Happy Habits

#BaxtersBuzz

"I remember when I was young and hopeful. Before life beat me down." Those were the words out of my friend's mouth. He was joking but only semi-joking. He's in his late thirties and part of him has given up.

I was out with friends recently and as we shared stories of what was going on in our lives, there were good things and bad things being shared. The ONE thing that we all know and acknowledged is that without our significant others, we wouldn't be as stable or as well off as we are now. My wife has been so instrumental in helping me understand those other things in life that I may have missed, but are so important to her. If it were up to me, we'd probably have the same sofa that I had while I was a broke bachelor! There are things that I never cared about.

Responsibility changes you. Or at least it should. Seeing what's important to my wife gives me a new perspective on things. My point of view has evolved. My daughter being born has once again given me more perspective. Those two will forever shape how I live the rest of my life.

My buddy who I referred to earlier is single, with no kids and no real leads for a spouse. He isn't a terribly happy person. I'm not sure what'll make him happy. Not sure what his plans are when/if he gets married. Not sure if that will complete him. Give him purpose.

I look at all of the social media and listen to people at work and everywhere else. I've determined that generally speaking, we are not a happy bunch. How do we change that?

I must live with my loved ones in mind, but I cannot simply live for them. I was reading an article by Jeff Haden called 7 Things Remarkably Happy People Do Often. I encourage you to follow the link and read this very interesting article. For the purpose of my piece, I'd like to talk about two of the things. Actively pursue your goals. "David Niven, author of 100 Simple Secrets of the Best Half of Life, People who could identify a goal they were pursuing were 19% more likely to feel satisfied with their lives and 26 percent more likely to feel positive about themselves." We have to set goals and strive towards something as a way to feel connected. If we aren't making progress towards something, what are we really doing?

Another thing that happy people do is make good friends. This is a subject that I blogged about just recently. Haden talks about the importance of not just making professional friends, but "real" friends. "Doubling your number of friends is like increasing your income by 50 percent in terms of how happy you feel," is an awesome way to describe the importance of making friends wherever you go. 

Live today. Set goals and pursue them! Make real friends and build relationships that matter. Protect those special relationships with your life, because without them, your life isn't getting the miles to the gallon it's intended to.

There are many aspects of one's life that contribute to their entire portrait. We can't let one missing color make us feel incomplete. Pursuing our goals, while building with our friends and family is good stuff! Nobody's on their death bed wishing they would've taken more naps in their life or played it safer.

It's not just the wins, but the losses as well. It isn't just about the peaks, but the peaks proceeding valleys that you never thought you'd escape. It's not just arriving at your destination, but your entire journey. One day we'll be recalling more memories than we're making. At that point, I want to feel like my life was my own.

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