Life is not always smooth sailing and even the luckiest and best of us face
hardships at times. At The Happiness Institute we strongly believe everyone can
experience more happiness but we’re also realistic enough to know that no one
will be 100% happy 100% of the time.
With this in mind we recognise that as humans, even as happy humans, we’ll
experience a range of emotions (both positive and negative). Accordingly, we
also believe that happiness is not just about enjoying the good times (although
this is an important part of happiness) but in addition, happiness is also about
working through the difficulties we all face from time to time.
Happy people tend to face these challenges more effectively; they’re more
resilient…and not surprisingly, resilience breeds happiness. So next time you’re
experiencing difficulties or facing adversity or struggling with challenges, try the
following resilience tips tested and recommended by The Happiness Institute.
– reach out and utilise your support network (happy & resilient people don’t
necessarily cope with everything on their own but rather, they reach out
and appropriately ask for help)
– when and where appropriate, use humour and laughter to see things
differently and to remain positive
– by all means, learn from your experiences, but don’t dwell on the past
(especially on or about things that can’t be changed)
– practice helpful thinking strategies and do whatever you can to remain
hopeful & optimistic about the future
– don’t catastrophise and keep things in perspective
– look after your (physical) health including making sure you get plenty of
sleep and rest
– accept the reality that the world, and the people in it, are not perfect,
and accept the inevitability of change
– don’t lose sight of your purpose, direction and goals, nor of your dreams
and ambitions
– don’t stop working towards your goals
– try to learn more about yourself and focus on the positives within yourself
– focus, also, on all the positives in the world
Remember, happiness is not something you should only experience when things
are going well…if you practise these resilience strategies then you should also
experience happiness during times of difficulty.
RESILIENCE Maintaining happiness through the hard times By Tim Sharp
