Happiness doesn’t just happen. You need to have the intention that you want to be happy, and then nourish that intention with repetition and emotion. As you work toward happiness it becomes a byproduct of living and enjoying your life.
But how do you even start to enjoy your life if you are unhappy? You need to consciously create pleasure. You need something in your life every day that gives you pleasure, and you need something in your life to look forward to. When you are addicted to unhappiness, it is difficult to find things that give you pleasure, and it’s difficult to plan for something you might look forward to. So, here’s where the imagination and a little planning comes into play.
Carve out a few minutes each day to engage in purposefully daydreaming. Studies show that time spent in purposeful daydreaming actually changes the body’s reaction to stress levels and produces brain chemistry that helps us relax and feel happier.
Sometimes planning a trip or creating a new friendship may seem bigger than you can take on, so begin with the smallest of things that bring you pleasure and work up to the bigger ones. And when you do begin to plan the bigger pleasures, if they still seem too big, tell yourself you are only planning them at this time, that you really don’t have to find days or weeks to get away on a vacation, just ten minutes to dream about sitting on the beach or hiking in the mountains.
When something in the day overwhelms you, think about that “planned vacation” or the new friendship you just created, or think about the daily pleasure you have planned for yourself—a hot bath, a walk in nature, time spent watching your pet play, stopping and feeling the sun on your face, or a million other things that make you feel good.
Here are 21 of my favorite things that bring me pleasure, both in my imagination and in manifestation. Some are activities I used to do but are no longer available to me. Still, I can dream…
Make any that feel right to you your own through your imagination or by actually engaging yourself in the activity.
• Watching clouds
• Imagining myself dancing beautifully in a large gym that I have all to myself
• Skimming over ocean waves in a sailboat
• Listening to music, closing my eyes, and watching the colors of the music flow
• Walking through the woods
• Good, stimulating conversation with a friend or friends
• Working in the garden, and then sitting back and seeing the beauty of the flowers
• The colors in soap bubbles
• Reading a good book
• Feeling the soft fur of one of my cats on my skin
• Walking with my dog and seeing the pleasure of my company in her eyes
• Writing a note to a friend just because
• Feeling the sun on my face
• Being held by someone who loves me
• Imagining winning a lot of money and what I would do with it, how many people I could help, including me
• Imagining someone massaging my shoulders or feet, or better yet actually getting a massage
• Walking barefoot in plush grass
• Dancing in a warm rain
• Standing beneath a night sky full of stars late at night
• Riding my motorcycle or bicycle and feeling the wind flow through my hair
• Holding a purring kitten to my heart