We all want to be happy. Happiness is not what you search for, it is what you give. If you want to be happy, make people happy. Happiness is like a butterfly. You can’t chase happiness. You cannot run past happiness. It is always in front of you. If you run after happiness, you will never be happy.

You can be a happy person if you want to be happy. Happiness is a choice. Make it today. Be happy today. Create your happiness today, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. The great Albert Einstein said, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

Here are four steps you can follow to create your own happiness:

Be yourself. This is the best gift you can give yourself. You are who you are. You cannot be anyone, and no one can be like you. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Be yourself. Don’t accept anything but the best for yourself. Abraham Maslow said, “If you plan of being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.” If you want to be happy, don’t accept anything that will make you unhappy for the rest of your life. Go for things that will bring out the happiness in you. And you will be happy.

Accept yourself. If you want to be happy, you MUST first accept yourself. You can only find happiness if you accept yourself- your strengths, your weaknesses, your gifts and your talents. You cannot find happiness if you are not in peace with your inner self. You cannot be unhappy inside and be happy outside. George Orwell said, “Happiness can exist only in acceptance.” Accept yourself, and you will be happy.

Be a positive thinker. When you think in a positive way, you are attracting positive energy to yourself. You are attracting positive things into your life. It helps you to see things in positive ways. It helps you to see light where others see darkness. Happiness is the way you think about yourself and your situation. Marcus Aurelius said, “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is within yourself, in your way of thinking.” if you want to attract negative things to yourself, think in negative ways. If you want to attract positive things to yourself, think in positive ways. If you want to be happy, really happy, change the way you think- from negative to positive.

Value yourself. if you want to be happy, learn to respect yourself, regardless of where you are, where you live, and where you work. Happiness depends on nothing, but you. Only you can make yourself happy. No one can do that for you. As Ayn Rand put it, “Learn to value yourself, which means: to fight for your happiness.” You cannot be happy if you don’t value yourself. You need to value yourself if you are to live a happy life.

Happiness is personal. If you want to be happy, focus on the things that can help you find happiness. Don’t waste your time on things that will steal your happiness away. If you do that, you will be a happy person.