Characteristics of Happy People

According to psychologists, happiness is not an inherent human condition; it is rather set of habits that enable the person to live fully, depending on her/his potentials. They even point out at the common traits of happy and unhappy people. What makes the difference between these two groups are their habits, things they do every day. Each of us can have a happy life. However, it depends on how we define happiness. Many spiritual leaders teach us that happiness does not appear as the outcome of favorable life circumstances. They define happiness as our inner state – state of mind. But, if we want to achieve and stay in this state, we need to develop certain positive habits that will eventually make us happy. Unfortunate people usually live without goals, inspiration or motivation. They rather prefer to control things. They often compare themselves with others, and that provoke jealousy and unhealthy competition. Unhappy people hesitate to trust others or trust the process of life. Because of that, they lack openness and a sense of community. To learn more about what characteristics of happy people are, the article “Happiness: What Are the 7 Traits of Happy People” gives us the following list.

• They have high self-esteem. (This, however, is true only for individualistic societies such as ours.)

• They are optimistic, outgoing and agreeable.

• They feel in control of their lives.

• They have close friends or a satisfying marriage.

• Their work and leisure activities are engaging.

• They have a meaningful religious faith or spirituality, one that is full of hope and that provides a supportive community.

• They exercise and get enough sleep.

Source: David Myers, social psychologist and author of “Pursuit of Happiness”

To get out from unhappy mindset, we need time, consistency and goals. If we want fast results, we can get them, but it will not increase our level of happiness. To lead a happy life, we should devote our time and energy. It is not easy to overcome negative behavior or thinking patterns, but with persistence, each negative pattern will weaken until it completely melts down. When we eventually recognize that we create all this stress and unhappiness, it will be much easier to let go of negativity. After we release stress and negativity from our lives, we need something to fill the gap. Gratefulness is the most effective habit that can make us happy from the very short period. According to some authors, we could not be desperate and grateful at the same time.