10 Apr How To Find Joy In Your Everyday Life
Happiness and joy can come from “big bangs”, spectacular events and successes and wins.
But by definition, these occurrences are relatively infrequent. So, for real and enduring happiness and joy we need to try to find positivity within the little things, each and every day …
via Forbes by Noma Nazish
The increasingly materialistic society we live in has led many of us to believe that happiness is something to be chased, to obtain. The ultimate end goal that leads to everlasting bliss and contentment.
Paradoxically, research shows that the more people chase materialistic pleasures as a means to seek happiness, the more depressed, anxious and less satisfied with life they are.
“We get a lot wrong about what will make us happy,” says Dr. Samantha Boardman, New York-based positive psychiatrist and author of Everyday Vitality: Turning Stress Into Strength. “All too often we choose mind-numbing, effort-sparing options like scrolling through our phones or binge-watching shows instead of engaging in meaningful, revitalizing activities. These are uplift imposters. Think of these as empty calories—the emotional equivalent of junk food,” says Dr. Boardman.
True happiness is not a goal or an outcome, rather, it’s a byproduct of how we live our life and interact with the world around us.
How much control do we have over our happiness?
“It can be helpful to think about emotions as being either primary or secondary,” says Dr. Vaile Wright, clinical psychologist and senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association.
“We don’t have much control over primary emotions—those that happen automatically. For example, feeling immediately irritated if a stranger bumps us on the street or feeling afraid if we hear an unexpected noise in our house. But we can exert some control over how we interpret those feelings and whether we want to maintain them or try to replace them with something else—a secondary emotion, that is. So, while it isn’t possible to feel happy all the time or to completely eliminate negative emotions experienced throughout the day, we can choose to engage in thoughts and behaviors that foster joy,” says Dr. Wright.
Many factors that are linked with happiness lie beyond our control such as genetics and life circumstances, but there are certain mindful techniques well within our reach that can reliably provide a boost, Dr. Boardman concurs.
Mindful Strategies For Creating Joy That Lasts
True, lasting happiness or joy is a state of mind. It stems from within ourselves. A deliberate, learned response to life that can be consciously and proactively cultivated, regardless of the forces outside of ourselves …
… keep reading the full & original article HERE