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Ten Steps to Finding Happiness, By Dr. Susan Gregg Who knew it was so simple? 1. Breathing. Pause frequently during the day and take a deep breath. It is so easy to get caught up with the events of the day and forget to take the time to connect with ourselves, no less our spirit. The simple act of taking a long, slow, mindful breath will allow us to do just that. 2. Choice. Each moment of our life is an opportunity to make a choice. We can choose thoughts that allow us to feel stressed, disconnected, and unhappy or we can begin to train our minds to think thoughts that bring peace. 3. Perspective. How we look at life dictates how we feel and the choices we make. If you change your perspective, everything changes, and nothing changes simultaneously. Dominion is a way of looking at life in which the problem and the solution become one, and in which happiness becomes second nature. Symbolically, dominion is represented as a sphere. Today imagine yourself looking at life from a different spot on the sphere and see what happens. 4. Gratitude. When we are truly grateful, fear no longer exists. If you find yourself stuck in traffic, be grateful you have a car. Whatever you “hate” in your life, find a way to be grateful for it. 5. Emotional Neutrality. Nothing in life inherently has an emotion attached to it. All of our emotions are based on what we tell ourselves about the events in our life. If you don’t like how you are feeling at any given moment, notice what you’ve been telling yourself — and tell yourself something different. 6. Eyes of Love. We can see life through the eyes of love or the eyes of fear. Practice asking yourself, “How can I see this through the eyes of love?” 7. Meditating. Instead of fitting your spiritual practices into your life, why not fit your life around your spiritual practice? Set aside a specific time each day to meditate and then sit back and relax. You will find you have more time, not less, when connecting with your spirit becomes a priority rather than an occasional afterthought. 8. Discernment. You are constantly talking to yourself — at times you are more aware of your self-talk than others? Ask yourself, “Is this the voice of fear or the voice of love?” Learn to listen to the voice of love more often than the voice of fear. 9. Letting Go. As the Buddha said — all suffering is caused by our attachment. In life you can let go of outcomes, people’s behaviors, and events in two ways. If you have something in your hand you can let go with your palm facing up and it remains in your hand, or you can let go with your palm facing down and it falls away. Practice letting go of life with your palm down and see what happens.
10. Do You Want to be Right or Happy? Your beliefs and perspective often make those choices mutually exclusive. Before you decide to act today, notice if you really want to be right or if you really want to be happy, then decide accordingly.
Dr. Susan Gregg is a clinical hypnotherapist with a private practice in Hawaii. She leads seminars, retreats, and conferences throughout the United States. Reprinted with permission from Susan Gregg’s Mastering the Toltec Way: A Daily Guide to Happiness, Freedom and Joy, published by Red Wheel/Weiser.
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