So many people think they key to finding happiness is by attaching it to something. The way they live their life is based on material things, certain life events or people that come in and out of our lives. If you never take the time to learn how to be internally happy, outside from any external factors, this method of thinking is certain to let you down.
When you find that life has you down and you're not operating at the best version of yourself there's plenty of things that may be affecting it. You don't think it's in your control, but it is. This life is our sculpture and the chisel is in our hands.
Here are six ways to elevate the way you feel about your life.
Exercise
It amazes me how many people complain about their body and condition of their health. To me, exercising the main activity that allows the rest of life to flourish.
Exercising releases endorphins that make you happier. It also releases tension built up over stress or worry. It gets your blood flowing and is a place of refuge and isolation from everything for that amount of time. Try exercising, and watch all the other aspects of your life fall into place.
Meditate
Mediation is often overlooked, and may seem a bit odd to those who have never done it. There's a reason people speak so highly about it. Meditating is an act in which you become in tune with yourself. You allow all the noise in your mind to escape; it's like a recharge for your mind that doesn't involve sleeping.
Soon enough, you will learn how to enter a zone that can serve as an escape from the stressors of your life. It's incredible what can enter your psyche once you allow the toxins to exit.
Remain Busy
Everyone is a victim of overthinking, but gaining a bit of perspective will change how often you do this. There really is no need to overthink, unless your goal is to put yourself in a bad mood.
Remaining busy will keep your mind in the present.
Just Do It
Get on Facebook or Twitter right now and count the people you see posting about how they wish they had a different life or wished they accomplished something. The expectation and desire to accomplish something is amazing, but it's also creating this void in life if we allow it to remain a dream, or something we only talk about and allow to exist in our dreams.
The best way to combat this reason for sadness is to get off your ass and make it happen. Nothing works out the first time it's done. The fear of failure or fear of not being perfect is crippling. It doesn't make sense that you'll be able to do something you've never done perfect the first time.
Come to peace with knowing you might mess up, but you'll use that knowledge and experience to continue pushing forward. You feel a lot better accomplishing 50 percent of something rather than 100 percent of nothing. Albert Einstein said it best when he said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Eat Better
The more you eat food that's terrible for you, the more you will continue to and crave those foods. A terrible mindset is that eating healthy is expensive. Well, if you're looking to compare fast food to a healthier alternative that provides food that fast then yes it is. But if you can learn how to cook yourself and go grocery shopping, finding cheaper alternatives will not be so difficult. It takes a breakthrough and real grit to stop a routine and start a new one, but it's possible.
Introspect
Learning to see situations from other sides difficult, but will be so useful in the long-run. Everyone is different; we all respond in a manner that can be confusing or taken the wrong way by someone else. Being able to change your mood is crucial in life. Not allowing the negative in life to drive your life takes hindsight. It take understanding and looking within to why you feel the way you do and understand what you need to do about it.
If there's anything all of these points have in common, it's that it's up to you and only you to approach life in a way that allows you to be happier. Don't try all of these at once, but if you begin to change the way you think about life and your reactions to it, you may just find being happier is easier than you ever imagined.
