I’m sure you know people who have a propensity to happiness. You often see them go through life with a smile on their face, a spring in their step, and a glow around them. Happy genes seem to flow in their blood.

All manner of men and women are eligible to be happy. Experts say happiness wells up from satisfaction. The trick, therefore, is to derive satisfaction from life’s daily grind.

If you, too, want to score high on the happiness scale, here are a few tips on how to go about accomplishing that:

Take care of your finances . In this age of new-fangled mantras, many people still bruit about the adage, “Money cannot buy happiness” and find believers in them. I hear this saying often mouthed by people who, like me, have no money to crow about.

I would grudgingly admit there’s some truth to it. It is a small truth, though, because the larger truth is that money is one of the strongest “happiness stimulant” around. If money won’t make you happy, then having no money will make you feel even more miserable.

On the other hand, you don’t need fabulous wealth to be happy. All you need is generate enough income to cover your expenses and still have a few left for emergency.

When expenses, however, outgrows income, “deficit spending” results. Don’t allow your family finances to deteriorate to that situation. It’s a condition that will stress you out and cause you untold unhappiness. Earn more money or slash down your expenses.

Fulfill your full potential . No matter how you see it, you will find happiness even in unlikely areas in your life. Just give your talents a free reign, and they will bloom and give you satisfaction. As we learned earlier, satisfaction equals happiness.

So what are you good at? Make an inventory of your talents and interests. See how you can engage in things that appeal to you, even at the hobby level, and be accomplished with it. Once you find success, even little ones, all this adds up and brings happiness to your life.

Tap into your own creativity . As in your job and business, drudgery and boredom are major causes of unhappiness in daily life.

Don’t allow yourself to be in a rut. When you do things exactly the same way all the time, monotony sets in.

Be creative, instead. Look for the little surprises in life. You will find most of them are pleasant.

Don’t go to the same mall, eat out in the same restaurant, or order the same food. Put variety in all your activities—except sex. Your spouse may approve of your creativity but certainly will raise a ruckus if you begin to look for variety. Don’t do that if you want to score high in the happiness scale.

Do a good turn today. True satisfaction and happiness will come about if you regularly make a difference in other people’s life. Do a good turn daily like the Boys Scouts. Look how happy they are! Don’t yell at the waiter when he spills a scalding hot coffee on your lap. Just scream in pain but don’t yell. Something may have troubled him and caused him to lose his concentration.

Engage the taxi driver in a good conversation and tip him more than you normally would. Watch his smile when you do that, and you have your day made.

Enjoy what you do . You should derive happiness even from the most mundane, everyday task you do, otherwise stop doing it. A definition of stupidity is to keep doing something you don’t like and expect to be happy with it.

If you can’t stop doing it, at least pretend you are enjoying it. Or fake it. Many women, according to medical journals, have confessed to sex counselors they fake their orgasm. You should, too, if that will make your spouse happy. Just don’t overdo it by whistling a tune while having sex.

Live in peace with your neighbors. Make friends with your neighbors and value their friendship. Whether you are a country or a family, go to great lengths to have a cordial relationship with your neighbors.

Most conflicts with neighbors result from disagreements over trivial matters, so they are actually easy to avoid. Yet many families fall into the trap of waging a war of attrition with their neighbors over petty causes such as blaring stereos or barking dogs.

The neighbors’ loss of love with one another also often starts with the desire for the neighbor’s material goods. The Bible admonishes against coveting your neighbor’s wife. You can bring the admonition one step further by not lusting also after your neighbor’s plasma TV and new SUV. It will also do you well if you stop comparing your looks with your neighbor’s facelift, bust lift and liposuctioned body.

The trick is to avoid the human tendency to focus on things that you don’t have and instead be grateful for what you have.

Grow old with grace. If you are a normal person , you don’t want to grow old, whether gracefully or ungracefully. In which case, grow tomatoes in your garden instead. Stay fit, exercise regularly, and eat healthy food. That will retard the aging process and make you happy.

Believe in a God. It doesn’t matter who your God is. I think he is the same no matter what you call him or what you imagine him to be. What is important is that you have a supernatural being to run to in times of trouble.

People with strong faith in a Supreme Being never seem to be caught trapped in life’s challenges. They are always able to get out from tight situations after tapping into their reserves with the help of the Supreme Being they believe as God.

Stay magical,

Leodini

Make Your Child Happy on Her Birthday

www.leodini.com