7NewWaystoFindHappiness.doc

7 New Ways to Find HappinessBy Deepak ChopraIf you're struggling with how to define your life beyond material goods, Deepak Chopra has seven ways for you to make the shift, once and for all, to a purpose-driven life and authentic happiness.One of the most positive ways to live is to look on every obstacle as a hidden opportunity. This holiday season poses huge challenges for those among us who have lost their jobs or feel financially insecure. Even if you don't fall into that category, the evening news brings worries on many fronts, from the deficit to terrorism. I'd like to propose that there is a common problem in all these things that you can turn into an opportunity.The problem is how to be happy.Right now, the American way of life defines happiness along lines that are quickly being outmoded:You will be happy if you consume as much as possible.You will be happy if you have money, the more the better.You will be happy if you can distract yourself with video games, television, the Internet and movies.You will be happy if you fall in love with "the right one" and raise a family in a house you own paid for by a secure job.The current economic downturn has affected all these factors, and even before it happened, high divorce rates were undermining the traditional model of the American family, moving from job to job was becoming increasingly common and rates of depression, anxiety and drug use continued to soar. As a background to all these things, stress is rising in everyone's life. Instead of ignoring these trends, why not go to the root of the problem, which is that we need a new way of being happy. What do divorce, terrorism, unemployment and buying big-screen TVs have in common? They all show that happiness can be taken away, because when you depend on anything outside yourself to make you happy, your happiness is vulnerable.A new way to be happy would be based on the following new principles:1. Life has a purpose. When you live up to that purpose, inner happiness develops.2. Inner happiness can't be taken away.3. In place of consumerism, you can base everyday happiness on relationships.4. In place of distractions, you can fill your time with activities that make your heart grow.5. You can find a place beyond fear that crises and anxiety cannot touch.6. You can find a place of peace that stress cannot wear out. 7. Wellness will make your body happy.If people took at a look at their lives and made real attempts to follow these seven principles, a new kind of happiness would be born that no one can take away. Let me go through each point briefly.1. Life has a purpose. Because of a recent best-seller, the word "purpose" has acquired Christian overtones. That is by no means necessary. Every life needs a meaning, and the more inspiring that meaning, the better. What erodes happiness more than anything else is the loneliness and emptiness that results when you feel that your life has no meaning. Millions of people live by the slogan, "Family is everything," but it's not. Meaning and purpose are everything. What kind of meaning should you seek? Here are the standard choices. Consider them as they apply to you.WorkFamilyLoveServiceGivingPersonal growthHobbies, recreationEducation, studyCreativityFriendshipMost people select a few of these, primarily family, friends, hobbies and work, which they hope will be enough. But what about the higher values, which will bring far more lasting, secure happiness? Among these I'd select love, giving, service and personal growth. If you leave these out, your happiness can be snatched away by losing your job or your friends. You run the risk of becoming an empty nester as your family grows up and moves away. Establish a higher purpose early in your life—preferably starting today—and your future won't be so vulnerable to change.2. Inner happiness. We hear this phrase a lot, to the point that it becomes meaningless. All those models on TV look as if they gained inner happiness from a slim waist, the right makeup, good hair and being young. Real inner happiness is easy to measure, however. If you can sit by yourself, doing nothing to distract yourself, needing no one, and still feel happy, then you have achieved inner happiness. It is marked by feeling safe, knowing that you are enough, finding a core of peace and calm. I sometimes put all these factors into a single phrase: You are truly happy if being here is enough. 3. Focus on relationships instead of consumerism. America is a consumer economy driven by insatiable appetites for whatever is bigger, better, newer and more expensive. You and I aren't going to change that fact, but we can see through the glossy promise that consumerism makes you happy. It doesn't. Nor do heaps of money. Studies show that after a person has achieved enough money to cover life's necessities, the returns begin to dimin。