The Free Press Journal

Make Room For Happiness

- — Kathy Gates

As a Life Coach, people come to me every day wanting to ADD something to their lives like starting a new business, finding a relationsh­ip, writing a book. But their lives are like my den. . . crowded and “unfunction­able”. Adding something would only make them more uncomforta­ble than they already are.

If you want something new and different in your life, you must first make ROOM. Make room for happiness by moving OUT the old.

Where do you start to begin to make room for happiness?

1. Time. How do you spend your time? Is it wasted time, or refreshing time? Does it take you toward your goals, or away from them? Are you consciousl­y spending time, or just letting it happen?

2. Environmen­t. What is no longer working for you in your environmen­t? Are there unfinished projects that were important at one time, but no longer intrigue you? When you look around, does your environmen­t make you feel good? Make you smile?

3. Relationsh­ips. What relationsh­ips are no longer effective to your happiness? Do the people in your life support you? Are you are proud to introduce them to others? Do you learn from them?

4. Thinking. Do you talk to yourself like your best friend? Or do you talk to yourself like the neighbor you despise? Do your thoughts inspire and motivate you…or hold you back from your best self ?

5. Work. Do you feel fulfilled and happy about your work, whether that’s a domestic engineer, or CEO? Or do you dread doing the work, and just count the minutes until time off ?

Once you have made the room for success, adding what you really want WILL give you pleasure and fulfillmen­t. If you try to add it on top of what you already have, it will become just another source of aggravatio­n. First, you must set up your life to support success.

Just as in my den, as I begin to rearrange the sofa and chairs, the rest of the room become easier and easier. So it will be with your life…as you change one part, each will be easier and easier.

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