14 Sep 6 mindfulness strategies for more happiness
by Dragos Bernat from Tiny Buddha
We all want to be happy, but sometimes we hold ourselves back from that possibility. It can be a sad, but liberating truth. We all have that voice inside our head; you know the one I’m talking about. And sometimes we listen even when we know we shouldn’t.
That voice is most often the source of our own self-sabotage. That voice can be the cause of our own misery.
I know because I used to listen to this voice—every single day, all the time. Eventually, I began to believe in this voice. Everything this voice was saying, I associated with the truth. I started to believe that I just wasn’t enough. It was only downhill from there.
You are not enough. You can’t do it, so don’t even bother trying. You are a failure, and you won’t amount to anything.
All these thoughts had one common denominator: I was a failure that couldn’t amount to anything, and shouldn’t even make an attempt because I was destined for failure.
Now imagine listening to something like that every single day, every week, every month, every single year; eventually, I was bound to become miserable, hateful, and filled with negativity.
Since only I could hear this voice, I started to believe that this was the truth. And so, I started projecting this outward, onto others, which meant I was treating others badly, judging them and hurting myself in the process.
I began to believe that I just didn’t deserve to be happy.
The more I listened to this voice, the more I would worry and hurt myself. It affected every aspect of my life. I would never win against the voice, because I forgot to be mindful of myself. I was out of the picture, and my voice was all there was.
I would tune into the voice and start listening to its repetitive, involuntary, and completely useless noise. This voice became the source for my thoughts. These thoughts started to steer my actions and everyday behavior.
One day I was walking and—Eureka! When I ignored this voice, I realized that I was not the voice inside my head. This voice was just a mental noise going off constantly. I didn’t have to associate who I was with this repetitive noise.
This was my turning point, and when I decided to listen closely and take action. This listening was what helped me become mindful of myself. I started practicing a few habits each day to see how it would affect, impact, or benefit me.
After a few months I noticed a major difference in my life. The voice started speaking less, and it wasn’t always negative. I realized a difference when I started to become more mindful of myself, and start listening without judgment.
Being mindful helps to put in perspective what’s important.
That’s you. You are important. And with practicing daily, you can start believing it, and start living it.
6 Mindful Habits To Stop Your Worrying and Start Loving Yourself
1. Stop criticizing yourself.
If you keep looking at what you are missing, you’ll never be happy. You will just keep looking forever. What you have now is more than enough.
You just need to start to appreciate yourself, and let yourself know you are enough. Whenever the negative voice comes on, listen but don’t react. Don’t interact with the voice, or try replacing a negative with a positive.
When the voice puts you down, saying, “I love you” to yourself can be a very powerful thing…
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