{"id":1351,"date":"2014-11-07T07:30:08","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T12:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/blog\/?p=1351"},"modified":"2026-02-02T20:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:44:21","slug":"how-to-feel-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/how-to-feel-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"It All Comes from Within: How to Feel Happy Even if Things Don\u2019t Go Your Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">When it comes to our emotions, it is understandable outside circumstances greatly influence them. When good things happen, we feel good..it is so easy. When bad things happen, we feel badly. We&#8217;re only human after all and we naturally have a preference for the pleasant stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">But, when we really want to start making changes in our life, and feeling happier, we have to do our best not to let the outside rule the inside&#8211;we have to flip it. What is happening inside will reflect what happens outside, and we want to work on trying to feel good now, regardless of what is happening. We can&#8217;t tell ourselves we&#8217;ll feel better when so and so happens. Living reactively gives away our power. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">My fiance Ryan is kind of a master at doing this, and I thought his take on this subject would be really helpful for my audience. So, for your reading pleasure, here is a fabulous guest post by the wisest person I know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Kelli and I just had lunch at a little warung in the rice fields around Ubud, Bali. We enjoyed the heck out of the meal, and more important, the experience of\u2026.eating lunch in the rice fields of Bali. What few realize is that for Kelli and I to arrive at this place in our lives, to do all of this dream stuff, to live, for months, in places like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Bali<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Fiji<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Costa Rica<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Thailand<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Nepal<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">India<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Laos<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Vietnam<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cambodia<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Sri Lanka<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Malaysia<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Peru<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026..we had to smile when things didn\u2019t go our way. Kelli and I needed to feel happy when appearances around us didn\u2019t suggest the idea of \u201chappiness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Blogging from Paradise: A Common Mistake<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0Some people look at me and say, \u201cOf COURSE you\u2019ve published 10 eBooks in 4 months Ryan! Of COURSE you\u2019re such an inspiring blogger, who publishes posts daily, who\u2019s all over the place. Just look around you\u2026.you live in paradise!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">News flash my kiddies; I had to *act as inspired* when I was walking in -10 degree weather, in NJ, to visit the library for free Wifi, 4 years ago. Honest. The Universe did not allow me to manifest this experience until I was aligned with the experience. I had to align with this experience when living through shitty conditions. I was broke, angry and depressed, yet I was the smiling guy on social media, and through my blog, 4 years ago. If I were like most people I would have looked around and said, \u201clife sucks\u201d, based on my living conditions, and I\u2019d have called it a day. I would have said, \u201cSo and So lives in paradise because they are *lucky* or *talented*\u201d, and naturally, of course, I would have attributed much of their success to them living in paradise, all those *lucky* travel bloggers who merely needed to look out of the window for inspiration.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Mistake: forgetting that I had to act inspired despite living in shitty conditions, years ago. Mistake: forgetting that I had to BE the person, who is a professional, inspired blogger, before I moved to paradise. Mistake: forgetting that Ryan Biddulph did all the freeing, uncomfortable stuff, without making excuses, that you very well may be refusing to do, right now, the stuff that if you did it, would make you my neighbor in paradise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I had to feel happy when things were not going my way. To make this deal more graphic, understand that \u201cthings not going my way\u201d meant:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Being $50,000 in debt<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Having 4 little itty bitty pennies in my pocket at one point during the lean days<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Selling my car to pay bills<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Moving out of my apartment because I couldn\u2019t afford rent<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Walking 4 to 5 miles \u2013 or more \u2013 daily, to the library, for free WiFi, some days in bitterly cold, -15 degree conditions during a brutal winter<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">being sued by a particularly nasty creditor<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">going bankrupt<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u2026.yet, if you saw me on my old blog, or on my social networks, I was smiling. Probably thought I was lucky, right? Or that I was ALWAYS happy. This wasn\u2019t the case. I was very angry at times, but largely, I was able to small, laugh and keep cheery \u2013 much of the time \u2013 despite things not going my way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">How?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I Read a Life Changing Story<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0I recall a story I read many years ago. Well before I was the guy who would be speaking at NYU, or who\u2019d be living in Fiji, or Bali, and long before Richard Branson\u2019s business advisor, said I was a \u201csmart guy.\u201d The true story mentioned how a billionaire (identity withheld) was asked when his life turned around. What moment had he \u201dmade it\u201d? The billionaire calmly responded that the day he got up from the park bench where he slept, and decided it was time to hustle, to buy a suit, so he could walk into a business meeting in the proper threads, and then, even though he was still homeless, he knew that having that suit, would give him the confidence to kill the interview, get hired, and then, to become really happy, and rich.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Do you think things were going his way? Have YOU ever lived on a park bench? How terrifying, and humiliating, would that feel? How angry would you be? How hopeless? Yet, this guy got up, smiled, did odd jobs, made a few bucks, bought a suit, landed the interview, and now his net worth is in excess of $1,000,000,000.00\u2026\u2026so after reading this story, I chose from that day forward to smile, and remain cheery, because if a guy could be cheery, and goal-oriented, despite sleeping on and calling a park bench home, I could be cheery in my mild discomfort. So, I chose to smile most of the time despite my unenviable conditions.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I Did Freeing but Uncomfortable Things<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0Happiness is in being. This means that if you wish to be happy \u2013 despite what\u2019s going on around you \u2013 you\u2019ll keep doing stuff that makes you happy. Like, I enjoy writing, so during my lean years, I wrote, and even during my successful, prospering days, when I feel a little less than uber inspired, or if I have 40 things to do, I always set aside time for my writing. Always. Which is why I\u2019ve published 10 eBooks in 4 months, and it\u2019s also why I\u2019m happy most of the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Some days, things may seem a bit chaotic. I may feel overwhelmed in moments, but I always set aside time for writing. I may be on a plane from Fiji to Australia, but I\u2019ll write. Won\u2019t network, won\u2019t do anything else work-wise, but I\u2019ll write.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I also love to exercise. So I exercise daily. Jogging, walking or doing luggage presses brings me happiness because a circulating, moving body is a happy body, so I exercise for an hour or longer daily, each day that I\u2019m alive. This way, when things don\u2019t go my way, or if I feel a little down, or worried, because I\u2019m human, I pick myself right back up, through exercising, and through writing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I routinely do freeing but uncomfortable things which helps me embrace uncomfortable situations \u2013 that most people *allow* to make them, unhappy \u2013 in stride. So, when someone is all angry and cranky with some situation that didn\u2019t go their way, I roll with it, with a smile, because I\u2019ve patiently experienced uncomfortable, freeing situations for the past near decade, when I started this personal development journey, and especially over the past 5 years, when I chose to become an entrepreneur.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I\u2019ve Worked on My Mindset for the Past 8 Years\u2026EVERY DAY!<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0Ahhh\u2026.my favorite topic! I meditate for 20 minutes daily, but personal development doesn\u2019t stop there. Personal development is active, a moment by moment thing, not sitting in some room for hours each day, trying to iron out your kinks. Life irons out my kinks, and when I learned to be happy with situations around me, and with life, I was happy most of the time, no matter what happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">I am here, in the moment, in the now. I look around. Life is good because I woke up. Life is good because I\u2019m in Bali. When I visit New Jersey, it\u2019ll be good to be home. I\u2019ll appreciate convenience, and I\u2019ll love to see my family. Fiji was great because it forced us to detach from doing stuff, like going out to eat daily, or doing the massage bit. That was a blessing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Today is a blessing because I get to go for a walk. That makes me happy. If I feel a bit down, I don\u2019t give into my feelings. I\u2019m space. I\u2019m awareness. I\u2019m the watcher, the observer, so I feel the anxiety, and tell myself, I\u2019m the watcher, and the anxiety comes and goes\u2026.kinda like I\u2019m watching a movie.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The coconut trees in Bali are gorgeous. They are more than enough, for me, right now. I am whole and complete right now. I am enough. I feel good. I feel happy. If something happens right now, that causes me some sadness, or anxiety, I\u2019m still whole and complete. Maybe I\u2019ll get annoyed, but I\u2019ll still be happy, because I\u2019m walking, or accessing the internet, or because I\u2019m blogging, or doing the stuff I love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If I find myself doing stuff I don\u2019t love, I almost always stop doing it. Or, if I\u2019m in a situation where I\u2019m doing something I\u2019m not super excited to do, I practice looking deeper. I see the blessing in the task, and I see the goodness I\u2019m doing for me, and others, in performing the task, so here I am, happy once again. In the middle of doing stuff that may not bring me immense joy, but that is bringing me and others blessings.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Gratitude<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0You don\u2019t even have to build a gratitude list. Practice gratitude in action. This is unending personal development. Do you feel happy about having access to the internet, to read these words? How \u2018bout feeling happy to have eyes, to see these words? See how everything IS going your way? How about Kelli\u2019s blog? How about getting access to her wisdom, for free? How about being blessed in that you can pay a fee to access her wisdom, 1-on-1, via her private <a title=\"Happiness Consulting\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/blog\/happiness-consulting\/\"><strong>happiness consulting business<\/strong><\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">You don\u2019t need to feel endlessly grateful. I don\u2019t. But I\u2019m predominantly happy about all the stuff going on around me. When things don\u2019t go my way I\u2019m moved in a direction for growth, fulfillment, and freedom. When I let go my preference, or how things should be, I\u2019m a vehicle for happiness. I learn more about being happy, whole and complete, right now, despite what\u2019s going on around me.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Your Turn<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">\u00a0How do you feel happy despite things not going your way?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Do you look for the good in any situation?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Are you on the lookout for happiness boosters, everywhere in your life?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Ryan Biddulph is the author of the Blogging from Paradise eBook series. Blogger. Coach. Internet Lifestyle Junkie.\u00a0 If you are a fellow blogger, or thinking about starting one, visit his site <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloggingfromparadise.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blogging from Paradise<\/a> today for everything you need to know about building a successful blog.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to our emotions, it is understandable outside circumstances greatly influence them. When good things happen, we feel good..it is so easy. When bad things happen, we feel badly. We&#8217;re only human after all and we naturally have a preference for the pleasant stuff. But, when we really want to start making changes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happiness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12999,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions\/12999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livelifemadetoorder.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}