“We are one big family of people, trying to make our way through the unfolding puzzle of life.” Sara Paddison

For thousands of years people have been attempting to solve the puzzle of life. The problem is that there is not one solution. Each of us has our own unique puzzle to solve. Your puzzle of life will look and feel completely different than anyone else’s.

Each piece of your puzzle has the ability to build confidence and help you to achieve goals you have set for yourself.

The amazing thing about your personal puzzle of life pieces is that you actually have the ability to design the pictures that are on each piece.

You are creating your life – your puzzle pieces each and every moment by the choices you make.

Where Does This Piece of the Puzzle of Life Fit In?

“In our lives, things don’t always go the way we planned them. But life is like a big jigsaw puzzle, and as we enter these circumstances, we’re only able to see one piece.” Mark Martin

You may be holding a particular puzzle piece while trying to figure out where it belongs in the big picture. You are refusing to let go of it. You know that it belongs in your puzzle of life and you are determined to make it fit. You have your mind set on the fact that it belongs. You feel stuck and unable to move forward.

Why not try to set the piece down. Take a good long hard look at it.

Ask yourself; “Is it possible that this piece does not belong in my life?”

Yes it’s possible to have the wrong piece. The piece belongs to another not to you. Are you willing to let it go? Are you willing to look at other pieces?

On the other hand if it is a part of your life, you need to decide where it fits. It could fit in as a learning experience, a challenge, an opportunity or an obstacle for you to overcome to be able to reach the next level in your life. Remember that each piece plays an important part in the way you live and enjoy your life.

Every time a piece successfully fits in your puzzle of life you build confidence – that’s one more challenge that you have overcame – or more peace and happiness that you have shared with others.

Where Is This Piece of the Puzzle of Life?

You may have a section of your puzzle put together – but there is a piece missing right dab in the center. Your mind’s eye tells you exactly what it should look like. You search and search and search some more to no avail. You wonder where in the world it can be.

For some reason you believe this one piece holds the key and will waste countless hours, days, months or even years to find it.

You become obsessed with finding that one single piece. You are blinded to other pieces that surround you that may contain opportunities for love, peace, harmony, wealth, health and happiness.

Sooner or later you give up. You believe that the piece is lost and you will never find it. You go on to another piece … and what happens? You find the piece you were looking for. It doesn’t bring you the joy you thought it would. It does make the picture look more complete, but you now see that it was not the key piece to your puzzle of life.

Are You Forcing the Pieces of the Puzzle of Life?

Other times we are convinced that one piece of the puzzle fits in a particular space. We jam it in. We do whatever it takes to make it fit – without thinking about the consequences.

If you force a puzzle piece to fit where it does not belong – what happens?

It will distort the rest of the picture. Other pieces will appear to fit -where they don’t. Pieces that should go in a particular place won’t fit. It causes confusion, anger and blame.

Creating Your Puzzle of Life

Know that you are the creator of your life. Your life is your choice. You cannot put together another person’s puzzle and they cannot put yours together. Your puzzles may compliment or contrast one another. In life you will be drawn to puzzles that compliment your own.
If you are not where you want to be, then you need to begin today by creating your puzzle of life to resemble those of people that have the type of life you desire.

You have the power to choose your thoughts, your actions, your attitude, your beliefs, and your reactions to every obstacle and challenge you face in life.

It’s your choice how you create your life. Choose to create the life of your dreams while utilizing your gifts to help others.

Is there too much stress in your life?

Is everything piling up and weighing you down?

You may have tried herbal remedies or pharmaceuticals to relieve the pressure – but they don’t seem to work.

Maybe it’s time you tried a natural therapy that’s been used for hundreds of years that has been PROVEN to relieve stress and make your feel better.

So what is this miracle cure that makes us feel so great?

It’s laughter. Laughter is nature’s way of easing tension and helping us relax. So take some time to laugh every day and you’ll be feeling better in no time.

So how does laughter work exactly?

Well, laughter works on several levels to make us feel better and less stressed.

Laughing relieves physical stress. Studies show that stress hormones in our blood (like cortisol) actually reduce when we laugh. Laughter improves our health and releases hormones that make us feel happier.

Laughing boosts our immune system. When our immune system is Strong we tend to feel better overall and are prepared to meet life’s challenges.

Laughing also eases emotional stress. We are designed to release our emotions physically through laughing and crying. Laughing releases our negative emotions.

Laughing can change our thought process – and we know our thoughts are what lead us to our emotions.

Laughing helps you to think positive, worry less and be happier. Laughter makes us forget about our negative thoughts and worries.

When you laugh with your loved ones and your friends you are actually promoting social bonding. Bonding with people promotes supportive relationships. When we feel supported we feel less stress about our personal situation.

You might be saying

• “My life just isn’t that funny, So what do I do?”
• “What if I just can’t find any thing to laugh at?”

Fake it!!! Yes, that’s right just laugh. Let out a loud hardy laugh. Keep doing and you’ll begin laughing at yourself – you just can’t help it.

A study done on forced laughterdivided participants into two groups. The first group was asked to watch a movie and not laugh at anything. The second group was asked to laugh at all the jokes – whether they thought they were funny or not. After watching the movie the participants filled out a survey on how much they liked the movie.

The second group – the participants that laughed at everything, found the movie to be significantly better and funnier.

This just goes to show you that laughing improves the you view the world and the circumstances around you. Laughter makes you happier and helps reduce the stress from your every day life.

Another benefit of laughter is that is has been shown to help people eat less, boost your immune system, increase your pain threshold, and even help you heal faster.

So start laughing! Watch funny movies, tell jokes, listen to jokes, laugh at yourself and learn to laugh for no reason …

Laughter really is the best medicine! Start laughing your way to a less stressful life today.

Happy people have a different way of thinking and doing things.  They maintain a positive attitude about people, things and life in general.  They interpret the world that they live in.

Happy people generally have the following habits that express their values and beliefs …

1.  Love Self
Be your own best friend. It sounds simple and like a “no-brainer” but learning to truly love yourself can be a challenge. It’s absolutely the most essential step in being a happy person. After-all you have to live with yourself for the rest of your life.

Learn to enjoy your own company and to embrace everything about yourself.  Like who you are on the inside.  Accept your flaws. Claim the fact that you are a wonderfully flawed human!  Focus on your greatest strengths and gifts.

2.  Take Care of Self
Take care of your body and health.  Get regular medical checkups.  Eat healthy and work out. Get plenty of rest. Drink lots of water.  Pamper yourself.  Exercise your mind by continually energizing it with interesting and exciting challenges.

3.  Love Others
Love is what makes the world go around.  Live by the rule “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you”.  Treat everyone with kindness, compassion and respect.  Allow others to be who they are, accept them.

4.  Choose Friends Wisely
Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values and goals.  You want comrades that will build you up and help you to accomplish your dreams and goals.

It’s your choice with whom you associate with on a regular basis.  If you don’t want to become like someone, then be involved with them as little as possible.

5.  Dare to Dream
Dream BIG!!!  Happy people know that when they dream big in every aspect of their life – that their life is set in motion to bring their dreams into reality.

6.  Do What You Enjoy
Some statistics show that 80% of people dislike their jobs!  No wonder there’s so many unhappy people running around.  We spend a great deal of our life working.  Choose a career that you enjoy – the extra money of a job you detest isn’t worth it.

Make time to enjoy your hobbies and pursue special interests. Doing things you enjoy makes you happier and more productive.

7.  Look to the Future
Happy people focus on creating the future of their dreams.  They take the time to learn the skills and strategies to create the outcome they desire.  Happy people set their goals, make a plan to succeed and take action.  People are happiest when pursuing something of value.

8.  Accept that which is Unchangeable
Happy people don’t waste their thoughts or energy on situations beyond their control.  They know and accept their limits as a human.  This means they don’t worry about the future and they don’t fret over the past.  They don’t waste their precious time trying to change other people.  They know they can only change themselves.

9.  Are Proactive
Happy people instinctively find their circle of influence.  They actively participate in creating the outcome of any challenge or obstacle to be in their favor.

10. Attitude of Gratitude
Happy people have an attitude of gratitude.  They constantly and consistently count their blessings.  They see the glass as half full.  They have the ability to find the positive side to most situations.  Find at least 5 things every day to be grateful.  It’s great to have a buddy that you share your grateful list with on a daily basis.  Studies show that people who write a grateful list daily are happier within 6 weeks.

11. Steer Clear of Negativity
Happy people steer clear of negative people and negative thoughts.  Negativity breeds negativity – just as happiness can breed happiness. Happy people do not blame, criticize or condemn others.  They are not jealous of other peoples successes and goals.

12. Forgiveness
Forgive others as well as yourself.  Many people have an easier time forgiving other peoples shortcomings than their own.  When you make a mistake – own up to it – learn from it – and FORGIVE yourself.

13. Honesty
Every action you make should be based on honesty.  Conduct all business with honesty and integrity.  Be honest with yourself and with your loved ones.

14. Persistence
Practice persistence with patience.  If you fall – get up and get going again.  It’s all a part of learning and helps us to become all that we dream of being.  Children naturally have this persistence – when learning to walk how many times do they fall?  How about when learning to ride a bike?

15. Positive Thinking
We gravitate in the direction of our thoughts.  Happy people know this and practice the act of thinking positively daily.  Happy people have formed the habit of  thinking positively, thus it is ingrained in their subconscious and it seems unnatural to them to think negatively. They subconsciously replace most negative thoughts with a positive one.

16. Mental Rehearsal
Happy people have also learned the art of visualization.  This is simply a practice of mentally rehearsing their desired outcome.  This includes everything from a pleasant night out with friends, to a successful sales call or winning that all-important game, and everything in between.
It’s also visualizing your future soul-mate, your dream car, your dream job, or your dream house.

17. Laugh
Don’t take yourself – or life too seriously.  Instead of stressing out over situations – Find humor in them.  When appropriate laugh and make light of it. It’s proven that laughter is one of the best stress busters there is. (Naturally there are times that you should be serious as it would be improper to laugh.)

18. Enjoy Life
Happy people try to have a good time – ALL of the time.  They whistle while they work.  They find joy in every task they perform – no matter how menial.

Happy people have fun trying new things to do and see.  To them life is one long adventure trip.  They see the beauty of a sunset.  They enjoy walks in the park.  They have learned to live in the moment and enjoy it while it’s there.

19.  Decision Making
When making personal or business decisions, happy people have learned to trust their gut instincts – which are almost always the right decision!  They don’t see a problem; they see a challenge or a situation.  (The word problem can birth negative thinking.)

They look at the whole picture and weigh the pros and cons before taking action.  They don’t waste time wallowing in self pity.  They immediately get to work at finding a creative solution.

20. Continuous Learning
Happy people are continually working on improving themselves.  They know that they will never be perfect.  They strive to be the BEST they can be.

They understand they are constantly changing, and by working on ones self – they will be growing and changing for the better.

They keep up to date on the latest regarding their careers and hobbies.  They listen to motivational tapes and read books like “Habits of Highly Effective People” and “Think and Grow Rich”.

21. Take Responsibility
Happy people know and understand that they are 100% responsible for their life.  They take responsibility for their moods, attitude, thoughts, feelings, actions and words.

They are the first to admit when they’ve made a mistake.  And usually have a plan of action to rectify it before others find out about it.
Note:  The more of these habits you can adapt into your daily life – the faster you’ll be on the road to finding true happiness that endures.