Being Happy Is a Choice: 3 Steps to Take on Your Road to Happiness Mindfulness

Science has shown that 48 percent of our happiness level is hard-wired into us. So, the good news is that we can control the other 52 percent of our happiness, even if we were given some gloomy genes.

These three steps will get you moving in the right direction toward happiness:

• Be Grateful: Practicing gratitude rewires your brain, reduces depression and provides you with an increased feeling of well-being. How do you go about being grateful? One way to find gratitude is to start a daily gratitude journal. 

• Be a Friend: Harvard has studied a group of 724 men since 1938. The project’s director, Robert Waldinger, says the results can be summed up quite simply: “Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period."

• Be Mindful: The next time you are in a stressful situation, notice how you are breathing. Are you breathing rapidly or shallowly? When this happens, take a deep breath for a count of six. Hold your breath for a count of six, and then breathe out for a count of six. Repeat three times. This mindfulness exercise helps calm you.

Try my three steps and get on the road to happiness!

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