Happiness and Liking
Happiness can be distilled into one basic idea: liking. Being happy is just the same as liking yourself and the world around you. Happiness gurus tend to get wrapped up in their philosophy of happiness or complex distinctions, but really happiness is just about appreciation. What things do you like? Happiness asks that you focus on what you like and stay away from what you do not like. This is not rocket science. Happiness is accessible to all human beings on earth no matter what their education level or amount of wealth. Every person on the planet has an equal opportunity to be happy.
I created a method called the “liking-blitz.” It works like this; examine your surroundings right now. What around you do you like? Say out loud (or in you mind) a list of all of the things that you like in your surroundings right now. Say as rapidly as you can all the things you like, such as “I like my eyes, I like my hands, I like the sky, I like my car, I like how smart I am, I like the clouds, and I like the bird.” When you perform this exercise you are practicing basic appreciation. The rapid-fire listing of all the things you like gets you in the habit of noticing all that is good around you. There is an additional benefit, while you are brainstorming about all the things that you like, you are not giving your brain enough time to think depressing, fearful or angry thoughts. The liking-blitz is like a mental shield against dysfunctional thinking. Anytime you want to get out of a negative thinking rut use the liking-blitz.
