What happy habits do you have? Let me suggest a few that you just might enjoy and want to adopt as new habits. Take an inventory of which ones you may have in your life already & which ones you might consider adding. Maybe you could focus on one per day this week. Have fun with it!
1- Be nice to yourself. As I've "found my happy" I've become much nicer to me instead of just to everyone BUT ME. I am making more time to do what I want to do and guess, what? That's a healthy thing. Yes, you can become self absorbed but you can also neglect yourself so much that you become useless to anyone. Scripture tells us that the degree we love ourselves is the degree we love others. Learn to love you. This might look like going for a massage, planning a coffee date with a friend just because, or soaking in a long bath with candles lit or snuggling up with your favorite throw reading a good fiction book.
2-Talk nice to you! But beware. When I stopped allowing myself to talk down to me & started speaking well of myself, I also stopped allowing others to talk down to me. When I made this adjustment a few people who meant a lot to me exited my life. It was not easy but neither was the way they treated me. We train people to treat us the way they treat us. It's ok to have boundaries about how you are spoken to and treated. But remember, what matters most is how YOU talk to you. In fact, one of the best happy habits is positive self talk.
3- Believe in yourself. Do you truly believe all things are possible? Do you spend more time focusing on your weaknesses or leveraging your strengths to succeed? What is your REAL dream? Go for THAT dream! Why not? Did you know famous people have been known to say things like,"I'm scared they will eventually find out I'm not really so great." We all have doubts about ourselves because we know ourselves, the good, bad & ugly, but go ahead and make it a habit to believe in yourself! God does.
4- Get off the "Not-So-Merry" Go Round-the if/then happiness. If I land that dream job, if I get that house, car, or if I finally make it big, THEN I'll be happy. Nope! Not how it works. Actually, happiness causes success-not the other way around.
5- Keep it positive. If you have to, remove yourself from everything being serious all the time, negativity, & situations that drain you. We need to "lighten up and live" as Ken Davis says on the radio. I love deep convo and am by nature a very serious, meaningful person so I've had to learn the skill of being positive. I asked my husband just yesterday if he would say I'm a pessimist like he used to and he said,"No! You are always looking for the positive and laughing about stuff now." If only you knew the miracle that is for me. If I can be happy, so can you! I promise. It's really a habit that can be formed. Start with smiling on purpose and when you notice you aren't, just smile. I know this sounds weird but if it's not natural for you, smile in the car or while you are alone and get use to the way it feels. Science has proven that smiling alone is good for your health.
These are just five simple habits to get you started to being a happier you! Next week I'll share a few more that have worked great in my life. Please let me know how this helps you. You CAN be happy again! I'm walking proof. #HappyMondayYall!