Health and Happiness
Hi beautifuls! College has been a roller coaster of emotions. It has already been the best time of my life, but I have been so insanely busy it feels crazy. Sometimes, my brain feels like it’s about to explode with how much is going on. Then, I remember to take step back, live in the present, and focus on one thing at a time. I am currently taking a health and happiness class and I love it so much. I feel like everything I talk about on Ellavate is being emphasized and put into terms in this class. Just because I know the information doesn’t mean I don’t need to hear it again and again. I wanted to write this post on the culmination of topics we have discussed thus far.
We began by discussing that while there are some people who are genetically wired to be happier than others, there are a lot of things we can do individually to be happier. Happiness in itself is supremely important because it keeps us alive. When we seek good and avoid bad, we are able to stay away from the things that may harm or kill us. Our happiness changes over time and that’s ok. Without the bad we wouldn’t know the good. It also tends to change in relation to different times of the day. Many times we are happier around meal times and happier towards the end of the day when all of our tasks have been completed. My teachers asked each of us what our favorite time of day was. I reflected and I thought every time of day duhhh! I feel like it is important to make each part of your day as exciting and happy as it can be. We are always going to have to do work and do things we may not want to do, so you might as well find some joy within them. I love my mornings because I always reserve them as “me time.” I workout, meditate, eat breakfast, and get my life together. We all need a little bit of time to just figure ourselves and our day out.
We also talked about the fact that not everything that brings you joy is good for you in the long run. I feel like this is important to evaluate. I like to think of it in terms of a happiness scale. Happy now vs. happy later. We want to fill most of our time up with things that fit both categories and thus things that make you happy now and happy later. However, we also need to add things that may not brings us joy in the moment, but will help us in the end. This works for the other way around. Sometimes things make us happy in the moment and not so happy later, but we need all of it.
Our life satisfaction is slightly different from happiness. Happiness is our current emotion whereas life satisfaction is a judgement over time. What can you do to not only increase happiness, but also life satisfaction? Seek better quality in everyday moments.
Some things that can lead to positive psychology are feeling good and doing good. Performing acts of kindness is known to make us feel good. When we make others happy, we become happy and when we are happy, we want to make others happy. Happiness is mores about including happy moments in life rather than just the absence of bad things.
Some of the concepts that coincide with yogic teachers are releasing desire. We shouldn’t seek for life to happen in a certain way, instead we have to let it happen as it happens. Don’t try to make the world conform to your wishes. You can put effort in and do your best, but you must let go of the things you can’t control. Happiness is found from within, not through attachments and material desires. Now, happiness of course can happen outside of yourself, but self-love is where it all starts. The reason we so often hear that money doesn’t buy happiness isn’t necessarily because it is 100% true, but rather because if you have a negative output or are addicted to desire, buying one thing will only lead you to wanting more. Specifically, possessions because money used for an experience is more likely to make you happier for a longer amount of time. Experiences make you happy in the moment, and happy when you remember them.
We tend to find the most happiness and sense of feeling proud before a goal is achieved. The journey to the goal is typically where we find our happiness and then after we achieve the goal, our happiness is short-lived and we move on. I always try to emphasize the importance of letting that sense of feeling proud sink in. Really take awhile to feel the joy overcome you as you realize what you just did. It doesn’t have to be something big, it can be small. Note, what is small to someone else may be big to you. We all have different goals and journeys. We also tend to adapt to our successes. Once we accomplish something, almost instantly we adapt and move on as if we had reached this goal long ago. Always think back to your accomplishments. I try to remember on a daily basis things that I am happy about that may have happened long ago. For instance, getting into UNC, graduating at the top of my class, being me, creating Ellavate, etc. It really could be anything.
We have learned that our happiness is equal to our biological set point plus our conditions of life (relationships, environment) plus our voluntary activities aka hobbies. Engage in your favorite activities and make time for them. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new. Don’t just do things to achieve, but do things to feel. Do things because you want to and because they make you happy. Be intentional about your positive activities. Don’t overdo your favorite things, but don’t undergo them either. Prioritize your happiness and make it a key factor in your life.
Things that make you happy from least to most effective are: response modulation (things like forcing a smile and pretending to be happy), cognitive change (thinking about something differently and more positively), attention deployment (putting your attention in a happier place like daydreaming), situation modification (changing what you are doing and how you are doing it), and lastly situation selection (how you plan your day).
I hope these tips can help you guys live each day a little happier!