15 Feb Some of your beliefs about happiness…might be causing you to be unhappy!
via MindBodyGreen by Kimanzi Constable
For much of my life, happiness eluded me. I understood the idea of being happy, but I couldn’t experience it. I had a rough childhood that involved mental, physical, and emotional abuse. I left home at 17 to escape. I didn't see or feel happiness very much growing up.
My happiness isn't an accident. It took a lot of work to get here, and it takes work to maintain it.
After I left home, I dropped out of high school to work three jobs. That didn’t afford me many happy moments, either. I did get my GED, which then qualified me to get a series of 13 dead-end jobs. At that point, I'm not sure I even believed in happiness anymore — or at least that it was accessible to me. But then everything changed.
At this point in my life, I can honestly tell you that I experience happiness every day. I understand what it means, and what nourishes and detracts from it. It isn't an accident. It took a lot of work to get here, and it takes work to maintain it.
For me, it all started with teaching myself a new way of thinking about and seeking happiness. Certain myths about happiness had been blocking the true experience of it, until I let them go.
Here are a few of the myths that might be holding you back, too.
1. Happiness is a destination.
I always thought of happiness as a finish line. I thought it started with working on my major life goals, and when I accomplished them, I would “reach” happiness. Beginning to explore the idea of happiness in literature and with people wiser than I, I began to accept that happiness is not dependent on circumstance. It's dependent on mindset.
You don’t have to achieve your biggest goals and dreams before you can be happy. The journey to those achievements is filled with opportunities for joy. Life doesn't always play fair. It might have dealt you a tough hand. But that isn't a barrier to happiness. It's an opportunity to adjust your attitude and find satisfaction in the slivers of light that shine so much more brightly in the dark. Nothing is more satisfying than enjoying happiness after every punch you take…
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