Cultivate these four Character Traits

While we still may not have the necessary wisdom to see things for what they are, nor have the ability to control our mind’s negative reaction to things and situations, resulting in our unhappiness, there are certain character traits which when cultivated will help us be happier people.

First and foremost, we need to cultivate a sense of humour. Life being what it is, things will not always go according to what we planned, or the way we intended them to. Uncertainty and unpredictability in life means that the most well laid plans can still go wrong causing us frustrations when we least expected it. When that happens, humour is our first line of defence against unhappiness. Humour softens the impact of the blow and lightens the burden. Humour will help us laugh off minor annoyances and unpleasantness.

Secondly, we need to cultivate laughter in our life. We need to learn to laugh more; laugh at things, laugh at life, and most importantly, we must learn to laugh at ourselves. Laughter relaxes us. The more we laugh, the more relaxed we are. When we are relaxed, things don’t appear as daunting, so we are able to better deal with them. We cannot take life too seriously. We have to see the lighter side of things. The world is not going to stop for us when we are unhappy. Life goes on whether we are happy or sad, so we might as well laugh and be happy.

Thirdly, we need to cultivate the habit of smiling. We should make it a habit to wear a smile on our face, or at least be ready to smile at all times. When we smile, we give the impression that we are friendly, approachable, happy, pleasant and well mannered. Our smile could also mean that we understand, and that we empathize with what is going on. When we smile, we encourages others to smile. And if people are smiling, the atmosphere, the environment will become very relax and pleasant. We will feel relax too.

Finally, we need to cultivate cheerfulness in our disposition. Be friendly. Be the first to say a cheerful greeting. We will inevitability be spreading a bit of cheerfulness each time we do that. It might take a while before people warm up to us, and it might not work on everyone, but we should not let that put us off. Some people are more approachable than others. Pick the ones who look most likely to respond. When they do respond in kind, we will feel good too.

The above character traits can be cultivated. As we keep our wit and humour about us, as we laugh more and smile more, and maintain a cheerful dispoistion, very soon, we will find that we are actually quite relax and happy. We will discover that little things no longer irrtiate us so easily. Try it and see the results for yourself.

So, let there be joy, cheer and laughter in your life from this day on!