Happiness Advice

The difference between feeling obligated and burdened and free and happy in life, is the realization that life is about choices.

When we think about how to create more happiness, we typically look for things to achieve and add to our lives. However, sometimes the key to happiness is actually giving up certain perspectives and behaviors.

In my travels around the world to some of the poorest places on the planet I found that people would frequently rush to share with me their most joyful object or experience -- a meal, a song, a path they liked to walk.

Did you know that on average people who are unhappy in their romantic relationship have been so for about seven years before they seek help?

I've just started trying to come up with a list of the bare minimum of things we should do every day to be happy and healthy.

My life has never been thrilling: an uneventful upbringing in the suburbs, getting through college with passable grades and finally a normal career...I have accepted that my life may not be extraordinary.

In my study of happiness, I've labored to identify its fundamental principles. Because I get a tremendous kick out of the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhism, I decided to dub these fundamental principles as my Eight Splendid Truths.

As odd as it may seem, sometimes emotions simply don't matter very much in the pursuit of happiness.

Happiness is one of those concepts we all seem to love to learn more about, but are unwilling to take any big steps to increase it in our own lives.

I really love my life! It wasn't always that way. It took a lot of hard work, important lessons, and many shifts in perception to get to this place. I've learned to step into myself and who I truly am.

Satisfaction doesn't come from autopilot; it comes from taking on things that make us stretch -- like doing the opposite of what we're supposed to, thanks to that singular sage, George Costanza.

After digesting tons of spiritual books and attending myriad workshops, then experimenting with what works for me, I've created my own "Reader's Digest"-ish shortcut to daily bliss.

Here's what I think manifesting joy boils down to: The more you love the Universe, the more it loves you. You can sulk, mope and despair about what's not right in your life, or you can find something to value and appreciate in what you do have.

By understanding how happiness develops, you can help your children find true happiness. The real causes of happiness are all within your children's control, so they can actively do things that foster their own happiness.

What wisdom will it take for you to get beneath the surface stuff of life and come into possession of a deep personal experience of joy? And then, what will it take for you to protect your joy?

Researchers found that personality and social relations in childhood significantly predicted risk of mortality many years later. The findings were not what you may expect, though.

Suffering is not the opposite of joy -- they are foreground and background. One unfolds and magnifies the other. When a smile can be forged from anguish, then it's a thing of beauty and truth.

The meaning you give to what happens to you totally determines your reaction to what happens to you. One meaning can lead to suffering; another meaning of the same event can lead to excitement and happiness.

Most resolutions fail because they don't make us happy while trying to achieve them. For instance losing weight, exercising more, working harder. Also, they aren't attached to anything bigger than ourselves.

Here are some techniques that keep me focused on happy, calming thoughts. And yes, unicorns, rainbows and cute little black dresses are included.

Eliminating alternatives that have inferior payoffs on a case-by-case basis when compared with another action is a common-sense decision principle you can apply to your life.

We've all had terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Here are some strategies I use for coping with a lousy day.

Harvard researchers have found that what matters more is not what people are doing but rather the degree of attention that they are bringing to what they are doing.