Navigating to Happiness
You often hear about “pursuing happiness” but what does that mean for you? One way to think about it is making choices in your life to be happier. You can make happiness an active part of your life by choosing to navigate to happiness. There are lots of ways to choose happiness and change the ways you think and interact with your own emotions. The path to happiness requires effort but you’re already in a great place to get started!
No More Self Deprecating Jokes
Most people have a habit of making self deprecating jokes when they are embarrassed or feel that they are in an awkward situation. Making fun of yourself may come naturally, but it can have a negative impact on your mental health and self esteem. Instead of insulting yourself, try hyperbolically complimenting yourself. Instead of mocking yourself for being clumsy when you spill something on your shirt, you could joke that your DIY techniques are going to make you famous on instagram. You’ll still get a laugh — but the gentler humor can be a lot better for your mental health than constantly making fun of yourself.
Express Gratitude
One great way to boost your happiness is to remember to pause and feel gratitude for the good things in your life. You can do this by making sure to thank your loved ones and to keep a gratitude journal. Writing down at least one thing you are thankful for every day can be a great way to boost your spirits and encourage you to consider the good in your life. Keeping it in a journal is also helpful as you can read it whenever you have a frustrating day.
Spread Kindness
Sending kindness out into the world is a great way to spread happiness to the people you encounter every day. Offer sincere compliments and kindness to your friends and family and their happiness will be reflected back at you. You can spread even more happiness into the world by doing things like contributing to charity and volunteering. Helping other people is great for your mood and pride in yourself for accomplishing something is fantastic for your self esteem.
Give Bad Moods Space To Exist
While you are working on actively being happy, you may find yourself tempted to deny unpleasant emotions like sadness or anger. This can be referred to as toxic positively and can lead to you ignoring your problems and bottling up your feelings. Instead of denying your bad moods, try giving it space to exist. Sometimes you have a bad day and the best thing you can do is to let yourself feel and process those emotions.
Just because you’re letting yourself feel negative emotions doesn’t mean you have to dwell on them. You can navigate to happiness by figuring out what you can do to change your situation or relieve your feelings. Maybe you can talk with a friend and see if they can help you problem solve or at least let you vent. You could also focus on doing something that makes you happy like enjoying a special treat or spending some time working on a favorite hobby. You could also try coming up with a fun plan so you have something to look forward to. This is a great way to pursue real happiness and a positive attitude.
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