Happiness Habits

ZAINAB
Jan 29, 2021
4 min read

Some tips to implement in your life to improve your general wellbeing.

Disclaimer: these are just tips about ways you might be able improve your overall wellbeing, if you are struggling with your mental health you should not take this as professional help. Don't allow yourself to feel disappointed and frustrated if they don't work, sometimes we have to work deeper through our issues first xx

There often tends to be a general commonly shared feeling of being down. Life can be repetitive and boring and being stuck in the same routines can often make you feel overwhelmed. In life there are peaks and troughs amongst this stable down feeling that are caused by environmental factors: things that make us really happy or really sad. The trick to feeling content and dealing with that ongoing feeling of being down is accepting it- and then making small differences to overcome it.

Acceptance comes from knowing that we cannot fill our hearts with this world because this isn't our home. This means that although we may try to fill it with the things of this life we'll never be happy. But when we know this, we can do what we can to make our days feel more worthwhile.

1. If you follow a faith: fill your entire heart with God- keeping the world in your hands:

By doing this you'll know that this world isn't the end, so you won't allow yourself to be uprooted by what is given and taken from you. You'll already know that you will experience these waves of happiness and sadness. Rooting your heart with God doesn't mean not feeling emotions but it means you hold on to the peaceful remembrance that He who is holding you is stronger than any challenges and emotions.

It's like being shaken by a tree but your roots are so firm in the ground - you might lose a few leaves but you'll stay grounded.

2. Practicing gratitude

This is a habit I believe you should have no matter who you are which will help you find more peace and contentment. It can be hard sometimes but when you're really feeling down but it will make you feel better- by just recalling the things that you and the things that make you feel grateful have been proven to have beneficial effects for our mental health.

Don't be hard on yourself for not being "grateful enough" and definitely do not compare your lives to others thinking you should be grateful because "others have it worse". Your challenges and struggles are always valid, no matter how big or small in your eyes. Just simply think about the things that you are blessed with, daily, without judgement of yourself.

3. Finding your purpose:

I truly believe that everyone was put on this earth with their own inspired purpose. Don't look and compare yourself with others, but look within and find that one thing that you think really drives you. It might take time to find, but we should try not to get lost in the mundanity and routine nature of everyday life without affirming what our true purpose is on this earth. What goodness did God aim to be achieved through you?

It doesn't have to be extreme like opening a charity and helping millions of people, it could be making a difference to your mums life or smiling at the people you pass day to day. Don't put any kind of boundaries or expectations on your purpose- just think freely and peacefully and see what you can do everyday to actualise your purpose- because I strongly believe everyone has one.

4. Nurturing Relationships

Think about the people that are supposed to be closest to you: do you think that you have the strongest relationships with them? Something worth having is worth putting effort into. For example, I know for one, a lot of us undervalue our siblings- these are those that we live with, share blood with and yet sometimes we barely have a relationship with them. We should try our hardest to develop all of our relationships and not expect them to just be there.

We spend 80% of our waking time in the company of others and our social brain is active most of the time- as humans we have a need to form and maintain strong, stable interpersonal relationships with others (Baumeister and Leary,1995) otherwise this can have negative effects on our mental health. A study conducted by Rohrer et al, 2018 actually found that life satisfaction increased after a year for individuals that implemented socially engaged strategies compared to non social ones.

5. Avoid toxic positivity

I think this is a really important one. We have to remember that although it is amazing and beneficial to be optimistic, toxic positivity can have opposite effects. So, when we have situations where we feel down or out of sorts, or maybe something bad has happened- we must not force ourselves into happiness- it is important to let our emotions take their course and accept them. Otherwise we risk suppressing these emotions and allowing them to be expressed in worse ways.

Therefore, be positive- 100% but genuine positivity is better than toxic positivity- if it feels false and pushed then accept and find active ways to deal with your negative emotions, rather than sugar coating it with positivity.

Did any of these tips really help you? Let me know x