4 Simple Steps to Lead a Happy Life and the Art of Acceptance

These 4 steps will quickly boost your happiness and provide self satisfaction

In a world that’s unpredictable and uncontrollable, being happy often is a strenuous job. The human mind, loaded with constant fears and stress of the future gets little time to release any serotonin. It takes us nothing more than a few seconds to spiral from glad to pensive to sheer disappointment.

So how do we really find joy in life? It takes experience to learn and finally get hold of things. Continuous downfalls might make us stronger but how do we make sure to keep standing till the end? Dig through a thousand motivational books, but without comprehension, you are a mere spectator. The very core of happiness is understanding, understanding the art of acceptance.

Here are the simple steps on how to deal with problems and lead a happy life through acceptance:

Divide and Conquer

Life is no short of problems. However, there are always two kinds of problems: uncontrollable and controllable. The former consists of all the problems we do not have the power to change. For example, the way people see us or our favorite burger being unavailable. Such problems that do not emerge from our actions must be accepted. We have little to no control over such problems and racking our brains over them would only provide unnecessary stress.

Accept to Conquer

Now that you have successfully categorized your problems, it’s time to deal with them one by one. The easiest way to move on is to accept the things you do not have jurisdiction over. Accept that you did not get the job even after exhaustive efforts. Try harder the next time.

By accepting life’s limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, we become free.

-Epictetus

Without accepting what has happened, you can not focus on what is about to. It is only when you learn to walk with the world, will you be able to fly someday. Accepting your past while you make way for your future is the best way to be happy.

Fight What You Can

Here you have your out-of-control problems accepted and absorbed! But what about the problems that relate to you? Put on your warrior costume for this one. The best way to deal with any problem is by asking why.

Yes, you did not get the job so you accepted your fate and moved on. But hold on to ask yourself why didn’t you? Then you will arrive at a set of possible causes. Try eradicating each cause one by one. Work on your weaknesses. Not only will you feel satisfied as each box gets ticked but you will be a step closer to your ultimate goal (the job in this case). Fight what you can and accept what you can not fight.

Celebrate Little Wins

You entirely understood a complicated topic? Celebrate it. Your crush said she thinks you are cute? Celebrate it. You felt productive and wrote a little poem? Celebrate it.

Feel proud and happy for the small things you accomplish. It is only then that you will stay motivated to achieve bigger triumphs. Try to keep your self-esteem high and value your virtues. Compare with others only for learning more. A wise man is self-aware and thus happy.

The process is simple. Divide your problems and accept what is unworthy of crying over. Get to the root cause of the problems which you can change. And at last change yourself as needed.