Fun Fact! Only 53% of the world is happy. I mean only a little bit above half of the world’s population is happy! Why should that be? I understand that there are many factors attributed to unhappiness, but as long as you have the basic necessities (not wants), there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be happy.
My first question for you today is, what does it mean to be happy? Does being happy mean having the “Perfect Life.” Does it mean having a trouble free life, having the best grades in school, having wealth, or being cool with all your friends (of course, that’s not possible). All these things mentioned result in temporary happiness. What I’m here to discuss today is what true happiness really means. In my own words, Happiness is simply unconditional, just like love is. True happiness does not require any happy moments, any birthday presents, but true happiness can be nurtured through proper physical, emotional, mental, and social exercises.
Let’s get started:
Mental exercise for happiness
1.)Differentiate between contemplating and problem-solving: It’s important that when thinking about a problem you should consciously know if you’re contemplating or problem-solving. This is imperative to happy living because, sometimes, when you think about bothering issues you tend to start thinking to the point where you get frustrated, which is what you’re trying to avoid, therefore can change your whole mood negatively throughout the whole day.
2.) Be grateful for everything you have and everything you’ve achieved in life: When you’re grateful, you begin to see life in a positive light, and that at the end of the day everything would be fine. When you’re grateful, you appreciate life better. This exercise would- at least- lift your mood from really sad to gradually happy. This exercise allows you to have a positive outlook towards life.
3.) Express yourself emotionally: Expressing yourself helps you to get over a bad feeling. When you are distant from your feelings, you begin to understand your emotions less; that means you’ll probably, at one point, not know when you’re expressing anger or sadness, and therefore would start making excuses in place of these emotions. For instance, if you want to cry, you’ll probably say you had “a lump in your throat.”
5.)Manage your emotions: you should know when to draw the line when it comes to expressing your feelings. In other words, do not let your feelings overwhelm you. For example, if you’re feeling angry, you shouldn’t get to the point where your anger causes you to hurt someone emotionally or physically because at the end of the day you find out that you make yourself and the other person unhappy.
4.)Think before you make decisions: When making a decision, think of it like this: “how would I advice my friend”?, “would this be detrimental to my health or wellness”?. Your health is number one, and any decision that would detriment your health should not be taken. If you’re a good friend, you would obviously want to give your friend the best advice, which you would also want for yourself.
By conscious Lifestyle magazine
#mentalwellbeing
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