How to Re-Learn Happiness

Did you know that we have on the average between 42,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day? This includes the hours that we are asleep. I was amazed at this finding.  So how do thoughts work? Our thoughts come into our brains and after some time there is an emotion that is attached to it. After a while its is stored in our subconscious.

How many times have you reacted to a situation and been totally unaware of why you did that? Well, that would be what I call the “auto-pilot” effect. The emotion and the response were stored in the subconscious and the emotional auto-pilot kicked in.

I did more research and discovered that on average between 70-80% of our thoughts are negative.  On the other hand, happiness and being positive is 50% genetic, 10% circumstance and 40% by the actions that we take. How can this be? How is that negative thoughts are so prolific?  We have learned to be negative, put on the auto-pilot, and forgotten to create our own happiness.

Think about it. 40% of happiness and being positive is by the actions that we take. If we practiced positive thoughts, our brain would eventually attach a new happy emotion and store it into our subconscious. Then our emotional auto-pilot would take over and we would experience more happiness more frequently in our lives.

Interesting, we can re-learn to be happy. So all that talk about practicing being positive works. There is an old saying, practice makes perfect.

So how can we practice?

My suggestion would be every day, when you wake up, and before you go to sleep. Why? It sets the tone for the day, and the attitude for sleep. Remember, we are still thinking when we are sleeping. If this does not work for you, schedule a time that does, and get ready to practice.

Here are some suggestions to get started:

• Write or say 3 things that you are grateful for
• Write or say 3 things that you appreciate
• Do at least 1-3 acts of kindness per day
• Set 2-3 positive intentions per day
• List 3 things that worked in any situation
• Read the funnies
• Sign up for the joke of the day
• Watch funny “you-tubes” on the web
• Sign up for an inspiration or daily gratitude of the day
• Share your success’s large and small daily

Practicing positive thoughts can be easy and quick. Making it part of your daily routine helps shift into happy drive. Here is one last secret. If you are having a tough day practice positive thoughts even more. Remember your are retraining your brain and your emotional auto-pilot to shift into happiness.