With all of our daily activity and excitement, it has become all too easy to forget about one of the most important things for our well-being. Our own happiness has become a lower rung on the priorities list in many cases and here are three questions to ask yourself to re-route your happiness back on track:
1. Are you holding on to something that is completely out of your control?
This question was by far one of the most difficult to ask myself for my own happiness. As a person who likes to positively influence people decision making, I have had to realize that influencing is all I can do. In the end, you have little to no control in how things in many situations play out. People will make their decisions with the consideration of your advice, but ultimately the decision has to be theirs to make. Situations such as being sad for someone because of something that you couldn't have changed is reasonable to a certain point for the sake of sympathy. Any idea of control past this about someone’s decision making other than your own is affecting you in a negative and unhealthy way. The sooner you accept the idea that you have little to no control, the better you start to feel.
2. Are you loving yourself based off of the people you surround yourself with?
The basics of this question include whether or not the people around you genuinely care about you and lift you up. When around people who are persistently cynical about the way they look at things, your mood will be swayed in such a manner that matches theirs. The hardest part of this question is deciding who are the people that are actually rooting for you, and are worth keeping around. As cold-hearted as this may sound, some people encourage poor habits, behavior and therefore poor performance in happiness. Let them have their pity party, but you belong on the happy train and you'd better believe it. The best kinds of friends know the difference between making a poor decision or a good decision and speak out either way in order to help guide you in the right direction.
3. Do you realize you do have the power to control how you go throughout you day?
One of the very few things that we do have the ability to control completely about our lives is what kind of day we want to have. It is as simple as waking up and deciding that you want to have a good day. Now, how is it that this can be so simple? What about the depressions and anxieties of the world? Yes, depression and anxiety do sometimes take away from having a good day it is true. Even though this is fact, the road to recovery or coping involves a one step at a time process that starts with daily attitude. When you wake up, ask yourself what you are going to do to better yourself that day. Through small daily goals, one can make more progress than they ever imagined just by starting with a positive outlook to each day. There is a saying that whether or not you think you can or can't, you're right. I truly believe this statement holds true in the accomplishment of our goals. Hopefully through practicing having a positive outlook on every day, you will be able to take the time to then spread your positivity to others. Believe me on this one friend, whomever you spread positivity to needed it whether they told you or not.
By asking yourself these three questions, you give yourself the basic tools to live, laugh, and love your way through life. Hopefully these questions helped you in some way or another!
