How do I manage my Happiness mindset in the new normal.
Do I have my moments of anxiety every now and then —oh yes. But do people look at me as a very vibrant and happy person with a sunny disposition, yes! And they absolutely like being around me.I can say that with conviction .They want me on their zoom gatherings to spread the cheer and make it more fun. I am the quintessential cheerleader if you may say so .So how do I manage to stay that way? Believe me, I am one of the most authentic person you might have known.I am not ashamed to make my vulnerabilities known.
Is my life perfect? Far from it. A single mom of 3 ,thankfully with shared custody ,else would have lost my sanity by now during this pandemic..ha ha! Don’t get me wrong,I love my kids but I equally love myself too . That’s one of the ways to keep yourself happy. The cliched self-love. When kids are not with me, I like to do things I enjoy. I do Zoom gathering with people, happy hour, bingo night, trivia games, DJ parties, parties etc. That’s for my fun side, entertainment side.
For my health I like to take long walks and appreciate nature, you can say mindful walking and I also go on a weekly hike. I try to get in a couple miles everyday. I do yoga 🧘♀️ for about 10min as a part of my morning ritual.
I read more, engage in conversations over the phone with my friends or folks who appeal to my intellectual side. To take care of my spiritual side- I Meditate to ground myself and for clarity of thought I devote more time to my practice of Nichiren Buddhism. It has helped me through the toughest phase of my life and brought me a lot of tangible and intangible benefits.Their philosophy is to enable every person to become happy without exception. And this is in total alignment with my life’s motto. I just want to touch peoples lives in a positive way.I want them to feel happy that they interacted with me.I want to be a source of joy. There is so much misery in the world, some of it is real and some is just a creation of our minds..
We make our present not so pleasant by worrying about things that “might” happen in future and more often than not those negative outcomes never become a reality.
So what’s the point. Looking back you wonder, oh I was worried all this time for nothing. But what did you lose- TIME- one thing that’s never coming back. Nothing can buy the time lost. If we believe that we all have finite breaths , we would be more mindful as to how we spend them. It’s our choice to have a joyous existence or to live a life of misery.
Life will always be throwing challenges at us.They can be pertaining to relationship, money, health, or even existential crisis.That’s how it’s supposed to be. Be happy about it that you have something to work towards, that’s what makes life worth it.
We will always be working towards something or we are dead. Only peaceful people are the ones who are resting forever ie dead. Have you ever wondered why the celebrities with all the name, fame and money, are depressed to the extent of taking their own lives.
That means materialistic things don’t bring us happiness. It’s the intangibles like love, meaningful relationships, unconditional love of kids and pets,nature, helping the less fortunate. If you knew everyone else’s struggles,you will never want to swap your lives with anyone . No one is living a perfect life, people are just showcasing the good things which is probably a small percentage of their existence .
Social media may make you feel less about your lives. Maybe you are single and holed up inside your apartment, feeling jealous of people with families or couples sharing their quarantine lives on insta, FB or any other social media.
Do you know what fights they have, how hard it can be being confined in the same space for months. Do you know the emptiness in their lives that was being filled by movie theatres, bars, clubs, bowling alleys etc. Just be real. Think about what’s good in your life and how you can capitalize on your situation. If you had 6 months to live , would you still want to be miserable. What would be your outlook towards life, be it on the pandemic era .
Keep an attitude of Gratitude,it goes a long way in making you feel happy where you are at. Continue on your journey, strive for better things but be happy where you are at.
We don’t know if we have a tomorrow. Everyday millions of people never wake up to see the morning sun.Be thankful for today and make the most of it, go make your day count!