Daily joy and happiness - the lifehack

Many people who feel sad, miserable, victimized may think this is just how things shook out in life for them and they aren't 'meant' to be happy.  I don't think that happiness is an assigned experience.  I think it is a choice available to everyone.  I don't mean to downplay the immense hardships many people face or how we all need to feel our negative feelings sometimes.  I will point out some of the people living today who have had absolutely the worst tragedies in life strike them multiple times - are successful, happy, content people.  See: The Lost Boys of Sudan. 

Happiness is a choice.  This can set you free.  It is also sort of like a muscle.  If you exercise it, it will bulk up.  If you do nothing it will atrophy.  If you'd like to beef up your happiness generator, there's a simple and easy way to start.  Think about things you have to do every day.  (This list will be a little different for everyone since it's pretty personal).  You shower.  You eat.  You walk.  You clean.  You talk.  You spend money.  You drive a car.  You work on a computer or machine.  You interact with your family and friends.  Think about each of these, one by one.  Which of them can you easily say you are not enjoying fully, as much as you could, because you're skating through it on autopilot especially since it's an everyday task? 

Do you take your shower as if a robot is doing it and just run through a list of what you need to do or however else you mentally escape that task?  What if you were to really enjoy taking a shower.  You look forward to it.  You turn on the hot water and relish the warm embrace and sensation of the spray getting you soaked.  You love how your soap and shampoo smell.  You sing.  You dance a little. You feel good about yourself and it becomes a great way to start you day.  Okay, I  sounds crazy?  Let's try food.

How much do you enjoy eating?  Do you like eating but always eat the same 4-5 meals?  Do you not enjoy eating at all?  Have you never thought about it?  I don't care how much you know about food or what your income situation is - everyone can expand their pallet, knowledge, cooking ability, and end user enjoyment of consuming food.  The more new flavors you open yourself up to, the more cravings and rewards await you.

Cleaning.  Is this a chore?  Do you hate it?  Do you just push through it and ignore the mechanics?  Do you use cleaning products that are really effective and give you sense of satisfaction while you use them and see a transformation in front of you - goodbye germs and bacteria that could harm me - hello good smells and clean looks.  Do you trudge through cleaning because it's something you have to do - or can you work towards pleasantly moving through your tasks while listening to your favorite music and feeling great about how you're giving back to yourself, your family, your household and taking overall pride in your environment?

Imagine if you were to work at transforming all of these little daily tasks we take for granted into moment after moment of happy, fulfilling, joyful activities.  Imagine how happy you would be all day in spite of whatever else is working to bring you down (especially yourself).  This is very doable, completely within your control, and doesn't cost a cent.  Can't say that about many things that can bring you a huge boost in lifelong happiness.