Although we experience temporary positive or happy emotions, tapping into a happy state of being comes with awareness and work. Years of introspection, intensive life challenges, self help and study, human observation and research into happiness has aided me in writing what I believe to be the 14 prime ingredients to help an individual connect with a deep state of happiness.

Happiness is engaging with every bit of your life, through both the struggles and the ecstasy with the same state of presence and gratitude

Hannah Kern, Happiness Activist

PRESENCE

Connecting with your current reality is essential for bringing happiness into your life. Yesterday is unchangeable, the future is constantly reshaped by things that are often out of your control – now is all that’s guaranteed. Putting your conscious intention and focus into what’s happening in your present moment allows you to get the most out of it and not let precious moments pass you by.

TRUTH

Honesty is essential for any relationship to work – the most important one being with yourself. It is only within a state of trust that we can achieve true happiness; living in willful ignorance traps us in a state of denial. We should not fear the truth but rather embrace it to help catalyse our evolution.

ACCEPTANCE

When we stop forcing our ideals and surrender to our flow in this reality, we remove the pain that comes with resistance. Resistance requires energy and acceptance stops you spending energy on things you don’t need to.

OPENNESS

Our journeys are constantly unfolding and our fears often block us from going down some paths. Openness allows for the free movement of both good and bad things into your life. The good flows in to bring you blessings, the bad flows in to teach you strength. Having the self belief to know you have what it takes to overcome everything is the key. Don’t stop love because you’re scared to lose it. Don’t stop chasing your dreams because you’re afraid of what might go wrong. Look past fear and feel the thrill of true liberation – something only you can give yourself by being open to receive and share. 

SIMPLICITY

Putting our focus into less things allows us to build healthier relationships with them – to take more time giving our focus and gratitude to those things as something of a variety of greater value than in abundance. 

CHALLENGE

Life will give it to you whether you like it or not, so taking control and challenging yourself in a healthy and intentional way helps you grow in ways you want to. Incorporating intentional challenges into your life is a part of discovering your true purpose; this helps to give you meaning and direction. After all, the more you overcome in life, the more resilience, strength, faith and knowledge you collate helping you to live more objectively and compassionately to yourself and others. 

EXERCISE

Activating your muscles and connecting with your body releases endorphins and is proven to have positive effects on balancing your general mood as well as your physical fitness. Building physical strength and resilience is empowering and healthy, the more you become one with your physical body, the more you unite your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Physical health enables deeper self worth, confidence in one’s own abilities and increases brain function. It also tends to drive us outside more, helping us to connect with nature, another healing principal. 

NATURE

The overdevelopment of modern society has created a huge disconnect between us and nature; it’s time to stop separating ourselves and forgetting we are a type of SPECIES! The more we realise we are all part of the same vibration, the more we benefit as both individuals and a collective. It’s humbling to know we are so tiny and insignificant yet also make up the precious and intricate details in a habitat so incredible. Connecting with that humility makes up a significant part of the road to happiness. 

LOVE

It is sold to us as a crazy dream they show in the movies but love is so much more than just that specific ideal! It’s noticing the sun shining after a cold, rainy day. It’s smiling at the stranger sitting at the bus stop who’s had a hard shift at work. It’s noticing the patterns on the beautiful rug that someone rescued from that skip on the corner and your wonderful, empowering friendship that holds you close and offers support when you need it most. Fall in love every day with the little details of your life; with both the bountiful bliss and heartbreaking hardship. At any point in your life, love is the most powerful healing you can find. Welcome it, give it, feel it, share it. We are all LOVE. 

FUN

Welcome joy into your life. Play, be silly, don’t take life too seriously. Discover what makes your soul sing and release all your excess energy into engaging activities that make you SMILE! Make time for new things and surround yourself with people who make you grin till your face aches and laugh till your belly hurts. 

COMPASSION

Empathising with others frees you from making negative judgements. By removing blame and shame we enable all forms of healing; for both ourselves and others. There is always a reason for someone’s behaviour and to give compassion is to allow ourselves to forgive and remove resistance and tension preventing our happiness and peace. 

COMMUNICATION

Communication helps you be authentic and receive people in their authentic form too. The connector to all other factors and the prime approach to help release pressure and rebalance in healthy, artistic and inspiring ways. Being confident in communication bridges gaps, helps establish connections and enables you to give love. 

SERVICE

There is no such thing as selfishness or selflessness, only oneness. When we realise that another person’s pain is also our pain and another person’s joy is also our joy, we can see that to give to another is to give to oneself. Similarly to connecting with nature, by removing this sense of ‘I’, or sense of ‘self’, we become more grounded and humble and feel fulfilled knowing we are living our life with good intentions and positive actions. 

GRATITUDE

Life is a journey and there will be inevitable ups and downs but channelling gratitude for both our blessings and our lessons is essential to achieving balance. Gratitude keeps us grounded in our own experiences yet also tethered to all influences around us in a positive and nurturing way. When coupled with communication, expressing deep gratitude is the easiest way of gifting love. Gratitude is the element that ties together all ingredients for happiness. It’s the part that provides context to unsettling moments and enables our inner peace when we experience turbulence in life. 

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What would you consider the most important ingredients for happiness? I’d love to hear from you!

Love and hugs, Han ♥