What if the entire universe, all of it, is but a reflection of limitless consciousness?
And what if every possible outcome is unfolding simultaneously? What if we could select, as if from a mind-boggling buffet, any moments we choose to cooperate with in order to experience it?
What if we are choosing each moment in order to understand who we are in relationship to that experience or circumstance?
What if we are all ONE mind simply playing different parts?
What if time is not real and all events and all possible events are actually occurring right NOW? In other words, what if now, this moment, is all there is, although we experience it as linear time?
Choosing to experience a state of being, simply by 'being' it, creates a cascade of new probable events, one that backfills, as it were, the past to construct the NOW in the most logical path in our memory.
We remember the event as having transpired, as if cause and effect happened, but in reality, the NOW event actually caused the effect, or rather path that it traveled and not the other way around.
What if a state of openness, gratitude and joy could mold the experience we have in our construct of time?
Results would be instantaneous, although they would seem as if they were separated by time and space (from our perspective).
The Law of Attraction then would simply be a vehicle of expression of the eternal moment, one of many outcomes, all changing simultaneously as we choose and thereby create whatever it is we are experiencing.
And what if, our vast minds, being part of a living consciousness that permeates all things, indeed is all things, is also experiencing our choices and non-choices in each moment so that in order to experience itself, in relation to, every other aspect of itself?
And, if we were eternal, playing a vast game and interacting with others, we do so to "live out "the adventure of the game.
That would mean that everyone that comes into your life, however briefly, is chosen in advance (or agreed upon in some way) so that you to react/respond/experience that meeting or interaction and be whoever you are in relation to it.
It would also mean that you are not 'stuck" on any given path. All outcomes are possible in each moment. You simply have to select them. ( You choose by your emotional response.)
By embracing life and seeking love and joy in all circumstances, the game is "re-set" to change the path, the outcome and even the players themselves.
Ego, greed and fear however, destroy the game. As does worry, the stepchild of fear of lack. (Again, the game responds to your emotional state rather than your words.)
The great challenge of the game is then to get what you need without allowing it to become your identity. Chasing material things is a false purpose and creates fear.
Your body is only a vehicle that allows you to experience physical life.
It is easy to forget that you are not here to pursue wealth or fame, although those things may come. Your real purpose is to experience life and in so doing, create joy.
Your ultimate purpose is to be love in action, kindness in motion and to remind others of the same.
You are here to express love (and have fun). So go do that.
We never get tired of thinking about happiness, do we? Life is so much nicer when you’re able to couple it with joy and gratitude.
We’ve published posts before about simple ways to be happy and retraining your brain for more gratitude, and Buffer’s CEO Joel has even shared his own daily to-do list for happiness. (There’s also our popular list of things to stop doing to be happier.)
Meanwhile, science continues to study happiness, finding ever more specific and idiosyncratic ways we can bring just a bit more of this elusive quality into our lives.
I love keeping an eye on these studies, and thought I would share the latest batch with you here to see if any of them might resonate with you and make you just a bit happier.
Here are 10 truly unique ways to be happier that you can start today!
1. DO CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Need a boost of joy? Trying seeing a play or heading to a museum.
A study that collected data on the activities, mood and health of 50,000 adults in Norway found that people who participated in more cultural activities reported higher happiness levels and lower anxiety and depression.
"Participation in receptive and creative cultural activities was significantly associated with good health, good satisfaction with life, low anxiety and depression scores in both genders," the researchers write.
Curiously, men saw stronger benefits from receptive, or passive, cultural activities (like visiting museums, art exhibitions, concerts or theaters) while women more enjoyed active participation events (like club meetings, singing, outdoor activities and dance).
2. KEEP A DIARY: REREADING IT BRINGS JOY
To learn to find more gratitude and joy in every day—not just special occasions, the boring days, too—try keeping a diary and re-reading it from time to time.
Researchers who did a variety of experiments involving keeping a journal discovered that "ordinary events came to be perceived as more extraordinary over time" as participants rediscovered them through their older writings.
In other words, simply writing down our ordinary, regular-day experiences is a way of banking up some happiness down the line, when the activities we describe could bring us unexpected joy.
3. MAKE SMALL TALK WITH A STRANGER
Chatting up your barista or cashier? Good for your health!
Behavioral scientists gave a group of Chicago train commuters a $5 Starbucks gift card in exchange for striking up a conversation with a stranger during their ride. (While another group kept to themselves.)
Those who started conversations reported a more positive experience than those who had stayed quiet—even though they had predicted they would feel happier being solitary.
Another study saw similar results from giving Starbucks visitors a $5 gift card in exchange for having a "genuine interaction with the cashier."
It seems that connecting with another person—no matter how briefly—increases our happiness.
4. BUT HAVE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS, TOO
While positive small talk is great, more substantial conversations could up our happiness quotient even higher.
A study that tracked the conversations of 80 people for 4 days found that, in keeping with the small-talk study, higher well-being is associated with spending less time alone and more time talking to others.
But researchers also discovered that even higher well-being was associated with having less small talk and more substantive conversations.
"Together, the findings demonstrate that the happy life is social rather than solitary and conversationally deep rather than superficial," the researchers write.
So dive deep in your conversations with friends and loved ones—it’s great for you.
5. LIVE IN THE SUBURBS AND GET INVOLVED
This one seems to apply to the U.S. only, but I still found it quite interesting.
I would have guessed that city dwellers might be the most satisfied with where they live, but in a poll of 1,600 U.S. adults, the highest rate of happiness was found in the suburbs.
84 percent of suburbanites rated the communities where they live as overall excellent or good, compared to 75% of urban dwellers and 78% of rural residents.
Another study on city happiness found that residents are happier if they feel connected to their cities and neighbourhoods and feel positively about the state of city services.
So wherever you live, make sure to get involved in your community for maximum happiness.
6. LISTEN TO SAD SONGS: THEY PROVIDE EMOTIONAL RELEASE
How could sad songs make us happy? And why do we seek them out?
That’s the question researchers wanted to answer with a survey of 722 people from around the world.
They discovered that there are four main reasons we take comfort in melancholy songs:
They allow us to drift off into imagination
They might provide us catharsis (emotion regulation)
They allow us to relate to a common emotion (empathy), and
They’re divorced from our actual problems (no "real-life" implications)
Researchers determined that "listening to sad music can lead to beneficial emotional effects such as regulation of negative emotion and mood as well as consolation."
7. SPEND MONEY ON EXPERIENCES, NOT ITEMS
Here’s one that’s easy to understand but might be tougher to fix.
We know that spending money on life experiences will make us happier than spending money on material things (and it does!) but we can’t seem to stop ourselves from choosing the wrong option.
That’s what a study in The Journal of Positive Psychology found as they surveyed people before and after they made purchases.
The series of studies concluded that we’re more likely to spend on items than experiences because we can quantify them more easily and we want to see the best value for our dollars.
However, they found that the study subjects reported that after they spent, experiences brought them greater well-being and they considered them to be a better use of money.
So if we can keep that in mind, it’s possible to have our cake and eat it, too—definitely something to be happy about!
And science says the more specific you can be with your goal, the better.
University of Houston professor Melanie Rudd found that a group of people who were told to make someone smile felt both happier and more confident that they’d actually achieved their goal than a similar group who’d been told simply to make someone else happy.
Even more interesting: In a separate experiment, people wrongly predicted that going for the bigger goal would make them happier.
"If you can meet or exceed your expectations of achieving a goal, you will be happier than if you fall short of your expectations," Rudd explained.
9. LOOK AT BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Could looking at a beautiful object make you feel happier?
The smartphone company HTC conducted a study that says yes.
In a series of laboratory and on-line experiments, volunteers looked at and interacted with objects that fell into three categories: beautiful, functional, or both beautiful and functional.
Their reactions uncovered some interesting findings, like:
Well-designed objects that are both beautiful and functional trigger positive emotions like calmness and contentment, reducing negative feelings like anger and annoyance by almost a third.
Purely beautiful objects (not functional) reduce negative emotions by 29%, increasing a sense of calmness and ease.
Objects that were both beautiful and functional created an especially high level of emotional arousal:
In general, people feel happier looking at and using beautiful objects that work well.
10. EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES
We know being healthier makes us happy, but can carrots give you purpose?
I have to admit I didn’t expect such a direct link between happiness and eating a lot of fruits and vegetables as researchers in New Zealand report.
Their 13-day study of 405 people who kept food diaries showed that people who ate more fruits and vegetables reported higher than average levels of curiosity, creativity, and positive emotions, as well as engagement, meaning, and purpose.
Even more interestingly, participants often scored higher on all of those scales on days when they ate more fruits and vegetables.
"These findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intake is related to other aspects of human flourishing, beyond just feeling happy," writes the research team.
