After 20 years of helping people to get organized, I have observed the struggle they have with achieving happiness in life.
These individuals come from all walks of life and represent a broader range of demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds. Their stories are fascinating because they spend their entire lives looking for happiness.
What’s so interesting about their responses is that most of them want what every human being wants. So, the issue is why is it so hard to achieve and sustain happiness. I decided to ask them a very simple question: “If you could have more of something in your life, what would that be?”
Here are their interesting answers:
Happiness
To achieve life satisfaction, we must know ourselves and what indeed will make us happy. If we constantly search outside ourselves for happiness, thinking that a house on the beach or a fancy car can bring us contentment, the never-ending search for happiness becomes a moving target that never stands still long enough for us to hold.
Material things can bring us happiness. The point is that if everything you’re searching for remains outside of you, you’ll always be chasing happiness and struggling in life.
Money
Many people use money as an excuse for not having the life they desire. What I discovered in my search for a better life is that money is not the problem, but a lack of motivation is.
I come across millionaires, as well as people who earn modest incomes. It’s interesting that no matter what we have, so many people feel they never have enough.
There are people with literally millions of dollars in their bank accounts, yet they live in constant fear of not having enough.
Freedom
We all want it, yet so many of us resist the change required to become free. Start accepting yourself with all your imperfections; stop doubting yourself and follow your authentic values and beliefs.
Work on building strong boundaries to protect yourself from the demands of others.
Be aware of your unhealthy habits, such as procrastination and perfectionism. It takes courage to create your path in life, despite the challenges you have. Many of us are lacking achievable tools on how to stand up for what we want.
Peace
Most of us crave peace from constant chatter, pressure and responsibilities. Many of us are seeking inner peace about our health, safety and security.
We also want peace from the self-inflicting and painful battle inside our heads: self-criticizing and longing to be perfect, stronger, prettier, et cetera.
Reaching peace is a practice we need to nurture and commit to, despite what's going on in the world. Start and take small steps toward the peaceful life you desire.
Ranka Burzan owns a professional organizing company based in the qathet region and has written several books on reducing clutter and becoming more organized. For information, go to solutionsorganizing.com.
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