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In a search for happiness, many people look for it in other people and not within ourselves. Many people feel that things like money, a better job, better relationships..etc will make them happy.

In reality, to find true contentment you must look inside yourself and learn to be your own best friend. That means you have to trust, love, and care for yourself just as you do the people you consider to be close to you.

Following are steps that you can incorporate into your life that will help you to feel more empowered and happy about yourself!

Begin to lift yourself up, not put yourself down. If you don’t like something about yourself, work to change it. If you can’t change it, simply accept it. Don’t beat up on yourself with negative self-talk. You’re not likely to change for the better when you fill yourself with negative thoughts.

Give yourself positive rewards. When you do something that you are proud of give yourself a small reward. Try not to wait for others to praise you because you may grow resentful if the praise doesn’t come. Pat your own back, it is a great feeling that can stay with you for a long time.

Forgive yourself. I doubt that you would keep scolding a child over and over for making a mistake so don’t do that to yourself. Give yourself the gift of forgiveness when you make a mistake. After that, work to figure out what lesson you can learn, and use it to make better choices the next time around.

Enjoy your successes. Most people can remember all of the details of depressing, painful or even embarrassing events that happened many years ago. What if you did the same thing with all of your wins? Try to remember all of the triumphs and accomplishments that you’ve made and keep that memory with you and think about it at least once a week.

Always remember to celebrate your wonderful qualities! You will soon discover that the more you love yourself, the more you will be able to give love to others – and the more others will be able to love you!

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Happiness Is a Snoopy Cordless Power Toothbrush NEW $9.99

POPVERT - DRIVE THRU HAPPINESS - CD NEW $5.60

NORTHERN SOUL 45 GLORIA LYNNE SPEAKING OF HAPPINESS $4.49

The Mulcays - 45 - Near You & My Happiness - Cardinal $0.50

THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER HAPPINESS HOTEL McDONALD'S GLASS $0.99

Happiness Figurine by Willow Tree $12.99 Willow Tree represents qualities and sentiments that help us feel close to others, heal wounds, or treasure relationships. Artist Susan Lordi's sculptures communicate elegance, simplicity, peace and serenity. Her hand-carved forms reveal their expressions...

Happiness flowers Art Print POSTER RARE Asian character - 20 x 16 $2.99 ...

Mini Colored Paper Lanterns Set of 12 $4.99 ...

the Inn of the Sixth Happiness [VHS] $8.49 An epic and extraordinary true story--or, at least, an extraordinary story based on a novel (Alan Burgess's The Small Woman) based on a true story. Gladys Aylward (an improbably mesmerizing Ingrid Bergman) is a British would-be missionary with an obsession about China. As she has no experience, the Missionary Society won't let her go, but she goes anyway, alone, to a remote northern province. She ...

Happiness (1998) (Unrated) [VHS] $9.69 At times brilliant and insightful, at times repellent and false, Happiness is director Todd Solondz's multistory tale of sex, perversion, and loneliness. Plumbing depths of Crumb-like angst and rejection, Solondz won the Cannes International Critics Prize in 1998 and the film was a staple of nearly every critic's Top Ten list. Admirable, shocking, and hilarious for its sarcastic yet strangely em...

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The search for happiness is universal, and yet it is hard to find. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place…..

For many people happiness is an elusive butterfly in the garden of life. Imagine a young child in the garden on a summer day. The child sees a beautiful butterfly flitting from flower to flower. With eyes of wonder the child wants to see it close up, touch it, and hold it in their hands. The child goes towards the flower that the butterfly is resting on, with arms out stretched, only to find as he just gets in reach, the butterfly moves to another flower. Undeterred the child follows the butterfly to the next flower, and then the next, but the butterfly always stays just out of reach.

As adults, happiness can seem just like that butterfly, always just out of reach. It becomes almost an obsession and the words “if only…” become an increasingly large part of our thoughts and vocabulary. If only I had more money I would be happy, if only I was in a great relationship I would be happy, if only I could have a different job……….and the list goes on. Even if we achieve one of our “if only “desires, the happiness we seek is still just out of our reach. The truth of the saying “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” becomes our focus and perception. If this becomes our focus, we find that dissatisfaction and unhappiness increasingly keep growing in our life and experience.

The unhappiness within us can not be completely satisfied by external events or circumstances. To find happiness in life we must first be at peace with ourselves internally. External events and circumstances can bring us happiness in the moment, but they do not have a lasting effect on our inner self. Life experience brings a mixture of good and bad circumstances to everyone. To rely on life’s experiences for our source of happiness would mean living life in a constant emotional roller coaster ride.

Happiness comes from within. The inner contentment that survives the roller coaster ride of life has its roots deep within our being. The source of happiness comes from finding and embracing who we are as a person, and living a life of purpose. We need to find peace in every aspect of our life- the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. To discover acceptance, purpose and peace in all of these areas will give a sense of completion in life. If we neglect any one of these areas, we experience a sense of emptiness and feel something is missing. There is not a solid foundation for building happiness within, but we then, typically start to try to fill this incompleteness by looking for outside solutions. That is the point when we can fall into the ‘elusive butterfly’ syndrome, and experience such frustration.

Is happiness an elusive butterfly for you? Spend some time in quiet reflection. Are you neglecting one of the four important parts of who you are and experiencing a sense of emptiness within? The more you discover, embrace and accept your uniqueness and purpose, the more you will experience the butterfly of happiness alighting on your shoulder.

Happiness Is a Snoopy Cordless Power Toothbrush NEW $9.99

POPVERT - DRIVE THRU HAPPINESS - CD NEW $5.60

NORTHERN SOUL 45 GLORIA LYNNE SPEAKING OF HAPPINESS $4.49

The Mulcays - 45 - Near You & My Happiness - Cardinal $0.50

THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER HAPPINESS HOTEL McDONALD'S GLASS $0.99

Happiness Figurine by Willow Tree $12.99 Willow Tree represents qualities and sentiments that help us feel close to others, heal wounds, or treasure relationships. Artist Susan Lordi's sculptures communicate elegance, simplicity, peace and serenity. Her hand-carved forms reveal their expressions...

Happiness flowers Art Print POSTER RARE Asian character - 20 x 16 $2.99 ...

Mini Colored Paper Lanterns Set of 12 $4.99 ...

Happiness and All The Other Things [15th Anniversary Deluxe Limited Edition] $10.25 USA Today proclaims that "(Cross Canadian Ragweed) is one of the better-kept secrets around." But not a secret for much longer, as their seventh studio album, Happiness and All The Other Things, amply proves. The 12-track opus opens with a one/two punch/kiss combo that sets the band's wide parameters: The fiercely rocking road tale "51 Pieces" followed by a sweet taste of the Texas Hill Country s...

Deepak Chopra: The Happiness Prescription $10.90 DEEPAK CHOPRA - HAPPINESS PRESCRIPTION (DVD MOVIE)...

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