17 Oct Happiness is…building positive relationships
I've said it once and I'll say it again, happiness is not just feeling good it's also doing good.
For real and meaningful happiness we need to understand that…other people matter.
Happiness is not a solo sport, that's selfishness or hedonism, but instead, it's a team sport.
Although we need to look after ourselves we also need to, for authentic happiness, look after and care for others. So this week's eNewsletter is dedicated to building positive relationships and the good news is we have two articles with two different sets of tips for you to consider…
Building Positive Relationships
Not that long ago I came across this article by Joe Wilner, on PsychCentral titled "6 Ways to have a flourishing and loving relationship". It starts off like this…
Relationships are one of the most effective ways to begin flourishing and having more positivity in life.
The people we surround ourselves with have a major influence on our emotions, feeling, and behavior, so doing everything we can to make these relationships warm and caring is crucial for our well-being.
Ultimately we’re only in control of ourselves, and by working on following the below guidelines we can have a much more positive and loving relationship.
…and then lists the following 6 ways…
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Be kind and caring
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Be consistent
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Be emotionally available
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Be physically available
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Be forgiving
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Be ready to grow as a person
It then concludes with…
Fostering healthy and loving relationships starts with you. The more love and caring we put into our relationships the more love we can get in return.
We must work on ourselves first in order to have more positive interpersonal relationships, and once we have a solid personal foundation, flourishing and loving relationships will follow.
If you'd like to, you can read the full and original article HERE
And more on building positive relationships
And following on from the above, one of our more popular FREE RESOURCES is titled exactly that – "Happiness and Building Positive Relationships". It goes something like this…
At The Happiness Institute we believe very strongly that happiness is something you “CHOOSE” (see the CHOOSE philosophy handout in the Free Resources section of our website) where “choose” is both a philosophy of self-responsibility and an acronym for the six key strategies we coach.
Within this acronym, the second “O” stands for “Others”, or all the relationships in our lives, and there’s absolutely no doubt that happy people have both more and better quality relationships.
Further, we also believe that good quality, positive relationships are based on “SUPPORT” which once again, is a belief and an acronym or model because each of the letters in “SUPPORT” stands for key relationship concepts. These are:
S = Strengths (look for them in others)
U = Unconditional Positive Regard
P = Purpose (what is the purpose of this particular relationship?)
P = Praise and Positivity (give it as much as possible)
O = Open Communication
R = Respect
T = Trust
At The Happiness Institute we’ve helped thousands of people use and apply this “SUPPORT” model in numerous and varied situations including personal and intimate relationships (such as those between husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends) as well as in the workplace, especially with groups of employees in which collaboration and team-work is vital.
There’s no doubt this model works but like anything, you need to make it work by practicing the component parts and by tailoring it to suit you individual circumstances.
So what do you think?
In your opinion, what are the most important contributors to good quality relationships?
In your experience, what best boosts the happiness and positive feeling between you and your loved ones?
Let us know, as usual, via our Facebook Page and let's share ideas to promote more happiness and love among more and more of us : )