Ten (daily) Habits to Happiness

1.  Put your faith in God.  We all put our faith in something.  Some of us put our faith in money or jobs or possessions.  All of that could be gone tomorrow.  To have real faith in the One True God, it’s breathtaking. (Romans 10:17)

2.  Balance.  When I am in my office working, I feel like I should be with the family.  When I am with my family, I think about work.  As I grow older I’m training myself to enjoy now.  When I work, enjoy work.  When I’m with family, enjoy family.

3.  Read.  Education is a life long pursuit.  Find the topics you care about and read, read, read.  Put good things in your mind, so they’ll be in your heart too. (Proverbs 23:7)

4.  Be happy and content with what you have. (Philippians 4:10-11)  Working hard and wanting better for yourself is wonderful … but being content at the end of your long day is even better.

5.  Explore (and dust off) the desires of your heart.  Be serious about fun in life, learn the piano, buy some oil paints and paintbrushes.  Do something you have never done before.

6.  Visit friends.  I tend to get wrapped up in my life and goals, it’s a happiness booster to reach out and connect with someone you have not heard from in a long time.

7.  Lighten up and laugh out loud.  I was a tense child and now I’m a tense adult.  I sometimes ask the nearest person to tell me a joke, quick.  Laughter is like good medicine. (Proverbs 17:22)

8.   Get exercise.  This is so fundamental and yet I’m always surprised how great I feel after a long walk or even a short walk.

9.  Be honest … with yourself and those around you. (Acts 23:1)

10.  Practice kindness.  Want to feel really happy?  Be kind to someone who was unkind to you. (Matthew 5:43-48)