Before I made an intentional decision at the beginning of this year to wake up every day with joy, I thought about mistakes that women make on the road to happiness.

I began to draw a considerable list of no-nos – thinking patterns that produce adverse effects on the unconscious mind and reflect negatively in the conscious mind.

I was surprised at how quickly women our age, and probably men too, create a self-sabotaging atmosphere that produce depression, lethargy, and negativity that alters our brainwaves, our thinking, and take us away from the road to happiness.

Happiness can turn on a dime and lead you into the weeds, strangling your neurotransmitters and rendering them ineffective. Scientists know that your energy is derived from your neurotransmitters – usually referred to as hormones.

A type of chemical substance is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse. that nerve fiber transmits signals across a chemical synapse, such as a neuromuscular junction, from one neuron to another neuron, muscle cell, or gland cell.

Know Your Body

The seven most commonly referenced neurotransmitters are epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, GABA, and glutamate.

There are many more neurotransmitters, but the point is this: when all the neurotransmitters are firing off and sending out endorphins, your body is functioning at peak performance.

My daughter-in-law analyzed neurotransmitters in women for several years. She indicated that it was common for women to have a low serotonin count. That’s your brain food. It can also be a reason why women experience depression.

Know Your Mind

One of the most common mistakes that women make after they hit 60 is not taking time to understand their changing body and mind functions. You often take your life for granted – activities, routines, relationships, moods. They will always be there so why bother to think about them?

Stay Present

What you may not realize is that some of the things you think and do may be promoting negativity and unhappiness, which result in poor health, slow reactions, or lack of ambition.

Being in the now, staying one hundred percent present in the moment, is the most effective way to bring understanding to your being, Meditation is one of the most effective practices for keeping your awareness strong and functioning.

Seeking happiness, women our age often make these 5 mistakes:

Giving into Living with Loneliness

It is healthy to acknowledge that you will experience periods of loneliness. Yet over-focusing on loneliness interferes with the healthy idea that life should be lived to the fullest. If you feel the pull of isolation, you might consider reversing your mood with:

• Planning your day completely, including downtime.
• Meditating once a day for 10 minutes.
• Exercising: go to the gym or take a yoga class, sign up for a regular aquatics class, take a walk with a friend or listen to music along the way, ride a bike, and have coffee with your best friend or someone you want to get to know.
• Find a dance studio and dance. You will meet new people, smile more, and engage others with your joyful mood. It’s infectious.

Not Getting Up with a Positive Sense of Self

Negativity perpetuates negativity – a self-perpetuating cycle of sinking in quicksand. If you feel sluggish, turn upside down for several minutes. This posture stimulates your neurotransmitters. You will discover less resistance in your attitudes and feeling.

Or get on your yoga mat and stretch, thereby opening your body up to positive energy.

Not Stretching Your Mind

Spend more time learning about different people, places, and things. Relying on social conversation with the same people who tell the same stories is limiting and does not foster the creation of learning new information or the exchange of exciting topics.

It’s become habit to talk about the past and rehash family relationships. Besides, it makes for boring conversations.

Not Thinking for Yourself

Recently, I have noticed how, in social settings, women tend to self-segregate from the men’s conversation and disengage. But they only fall into the trap of repeating previous conversations or the opinions of others – spouses, in particular, or adult children.

If you truly agree with the opinion of others, make sure to cogently explain your reasoning or process. You will become a more interesting and sought-after companion and conversationalist.

Not Remembering to Give Gratitude at Least Once a Day

If truth be told, give gratitude every time you think about how fortunate you are to be living a good life. It is a mistake to think that you can live a happy life without gratitude. Gratitude is the basis of living well, for kindness, and for the generosity of spirit.

Not Staying Curious and Learning Something New Every Day

I’ve literary worn my eyes out on my computer being curious, writing blogs, novels, screenplays, increasing my vocabulary and my ability to process thought. Inactivity kills the urge to be a life-long learner.

You have so many distractions during the day that take away your ability to experience new thought: online shopping, Netflix binges, messaging, Facebook, Twitter.

Learn something new, go to life-long learning classes at a nearby college, take up a hobby that intrigues you, seek out people or groups that engage your curiosity, and learn something new every day.

Happiness Is in You

Happiness is not derived by what you encounter on the outside, but how you feel about yourself on the inside. That’s called self-love.

I do; therefore, I am; I am; therefore, I do.

It is a sweet feeling when you encounter yourself daily, giving gratitude, providing meaningful activity for your mind, body, and spirit knowing that you are living your life to the fullest on the road to daily happiness.

What is the over-riding roadblock that takes you away from personal happiness? Are you honest in your assessment of how well you are handling your life? What can you do differently and what mistake can you most easily avoid to find happiness in your life? Please share in the comments below.