Last year (2020), a lot of things happened. Even though several things went my way, a lot of my plans didn’t work out as I intended.
For me, It was like going to school. I had to learn how to keep calm on the inside, maintain my composure, and be happy even when things were not going my way.
That was how I learned how to be happy in unfavorable conditions that mounted pressure on me. And, I’m glad I can share these tips with you in the paragraphs below so that you too can apply them in your life and be happy.
#1 Stop competing unnecessarily with people:
Society has undoubtedly taught us a lot of things about success which now constitute our respective mentalities.
It has taught us what success means and shown us how you should look like, talk like, or be like if truly you’re a successful person.
That’s why people keep competing with one another and get depressed if they don’t attain to these societal standards.
Of course, this is way different from healthy competition among athletes, businesses, or companies.
While some people compete reasonably in a healthy way, others compete for mundane things like who drives the better car, who wears the costlier clothes or shoes, or who has a bigger or better house.
That’s funny, isn’t it?
But if you want to maintain your happiness, then you must stop tagging everyone as your competition. Instead, see your current self as your only (or major) competition.
Always seek to get better than who and what you currently are. By so doing, you can maintain your happiness all your life.
#2 Find yourself:
Self-discovery is paramount. The journey to happiness can never be complete until you’ve found or discovered yourself.
I found myself. I accepted who I really am.
Until you find yourself, you’d think you’re awkward and you’d keep wishing you were like some other person.
The dissatisfaction from feeling you’re not good enough or just don’t fit into what every other person does will make you feel sad if you’ve not really stepped back as a spectator for a second, studied yourself and found out whom you really are.
But the opposite is the case when you’ve found yourself. You’d know who you ideally are, accept it, and be unapologetic and happy about it.
#3 Stop always trying to prove a point to people:
Hey! It’s natural to want to use the line, I told you I’d… and I did it.But, when it becomes obsessive– trying to prove a point to people, it messes you up emotionally.
A better way to live is to give your best to everything you do and work hard in order to achieve the best results possible.
If you’re bent on making a point or trying to prove you’re not a failure throughout your life and career, you’d only be plunging yourself into some Black Sea of pressure and depression.
Trying to prove you’re not a failure will shift the focus from personal fulfillment and make you live the rest of your life pleasing people.
So avoid that instinctive propensity to prove a point if you want to live happily this year. Instead, always aim at getting better and more successful at what you do.
#4 Make the decision to make the most out of every moment of my life:
You’ve got the right to enjoy your life. You’ve also got the choice to enjoy your life.
When you choose not to enjoy your life, you violate your own rights. Think about that!
I made the decision last year to never tie my happiness to the surrounding circumstances.
I’ve mastered that style of life so much that no matter how bad it is, I just reach out to my heart and draw out that happiness.
Learning to live every moment as though it were my last was a turning point in my life. I say the great words I want to say to the people I want to say them to.
I eat properly and healthily, and I take care of myself as I should.
Likewise, I refuse to bother so much about the problems that will arise tomorrow. That’s not to say I don’t plan for tomorrow. But, I just don’t worry.
Worrying doesn’t change anything. It makes it worse, takes away your peace and happiness, and gets you sick.
Someone said, We only live today; we’re not guaranteed tomorrow.That makes sense somehow. Learn to enjoy every moment.
Your situation may not seem like the pea-on-ice-cream situation but sometimes, you just make that beautiful decision to remain happy despite the situation.
#5 Deliberately lose touch with your past if it doesn’t help you:
It took me a while to realize that my attachment to my past was one of the major reasons I felt sad, depressed, lost, and confused.
For instance, I used to be overly emotionally attached to a girl from high school, and five years after graduation, I still couldn’t stay a day without thinking about her. It made me live in a fantastic world of infatuation.
I was unnecessarily anxious and obsessed. It was crazy; really crazy! The funny part was that we weren’t even close, but she remained in my head even after we’d graduated and moved to university.
After five years of such attachment, I deliberately told myself, Boy, this is one hell of a spell, and you need to break it before it breaks you.And as a matter of fact, I broke that spell by stopping thinking about her and waving away that thought anytime it came knocking.
What was the aftermath? I jolted back to reality, became more committed to my work and became less anxious and happier.
The wonderful part of letting go of your past is stopping to dwell on your past mistakes. They just have a way of torturing you and taking away all your happiness.
The past is just history, and we should let it be what it is.
Nowadays, if something happens just a minute earlier, I let it go just like that because I can’t keep it on my mind at the expense of my happiness. Do you get the point?
I believe if we all learn the art of letting go of the past, the world will be so full of happy people.
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