25 Resolutions for Happiness

"The anniversary theme of Life Lessons created an excuse to write down the lessons I have learned, but sometimes forget to use. I’m pledging to renew my commitment to living them, and offer them in the hopes they might help you, or they might inspire you to remember your greatest life lessons."

1. I will make happiness a worthy goal, for achieving it is entirely within my power.


2. I will use my feelings to tell me when things aren’t working for me.


3. I will let go of what I cannot change: other people, the past, the future.


4. I will focus on what I can change--my thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and behavior, which will change how I feel.


5. I will appreciate the moment.


6. I will focus on what I have so that I experience abundance, remembering that unhappy people focus on what they want, and they feel deprived.


7. I will be grateful.


8. I will believe that all people are equally valuable and worthy by virtue of being human, and that makes me valuable and worthy.


9. I will accept others as they are: valuable, loveable, unique and worthwhile.


10. I will stop assuming I know what others think and feel.


11. I will not judge others (or myself) because it is harsh and destructive.


12. I will let go of my Shoulds.


13. I will remember that other people’s actions are almost always about them, not about me.


14. I will communicate, ask questions and listen.


15. I will be curious.


16. I will lower my expectations.


17. I will remember that “being human” means being imperfect and making mistakes.


18. I will take chances.


19. I will live my values.


20. I will remind myself that “I don’t know” is a good answer.


21. I will listen to my body.


22. I will remember to breathe.


23. I will get enough sleep.


24. I will remember that if I ask for what I want and accept what I receive, I will get what I need.


25. “Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm.” I will live by this motto.

Expounded on here: 25 Resolutions for Happiness: What I’ve Learned…So Far, by Molly Stranahan, Psy.D.

© Copyright 2006 Molly L. Stranahan. All Rights Reserved.