You’re no whiner.You’re not prone to crying jags. You’re always smiling in pictures. You take a lot of joy in curling up on the couch with Ben & Jerrys and a new Netflix.
 
You’re happy, right?
 
Maybe. But there are some beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that either prevent or indicate that you’re not yet off-the-charts, deliriously happy.  They’re subtle. But see if you recognize yourself in these 10 signs.
 

Here’s 10 Subtle Signs we Are NOT Happy…

When we…

• Criticize our body, our behaviors, and often feel guilty.

However you define happiness -- contentment, joy, peaceful, satisfied, thrilled, or being on cloud nine -- we all strive to feel that way.
 

Here’s 10 Signs we are Truly Happy…

When we…

• Forget to worry.

• Have frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

• Know what it feels like to enjoy the journey.

• Have no interest in judging others in any way.

• Have no desire to criticize our body, behaviors, or even our own thoughts.

• Lose interest in wanting to be right.

What’s so great about releasing the fear? Every aspect of our entire life would improve tenfold. First, we could hear our intuition or gut instincts so that it could guide us in the decisions we make every minute of the day. When that happens, we could find the perfect job. We could see our relationships with significant others, our children, our clients and ourselves turnaround. By releasing the fear, we could have what everyone wants: we could be HAPPY.

Here are Some Signs We’re Releasing Fear…

When we find ourselves…

• Not taking SIDES

For decades, we Americans have focused on the basic belief that MORE = HAPPINESS. People everywhere say, “If we could only get more, we’d be so much happier. A bigger house, closets of designer clothes, dining out every night, and giving our kids everything we didn’t have. All these things would make life better, right? We’ll have the American dream!”

It didn’t work. The more we got, the more we wanted. We started buying based on the assumption that in the future, everything goes up. Real estate values grow, our incomes rise, the stock market steadily climbs, and we have an endless ability to get more credit when ever we want it.