I have a question for you. It’s been on my mind for awhile. And I even touched on it last time. Do you know anyone who is truly happy? I don’t. But I believe happy people exist and I think we can be like them. So I came up with a few ideas to help us out.
I think it’s a good start if you enjoy your life some of the time. At least you know how. Like if you go on a Jamaican Vacation and have a blast but have to come back to a lousy job. You can say to yourself, I’m happy sometimes, so why not all the time? Assess your life and figure out ways to make more choices that make you feel better.
How do you do that? Create a list on paper with two columns: Joy and Misery. Then work on enhancing things that make you happy and canceling the things that make you miserable.
Just observing people over the years, I’ve seen people make mistakes with their choices. You don’t have to do the same. They make all kinds of excuses for staying in a less than ideal rut, such as “I hate my job, but I could never quit my job because I need the money.”
You can make choices to change that situation. Get out of that corner you’ve backed yourself into. Look at your income. You’ve traded time for that money. So how are you going to fulfill your life with it. At various stages of your life, you will make different choices. When you’re young, you may travel. Later, have a family. But we always have to make decisions that are in line with our focus. We can’t do everything. We have to give up lesser pleasures. But if you use your money wisely, you can have creature comforts as well as freedom and contentment.
The choices you make should be for you, not to for other people. They don’t own your life. And that’s not a selfish thing to say because if you’re happy, it will benefit everyone around you. You’ll be a positive influence.
The worst thing you can do is compare yourself to others. Don’t worry about them. They may be doing better than you on paper, but not so in reality. I’ve seen people who make $80,000 per year living paycheck to paycheck and getting payday loans. They overspent on their house and car, love to shop, and have a gambling addiction. Their lives are falling apart.
Even if you are making minimum wage, learn to be content with what you have for the time being. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t worry about what others say. You’re not a loser. Because you have positive energy, things will work out for you.
No-one else can define what will be good for you. You know yourself. And if you don’t know yourself, you have some work to do.
Just remember, anything that is harmful to yourself or others will only bring pain. I won’t make a list. But being moral in your actions and constantly assessing whether you’re creating harm or not, is a good guide.
How can I say all this? Am I happy all the time? No of course not. Sometimes I do things that lead to a negative mindset. But as I get better at self reflection this happens less and less.
I think it’s natural for us all to enjoy life and it should be the norm, so we’d better get to work on that. We can’t wait around for a blissful person to show us the way.
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