What science says about how to be happy.

Well, here are some more positive thinking things. I found this list while doing a smidge of research for one of my classes. Part of me thought- well thank you Time Magazine, aka Captain Obvious, for telling me "eight steps to living a more satisfying life." Then I thought, how simple- but yet how true it is. What I'm about to tell you just may be the key. Or the secret. Or whatever you wanna call it. Bottomline: these are beneficial for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

To give credit where it's due, this is from the artcle "The New Science of Happiness" from above mentioned Time Magazine and it's author is Claudia Wallis, and it was written way back in January of 2005.

The list goes as follows:

1-Count Your Blessings (have we heard this one before?)

2- Practice acts of kindness

3-Savor Life's Joys

4- Thank a Mentor

5- Learn to Forgive (this includes yourself)

6- Invest time and energy in friends and family

7- Take care of your body

8- Develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships

We all make mistakes, life is not about being perfect it's about working towards being better than what you were yesterday. And then it's about if you happen to be worse than you were yesterday, start over! Keep going! Keep moving forward! I've had a bad habit of holding on to negative things. Whether it's something I did, something someone did to me, something life brought to my plate, or whatever, I have tended to focus on those. I don't know when I started doing this, but I wasn't always this way. However, it's time to think happier thoughts. I have had bad days and I know I will have many more. But, I have so much to be thankful for that its not worth it anymore to sweat the small stuff. First off, I have the gospel, Second, I have my amazing husband. Then ya add on the amazing people in my life who I love so much. Family, Friends, Co-workers, Ward members, everyone. I have not been the best that I always could have been. But again, This is me trying to be better. Good, Better, Best right? Each of the above 8 topics all connect to the gospel and that solidifies how I feel about my testimony of my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and Their plan for us.

One of the other bits of research that I read about showed how studies say that surprisingly (or not) relationships are really what people look forward to, find strength in, and gain satisfaction from. Overall happiness comes from the people we love and are connected to. Isn't that a beautiful thing? It's so true. Take away everything, but the people we know are who matter most. Even though we may do things to either intentionally or unintentionally to hurt others- thats where the #5 comes in. That's so key. If I hold onto the anger I have towards someone, it only eats at me. It has no effect on them. That's what I've learned. So, as I keep learning what to "Do" and what to "Don't" in this life I'll keep trying to be better. Because I'm hoping to spend this life being happy :) Thank you science for proving what most of us already knew, but needed some reminding about.