Post #95 The Path to Increase your Happiness
Do you portray a happy image to others while hiding your true feelings? When you act happy despite your internal misery, it is disheartening to your soul. Putting on a constant act will suck the life out of you. Here are some tips to help you increase your happiness.
First
Stop pretending. You will burn precious energy trying to cover up your negative emotions. This is energy you can put towards making a positive difference. What is the worst that will happen if you stop pretending – will it be that bad (see Post #90). Instead of consciously thinking about masking your expressions, allow them to be what they will. Masking emotions with pretentious smiles or insincere words will build over time and eat you on the inside. This is an unhealthy way to exist!
Second
Circumstances don’t result in your being happy versus unhappy. It is tempting to blame courses, people or COVID-19, for example, as the cause of your frustrations. This is not the way the world works, my friends. Therefore, if you want to increase your happiness, do not try to change circumstances. Your external world around you will always be full of bumps, challenges and obstacles. Changing a circumstance simply translates to changing the nature of your problems. Problems will always surround you; changing your external circumstances is not the permanent answer.
Third
If changing circumstances is not the answer to increase your happiness, what is? It’s a simple answer but not so easy to implement: self-accountability. What does this mean? It means you take responsibility for your own thinking and your own actions. This includes acknowledging your beliefs and thoughts, feeling your emotions and own the actions you choose. It means holding yourself accountable for your own life and your own life only.
To help increase your happiness: 1) Decide what you want to believe, 2) Allow your feelings, 3) Own your actions from a stable mentality.
For additional tools and brain exercises to help you manage your COVID-19 circumstances, visit my YouTube video: Managing Student Life During COVID-19.
