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Ways to find inner happiness and why it matters
Since you were a small child, you’ve probably heard that happiness comes from external sources. You should look for happiness in other people or in the achievements you have.
So, as you grow up, you keep building on this idea. You start believing more and more that you need to improve your inner happiness. You never think that you can create your happiness.
People spend so much of their time searching for happiness from external sources. Often, they don’t even find it. That’s because this feeling is fleeting if you wildly chase it around. The only way to reach an actual state of fulfillment is to find your inner happiness.
What is inner happiness?
Happiness is the emotional state that emerges when you are filled with joy, satisfaction, or fulfillment. Everyone feels happiness differently. But for everyone, it stems from positive emotions.
Happiness doesn’t have to stem from something happening in the present. You can also feel happy when you reflect on past experiences. People might even say they’re delighted when referring to how they generally think about life.
Because happiness is such a broad term, psychologists refer to it as “subjective well-being. You don’t have to be confined by others’ definitions of happiness. Instead, try to understand your needs and what personally makes you happy.
Most people believe that the only way to be happy is if external factors make you satisfied. But that’s not the case. You don’t need to be passive and wait for life to make you happy. You can make yourself feel good.
Inner happiness is often defined as a state of psychological calmness and self-fulfillment. Internally happy people are the ones who can regulate how they feel, regardless of what’s going on around them.
As you get older, you won’t always have the best job, won’t always be surrounded by people, and your life won’t always be great. If you want to be happy and find inner peace, here is how to do it.
1. Meditate to find your inner happiness
The practice of meditation has been used by people for thousands of years. In the beginning, it was used to bring people closer to the forces of the Universe. Nowadays, psychologists recommend meditation as a way to achieve emotional well-being.
When you meditate, you reflect on how you feel and what your body is sensing. You clear your head and take your time to relax. Meditation is mainly focused on breathing in and out. As you fall into a breathing rhythm, you can start scanning your body to feel the sensations it sends you.
If you’re unhappy, try to meditate. This can help you understand what makes you sad. It can also give you a new perspective on issues and allow you to find silver linings. As you clear the thoughts running through your head, you can start focusing on the things that make you happy. You remember that you are alive, have a roof over your head, and you always have yourself no matter what.
2. Embrace who you are
Often, people are unhappy because they think too little of themselves. They always find fault with every little mistake they make and they are dependent on other people’s opinions. So, if someone else doesn’t praise or compliment them, they automatically assume there’s something wrong with them.
When you embark on a journey to find your inner peace, the first thing you need to do is embrace who you are. The only person who will always be by your side, from birth until death, is you. So, if you want to impress anyone, focus on impressing yourself. It doesn’t matter what other people think, as long as you know you are doing your best.
To embrace yourself, you need to understand that everyone has flaws, and perfection is unattainable. The fact that you have weaknesses is nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you know you’re working on bettering yourself.
Accept you for who you are, even if there’s something you want to change about yourself. Give yourself the validation you need. Don’t wait for others to praise you. When you start embracing yourself, you can start being happy regardless of what others say.
3. Practice gratitude
To be grateful is to learn to affirm all the good life gives you. It means being aware of when something positive happens and valuing the good over the bad at all times. Grateful people continuously develop a positive outlook on life. But acknowledging the good is not enough. To be truly thankful, you need to express the appreciation you feel outwardly.
Some people are inherently more grateful, but gratitude can also be practiced. You can use gratitude journals to write down everything positive that happens. This way, you’ll always be aware of the positives, and you can never forget them. Gratitude impacts brain development in a way that harvests inner happiness.
4. Spend time in nature
As life gets busier, people tend to get stuck in the city more than before. This current lifestyle keeps people away from nature. And this might not seem like an issue, but it can significantly affect your happiness.
When you spend time in nature, you can enjoy the clean air and marvel at the views. This allows you to relax and reflect. All the research regarding the connection between nature and health shows that even a simple walk can heal you.
Nature reduces stress, anger, and fear. It even improves physical health. All these factors make you feel better on the inside, which leads to a sense of happiness.
5. Take responsibility for your actions
To find inner happiness, you need to accept that you are responsible for your actions. Instead of being ashamed of making mistakes, take accountability and try to solve the issues you’ve created. This way, you can regain control over your life while being more at peace with yourself.
When you admit you were wrong, you are one step closer to solving that issue. You don’t have to live with the pressure of an unsolved mistake anymore. -Powerofpositivity
Walk into any supermarket in Accra, Kumasi, or Tamale today, and you will see the modern Ghanaian diet packaged as ‘progress.’ You will see breakfast cereals with cartoon mascots, fruit drinks that are mostly sugar and colour, and snacks promising energy and happiness in bright fonts.
Even products loaded with salt and unhealthy fats often wear a health halo labeled as fortified or natural, while the real nutritional risk is hidden in tiny print on the back. This is not just a consumer inconvenience; it is a public health blind spot. Ghana is living through a silent surge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension, diabetes, and stroke.
These conditions quietly drain household income and steal productive years. According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, NCDs are now responsible for nearly 45 per cent of all deaths in Ghana.
We cannot build a healthy nation on a food environment designed to confuse people at the point of purchase. Ghana must mandate simple front-of-pack warning labels (FOPWL) on high-sugar, high-salt, and high-fat packaged foods because consumers deserve truth at a glance, and industry must be pushed to reformulate.
Why Back-of-Pack Labels Are Not Enough
In theory, consumers can read nutrition panels. In reality, most Ghanaians shop under pressure, limited time, rising prices, and children tugging at their sleeves. The back label is a relic that requires a high cognitive load to interpret—essentially, the seller knows what is inside, but the buyer cannot easily tell.
This ‘information asymmetry’ is not fair. It is not consumer choice when the information needed to choose well is deliberately difficult to find.
Simple warning labels like the black octagons used in the Chilean Model act as a ‘stop-and-think’ nudge. They do not ban products but they simply tell the truth so people can decide.
Reshaping Our Food Environment
A generation ago, Ghana’s meals were mostly home-prepared, like kenkey and banku with soups and stews. Today, ultra-processed foods have become the norm, especially in urban areas. Children are growing up with sugary drinks and salty snacks as everyday items, not occasional treats.
If Ghana is serious about prevention, we must act where decisions are made—thus, the shelf. Warning labels protect parents from sugar traps and pressure the market to improve. When warning labels are mandatory, manufacturers start to compete to make healthier recipes to avoid the stigma of the label.
Addressing the Pushback
Industry will argue that labels create fear or that education alone is enough. However, health education is slow; labels work immediately. While the informal street food sector is a challenge, regulating pre-packaged goods is the practical starting point because the supply chain is traceable. We cannot wait until the whole system is perfect; we must start where action is feasible.
A 2026 Implementation Roadmap for Ghana
To move from talk to action, Ghana needs this 5-step plan:
- Issue mandatory regulation: The Ministry of Health, Food and Drug Authority (FDA), and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) must define the label format and nutrient thresholds for all pre-packaged foods.
- Simple, bold symbols: Use plain language and clear symbols, such as “HIGH IN SUGAR,” designed for busy families, not experts.
- Transparent thresholds: Adopt technically defensible standards adapted to the Ghanaian diet.
- Transition and enforce: Provide a 12–18 month period for manufacturers to reformulate, followed by firm enforcement at ports and retail centers.
- National literacy campaign: The Ghana Health Service must pair labels with public messages explaining why high salt or sugar increases disease risk.
Conclusion: Truth Is Not a Luxury
Prevention is cheaper than treatment. A warning label costs little compared to the price of dialysis, stroke rehabilitation, or lifelong diabetes complications. A black octagon on a box of biscuits is more than a label; it is a shield for the health of all Ghanaians. It is time to put the truth where we can see it, right on the front.
By Abigail Amoah Sarfo
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Natives of the Kenkey Kingdom were mad with joy. They were still recovering from the hangover of the kingdom’s loss of the African Cup when their spirits were rekindled. Their great warrior, Zoom Zoom, stormed Melbourne and made sure that every Australian refused food. And that was after he had drawn contour lines on the face of their idol, Jeff Fenech.
Not only did the terrible warrior transform Old Boy Jeff’s face into a contour map useful for geography lessons, but he also accomplished the feat of retaining the much-envied super-kenkeyweight title against all odds. The warrior had not been eating hot kenkey for nothing.
The Fight Against Fenech
When Jeff Fenech bit the dust in the eighth round, I was tempted to consider if Adanko Deka could not have faced him in any twelve-rounder, title or non-title bout. Adanko has improved tremendously, and soon he would be facing Pernell Whitaker.
Sincerely, I was pessimistic about Azumah’s man, who the last time took him through twelve grueling rounds of rough boxing. I expressed my fears to my colleague Christian Abbew, alias Gbonyo, who surprisingly had total confidence that the Australian brawler would fall, predictably in Round Five.
Gbonyo gave reasons for his contention, all of which I counteracted using the age factor. Fact is, I didn’t know that contrary to the laws of nature, Azumah was all the time growing younger.
When Fenech fell briefly in round one, I asked my brother whether it was the same Fenech that fought Azumah in Las Vegas. Sure, it was the same Fenech, all out to beat Azumah before his countrymen.
But the African Professor had no intention of making the Australian a hero. As he spun round the desperate Aussie, dancing and stinging out his jabs, it was not too long before I realized that the end was near.
The Eighth Round Showdown
Two minutes into the eighth round, the African ring-master proved to the whole world that he was a true son of Bukom. He himself was cornered, but like the tough nut he is, he managed to break free before overwhelming the panting Australian with several blows that made him crash headlong.
Moments after, the referee, expressing fatherly sympathy, stopped the fight to prevent an obituary. After the ordeal, Fenech’s fairly handsome face was full of newly constructed hills, valleys, ox-bow lakes—whatever. I noticed that his nose was very tired and had a miniature volcano sitting restlessly on it. Obviously, Jeff’s wife will have to nurse that nose back to its normal shape—but I’d advise her not to use iodine, otherwise her dear husband will wail like a banshee.
Reflections on Boxing
Because Mohammed Ali was the kind of boxer kids liked, many school-going kids often entertained the wish of becoming like him. I remember one day when I told my father I wanted to become a boxer, and he advised me to first complete my education to the highest level. Then, if I decided to become a boxer and was knocked out a couple of times, I’d fall back on my degrees and make a living.
Boxing used to be interesting when bouts were fought more with the mouth and tongue than with gloves. You had to brag well, psychologically belittling your opponent before beating him up physically. Mohammed Ali became a very successful pugilist because he also managed to become a poet. He often blew his horn across America, calling himself the “pretty boxer” and opponents like Joe Frazier “the gorilla.”
Ali made a living fighting hard fists like Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, George Foreman, Leon Spinks, and Trevor Berbick. Twice he came back from retirement to fight just for money. It was Larry Holmes who finally pensioned him, and since then the great Ali has never been himself.
The Path Ahead for Azumah
When Azumah nailed Jeff Fenech on the cross and barked almost immediately that he was after the head of Pernell Whitaker, I was happy but concerned. I would have been happier if he had announced his resignation there and then—he would have been more of a hero. Beating Fenech in Australia is more newsworthy than facing Whitaker in the States.
With Whitaker, it might be a little difficult. The “Sweet Pea” is agile, has a crooked body like a snake with diarrhea, and stands awkwardly as a southpaw. He is known for having the fastest pair of fists and the rare ability to dodge punches no matter how close they may be.
Much as I do not doubt that Azumah can take his title, I also don’t want him to retire beaten. I want him to retire as a hero and live a fuller, healthy life.
As Azumah himself said after dishing Fenech, he is now a professor and has something to show for it. Like a true professor, I think it is time he resigned and took up training young talents who could draw inspiration from him and become like him in the future.
Closing Thoughts
I must say that although ageing boxers like Larry Holmes and George Foreman are making a name for themselves, boxing is not like the Civil Service, where you can even change your age and retire at 74. Zoom Zoom has delighted the hearts of the natives, and Sikaman will forever hold him in high esteem—but only when he retires as a hero.
This article was first published on Saturday, March 7, 1992.
