How to Make Others Happy

We are continuously looking for ways to be happy. Achieving happiness seems like the ultimate purpose of our existence. But we’re forgetting something…

A simple way to be happy that we all have within our reach: making others happy. Think for a moment…Darn! Not so easy, is it?

How can we make someone happy?

Our happiness

The first step, before attempting to make someone happy, is to investigate our own happiness. Are we happy? If so, we are on the right track but if not, we’ll have to change a few things.

There are certain barriers that we impose on ourselves. We can tear them down but don’t want to. We cling to them like a wall that shields us from others and keeps others from getting close to us. So how can we ease these barriers?

• Let go of resentment: resentment causes us unhappiness. Staying angry at someone without forgiving them, over time, we make us become bitter, unhappy people.
• Be positive: being positive does not mean being happy when the situation asks you otherwise. Being positive allows you to see the bright side, learn a lesson from the situation and grow as a person before anything happens to us, whether it be good or bad.
• Switch things around: It is important to reflect and see both sides (good and bad) of the things that happen to us. But often we care about issues that do not deserve it and cause us unnecessary headaches. Let’s take things more philosophically, let’s relax about it.

Steps to making someone else happy

There are 8 steps we can take to make someone happy, whether it is a family member, a friend or even a stranger.

How many times have we helped someone in need? For example, covering a stranger with our umbrella on a rainy day. How did it make us feel? Happy, right? Well the other person did too, besides being tremendously grateful. And the truth is we didn’t do anything extraordinary, it was just a small but generous gesture that they will surely remember.

 1. Saying hello

Greet people with our best smile, showing the pleasure of acknowledging  the other person and giving them a sincere greeting.

It is also comforting to greet a stranger. In large cities and towns this has been lost. But in the villages, with very few inhabitants, there is still the custom of saying hello to people you meet without knowing them, out of respect.

2. Hugging

Hugging or giving hugs is a more than gratifying feeling. Hugs make us feel better, and yet we don’t give as many as we should.

3. Helping

Help does not involve donating large amounts of money, joining an NGO or going to another part of the world to help those in need. There are other types of aid such as helping an elderly person cross the sidewalk, planting a tree, not throwing trash on the ground or pushing a stranger’s car because it won’t start. This too is helping.

There are many possibilities to offer our help daily. The problem is we do not see or do not want to see how. We think that in order to help we must do great things, but it is not the case. A small gesture can make ourselves and others happy.

4. Saying thank you

Say thank you for everything, if someone gives you their seat, if they let you walk through the door first, if they stop for you on the sidewalk, if you’re given a compliment… It’s not too much to say thank you for small acts or words that are part of your day. Even thanking someone for their company. This makes us better people and consequently puts us in a state of happiness.

5. Listening

We all need to be heard at some point, so it’s necessary for us to know how to listen also. Trying to understand the speaker, know how to put ourselves in their shoes and advise them if necessary makes us feel useful and like we are helping.

You have to really listen, without making value judgments, and be honest. You can make the other person happy by being there at their side, really listening and really supporting them.

6. Staying in touch

We don’t have to need something or have a compelling reason to call someone and ask how they are. Today it’s much easier to communicate with others, why not use this to make them happy?

A simple call to inquire how the other person is, just to say hello and see if all is well will increase their happiness.

7. Giving

You don’t need a set day. Simply, when you see something that reminds you of that person who will like it and that makes you think of them, give it to them! They will thank you, feel important to you and very happy. A sincere, selfless gift.

8. Sharing

If we have something left over or that we can share with others do it! There is nothing more rewarding than sharing something with someone who needs it.