Thinking Happy - A Skill to Teach Our Kids?

Thinking happy thoughts at will is a skill that we can learn and teach our children, and certainly one we should teach them, after all happiness is what every parent wishes for their child right?. But how do we instill habits of happy thinking in ourselves and our kids?

First, it helps to understand what factors determine our happiness or satisfaction with life in general.

According to Sonja Lubromirski PhD. author of The How of Happiness, there are three main factors that influence our happiness:

Genetics
Environment
Voluntary Choice

How happy our parents, and their parents were determines a big part of how happy WE are. In fact research shows that genetics accounts for almost half of our current level of life satisfaction, around 40-50%. If your grandparent was more prone to optimistic thinking, that trait becomes somewhat imprinted on your genetic code. However, more recent groundbreaking research is finding that the programming of the sub-conscious mind plays a much larger role in our mental and physical development and this programming begins BEFORE conception.

Surprisingly, our environment plays a much smaller part than you might imagine. Roughly only 10% of our happiness is influenced by what happens around us and those things that occur out of our control like other people, the economy, the weather etc. Our happiness actually depends how we react to "what happens" rather than the actual event, and how we react is based very much on our sub-conscious beliefs and programming we picked up from observing our parents and how they reacted to events and interactions with others.

The best part is that the remaining 40-50% happens to be our own voluntary CHOICE to BE happy. This determining factor in our level of happiness is one that we ultimately have complete and total control over. This is the best, yet most challenging part for many people because many of us are not entirely aware of what REALLY makes us happy. In addition to not knowing what truly makes us happy, we may also have to challenge previously held sub-conscious beliefs that can limit our ability to consciously choose happiness. Beliefs and pre-programmed sub-conscious behaviors that we learned from our parents and teachers.

In fact, many of the beliefs we hold in our sub-conscious mind that dictate much of how our life unfolds were developed before we turned six years old, and most were instilled by our parents and teachers. Some beliefs can be very limiting and hold us back from realizing our true potential for happiness and finding our purpose in life, however these beliefs can be identified and be replaced with more self-fulfilling and positive beliefs.

Then we can get down the process of truly creating the kind of happy life we want and deserve by using proven tools and techniques that WILL increase our level of satisfaction with life and open the doors of possibility. We really can believe we deserve to lead a happy life.

Now, this is not to say that unhappiness will never occur again, because that is not only impossible, but also unhealthy to believe. Humans are at the top of the food chain, or at least very near the top, because of our incredible conscious and sub-conscious mind and our ability to feel and react to the wide range of emotions we feel.

However, scientific research has shown some remarkable benefits to being happier:

Longer life
less illness
onger lasting meaningful relationships (far less divorce)
greater academic achievement
greater career and financial success

If you could choose to be happier, which by the way YOU CAN, and you had the tools to make it happen and the belief you could use these tools to live an abundantly happy life, would you?

If you knew that by using techniques proven to increase your own happiness, you are at the same time providing these tools to your children and that you are instilling the beliefs they can be anything, do anything and have the life they want and deserve, would you use them?

Acquiring the knowledge to change your life, and providing that knowledge to your children can change the direction of their life too, but only if a conscious choice to take ACTION is made.

In October, 2010, a FIRST EVER, FREE On-line Expo is taking place that will change the lives of millions of parents, teachers and children around the world. This event will provide tools and life changing information to parents and teachers to help teach their children how to live the outstanding life they deserve.

Happier Kids Now! will feature 21 of the worlds leading expert authors, researchers and educators over 21 days providing their expertise and helpful tips and techniques to help parents and teachers raise Happier Kids Now!

Visit www.HappierKidsNow.com to sign up for V.I.P Notification of important dates, times, call-in access information and an up to date list of special guest speakers.