10 Most Important Steps to a Happy Life

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Pope Francis advises the ten most important steps to a happy life. This is a summary of what it says:

1. “To live and let others live’ is a saying similar to a dominant Roman saying, ‘Go ahead and let others move forward’. We can follow this saying in our lives as it is the first step towards peace and happiness.”

2. Give to others “If someone is upset, run to help them. Stagnant water is the first to spoil.”

3. In a novel by Ricardo Gueralds, the hero describes his life, saying that his childhood is like rocks that roll everywhere, his adulthood is like a river that flows forward, and his old age is like water that moves slowly and quietly in a dam. Among the words of the author of the novel, I advise you to move forward in life slowly and calmly, with voluntariness and humility.

4. Play with the children. “The wave of consumerism we live in prevents us from entertaining ourselves, reading, and enjoying art. When I was in Buenos Aires, I was getting to know people a lot and one time I was introducing a mother and I asked her how many children do you have?

Do you play with your children? She was not expecting a similar question, but I told her that playing with children is key and is a healthy culture. It seems difficult for parents to play with their children because they are so busy, but it is worth trying.”

5. Spend Sundays with the family. “I was in a meeting that day with university people and workers, and they all stressed the importance of giving Sunday a day off, for it is to spend time with the family.”

Happy Life

6. Help the youth find a job. “We must be creative in this regard. If young people do not find opportunities for them, they will resort to drugs and there are many opportunities for loss and suicide. We can provide them with courses in plumbing, electricity and sewing, which will give them the dignity of work and living.”

7. Keep nature. “We must preserve creation while we are far from this. Preserving the environment is one of the biggest challenges we have to face.”

8. Forget all the negative things quickly. “Speaking badly of others lowers our self-respect, which means that we will feel inferior rather than superior to others. Forgetting negative things is healthy.”

9. Respect different opinions. “The worst that can happen is religious evangelization that paralyzes. That is, we negotiate with the other to convince him to convert to another religion. No! Every person talks to the other on the basis of his personal identity, and the Church does not grow through temptation, but through the attraction of the other.”

10. Actively seek peace. “We live in a time when wars abound. In Africa, wars appear to be tribal, but they are much more than that. War destroys. We must shout for peace. Peace comes from the principle of stillness and calm, but the demand for peace is not quietly but actively.”

Source: Vatican City website