"The J stands for Jolly"
Believe it or not, I tend to be a rather cheerful person -
regardless of whether life has been stamping repeatedly on my gonads.
Sure I might complain some, but just to make the days go by. I guess I
prescribe to ‘gloomy optimism’. And it works for me. My life is superb.
But it wasn’t always this way, oh no. As a teenager and into
my early twenties, a mild depression was the parrot on my shoulder.
While some of it was likely age related, I’m convinced that a lot was not. Amongst
other things, it led to an alcohol problem that impacted negatively on years of
my younger life.
Something had to change, and it did. Honestly, a lot of it
was mind-set. I had to want to change. It took a while to find what worked for
me. I see a lot of sadness about and it isn’t the goods. What works for me may
not be for you. But hell, maybe it’ll help. So here is my guide to my happiness.
Enjoy the little things - daily.
There’s always going to be things which happen during the
course of your day which are smileworthy - a nice view, a cup of coffee, getting
out of the rain and cold. Just yesterday I enjoyed all of these and more. I was
truly happy about it. It was more than enough to make my day good. Enjoying the
little things keeps you positive.
Life goes in swings and roundabouts.
Yeah there are some shitty bits in everyone’s life. It
happens to the best of us. These bits just add texture. You need a bit of crunch. The bad times give you
the context so you can appreciate when life’s great. On the flipside, because
life goes in cycles, when things seem bleak you always know an upwards swing is
coming at some stage. So when life gives you a shit sandwich, pick up a
fork and tuck in. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can use mouthwash.
You gots to chill.
When things happen, they’re almost never as bad as they
seem. So take it easy. If you can change it, do something about it. If you can’t,
work with it. There’s no room for worry there. Just relax and let
things resolve themselves - because they inevitably will. If you’re chilled
they’ll probably work out better for you. So keep that blood pressure down.
Do the things you enjoy.
Or at least do things that make it possible to do the things
you enjoy later. If all you have in life is work and you hate your job, you’re
going to be miserable. My point is, find something you really love doing and ensure you create time to do it. Regularly. All work and no play makes
Jack a bland, sad little man, so to avoid becoming Jack make sure you play as
much as you realistically can.
Take life as it is.
Wishing for things isn’t going to get you anywhere. Fantasy
belongs in fiction. Cope with life as it is, not as you wish it could
be. The sooner you view life in real terms, the sooner you realise it ain’t so
bad after all.
Work towards something.
Have a project, goal, or vague dream and take some steps
towards it. It doesn’t need to be much but you want something to get
you out of bed in the morning. Take steps to make it happen. If you want to go
travelling, set up an account you can’t touch and put away some pennies. Look
into where you want to go. Make a move, make some plans. make a schedule; make things happen.
Take some risks
Obviously I don’t mean doing anything life threatening, just
getting out of the old comfort zone. No risk, no reward. Worst case scenario is
you learn something from it. So what’s stopping you?
Like I said, these things may not work for you as well as
they work for me. But something will, you just have to find what it is. It
may not be easy and it may take time but I believe everyone is capable of
getting themselves to a state of relative happiness. And if my experiences are
anything to go by, then it will multiply. You owe it to yourself to spend some
time and effort working out what makes you happy.
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