Text taken from   http://holistic-online.com/

7 Things Happy People Know How To Do (And You Can Too!)
 Kathy Gates, Professional Life Coach

Ever wondered about those people who seem to be able to always roll with the punches and be happy no matter what the circumstances (we all know at least one)? Are they out of touch with reality, or do they know something that you don't?

I was curious, so I began to ask "happy" people what they thought their secret was. Here's some of the answers I got. See if using one of them in your own life might help you be a happier person too.

1. Happy people are in control of their lives. They choose where they live, where they work, how much they smile, what they eat. They choose what time they get up, how they spend their money, when they'll balance the checkbook. Don't underestimate how choosing the small things in your life creates an environment that you want instead of one dictated by circumstance.

2. Happy people know that their bodies are connected to their minds, and they must take care of both. Eating better, sleeping enough, getting some exercise all ties into a happier frame of mind. Watch what goes into your body as well as what goes into your mind.

3. Happy people don't treat life as a win-lose game. Instead, they know how to treat life as a learning experience. Very few things are written in stone. If something's not working, try something different. Don't keep beating your head against the wall just because "that's the way you've always done it."

4. Happy people know how to live in the present. Bad things have happened to everyone, but why would you want to relive a bad experience over and over and over? Let the bad in your past go, and look to the good things that you can create in the present and the future.

5. Happy people expect that "life happens" (yeah I cleaned that up a bit). If you anticipate the best, yet prepare for the worst, you'll always be in the driver's seat. You won't get blindsided by a mistake or circumstance that you can't control. You won't feel helpless. You'll feel prepared.

6. Happy people create a step by step plan. Waiting for things to happen to you might work. Including the lottery in your long term financial plans might work. But don't underestimate the power of small steps in your life. Just saving one dollar a day equals a debt free Christmas at the end of the year.

7. Happy People know how to move on from mistakes by learning and looking ahead. Don't stop in the middle of what you're doing and focus on the mistake. It will paralyze you from moving forward. Move on by focusing on where you need to be, on what's important at that time. Analyze the mistake later when you can learn constructively from it, not beat yourself up about it.

Twenty Ways To Being Happy 

By Kathleen Whitmer 

  1. Believe there is calmness at the center of all of us. 
  2. Know that the mind is peaceful until made to be otherwise. 
  3. Believe you have the right to be happy. 
  4. Realize that every feeling you have is preceded by a thought. 
  5. Be aware of the bewildering array of ego pursuits that surround us. 
  6. Work to be around positive people. 
  7. Know that you were created to be content.
  8. Know that nothing has to go right for you to be at peace. 
  9. Remember that there are no permanent mistakes. 
  10. Take others as they are. Help when a way to help is clear. See innocence in mistakes. 
  11. Remember that haste makes unhappiness. Give yourself more time to do things. 
  12. Start identifying people and places that cause unhappiness. 
  13. Avoid working to defeat people who disagree with you. 
  14. Forgive. Know that to forgive you need do nothing, it is an act of the heart, not the body. Let go, give up, cease to harbor. 
  15. Know that when any judgmental train of thought ends, the damage it caused to the mind ends with it. 
  16. Try to look upon the world the way we allow ourselves to look at a child.
  17. Work to enjoy the present. 
  18. Realize that everyone has the key to being content but few use it. The key is our undeveloped mental focus. 
  19. Avoid the world motto "do little and expect much". Trade it in for "work hard but expect very little". 
  20. Remember that a gentle vision makes a more gentle world. 

Achieving Happiness
 By Kali Munro

Imagine someone holding a glass full of clean, fresh water and complaining about thirst. Likely you'd suggest they first take a sip from the glass in their hand.

Happiness is similar. Everyone wants to be happy, but not everyone knows how to recognize and stay with it; they're always looking for more. The search for happiness is lost when it becomes an insatiable pursuit for getting more.

The difference between the two is like the difference between savoring and lingering over the sweetness and flavor of a mango, and quickly gobbling it up before eating the next sweet. The pursuit becomes the focus, rather than the experience or the satisfaction that comes from what we do have.

This endless pursuit for happiness can consume us for all of our lives. We may think that once we have more money, a relationship, or that perfect job we'll be happy, yet when we get there we find it's not what we'd hoped for, or we don't take the time to really enjoy it.

There is always something more to be pursued, bought, owned, done, that we rarely enjoy what is in front of us. Even the search for spirituality is pursued in this manner. People go from spiritual leader to leader searching for meaning, often going as far as India to find fulfillment.

The pattern is easily recognizable, and we can all fall into it with thoughts like "when I do...own...have...get...go to... I'll be happy", or "if only...would happen." But the truth is once whatever is sought after is obtained, we're off looking for the next thing. We rarely stop and simply enjoy what is happening right now or fully appreciate what we have.

Some believe this constant desire and pursuit for more is rooted in our biology — that it helped us to survive when we didn't have all the conveniences that are available to us today. Some believe that this pursuit is rooted in a society that emphasizes consumerism, and another view is that it reflects an alienation from ourselves and one other.

Regardless of what we believe to be at the root of this constant wanting, it seems to take conscious and deliberate effort to experience contentment or satisfaction in our lives — to fully appreciate life, people, and the activities we engage in. And, this doesn't mean appreciating things that are hurtful, wrong, or violent, because that would reflect not fully appreciating ourselves or other people.

Instead, it means taking a new look at ourselves, life, and the world around us and seeing the beauty that is there. It doesn't mean ignoring what isn't right, like violence in our and other countries, but it also doesn't mean denying the good we do see.

It means getting in touch with the awe of a child who see magic in everything, who notices the simplest of things and takes great pleasure in them. It means appreciating and valuing yourself, the people you know, what you've done, and what you are doing. It means slowing down and savoring every moment, or as many moments as possible rather than hurrying along to the next task.

By noticing more, and by appreciating what is good in their lives (like the glass full of fresh clean water), many people find that they begin to feel more content — they find what they were searching for all along.