy for making the most of life and finding fulfillment.
But life can be no more or no less than what you make of it. If you are working in a job you dislike, you can focus on the positive aspects of your roles and relish your work with enthusiasm. What can you do with this job that can turn it around so you do love it, or at least love it more? If there is a task you are certain you can't achieve, you could fear it and do nothing, or you can view it as an opportunity to discover what you are truly capable of doing.
In the same way, unexpected events which might cause us to be anxious, can feel very different if we are able to just treat them as a nice surprise, bringing colour and fun to our life. By choosing to love life no matter what crosses our path, we can create an atmosphere of joy that is wonderfully infectious. A change in perspective is all it takes to change our world, but we must be willing and brave to adopt an optimistic, hopeful mindset. To make a conscious decision to be happy is not enough. We must learn to observe life's ups and downs through the curious eyes of a child discovering things for the first time. Then we need to strip ourselves of preconceived ideas of what is good and what is bad, so that we can appreciate the wisdom camouflaged in each step of our life's journey. Finally we must strive to discover the joy of wanting what we have - choosing to accept what we have in our life, right now, with a sense of gratitude and surrender. As we gradually shift our perspective in this way, our life will be saturated with happy times, which will remain with us forever.