Happiness can be tricky; one thing can throw it off and some days it feels like it can be non-existent. It isn’t what you think or expect it would be. Being successful is fun and rewarding, and doesn’t really matter if you aren’t successful with the people you share your home with.
Money brings convenience and allows you to live comfortable. Having a nice house and nice car may bring jealous and assumptions about how much money you have, the real flex is letting people assume as they wish.
It’s funny when you’ve been unhappy for so long, it becomes part of your norm. You learn to carry it with you and nurture it and it becomes your ‘friend’, except it’s really pain disguised as a façade to prevent you from living your life. Your ‘friend’ changes your perspective and you see experiences not as they truly are. You see them through the lens of your pain and you may sabotage good things before they even get started.
I was talking to my mom about a friendship that I was really struggling to understand and how I feel about it. I felt like I was changing somehow and I just felt different, I didn’t have the words to describe it exactly. She pointed out that I wasn’t changing, I was making decisions from my happy place and that is what feels different. I started taking my healing journey seriously in 2014 and here I am almost 10 years later, realizing what is to be truly happy and not be apologetic about it.
The key for me is being intentional with my happiness, it’s a sequence of small connections strung together throughout the day.
3 ways I intentionally stay connected to my happy and joy:
Hearing my children’s laughter is literally music to my soul and probably the most underrated thing about being a parent. A lot of times I go out of my way to make them laugh because it truly grounds me, yep I know completely selfish.
Gratitude is huge for me!! I believe next to forgiveness it’s one of fruits of life that I’m truly in love with. It doesn’t have to big and for me, it gives me the courage to want to be happy on purpose because I know don’t deserve the grace that is given to me.
Journaling. I’ve been keeping a journal since I was in high school and it really saved me these last few years. Documenting your journey through life is truly a treasure and it allows me to see actually read my growth process. I’m so proud and not so proud of myself at times, the healing part is being able to sit with the parts I don’t like and not get mad at myself all over again. I’m proud of my courage and that often gets me through the fleeting happy days.
I want you to be happy and have joy in your life, make a conscious decision to unlearn all the things that don’t make you happy, and BE HAPPY ON PURPOSE TODAY and always!!
love always,
Image credit: Photo by Pablo de la Fuente on Unsplash