I’m going to be brutally honest with you. The past few weeks have not been easy. Health issues, trips to the ER for several of us (we’re all okay but there were a few scary moments), financial issues, basement flooding (to the extent that we’ve been spending the last few days ripping up flooring), and as of yesterday, what looks like a carpenter ant infestation. It has been exhausting and expensive.
Through it all, I have looked for those little pockets of joy in my day. And when they seemed hard to find, I reminded myself of some little ways that I could embrace happiness. These are 3 simple ways that I use.
3 Easy Ways to Embrace Happiness
Let’s get the elephant out of the room before we get started. I’m not trying to propose toxic happiness here. These problems are real and I’m not suggesting that anyone dealing with problems should have their feelings invalidated. When the flooding reached the point where we knew that it was damaging some of our belongings beyond repair, I cried. There have been very real moments of fear, sorrow, despair, and panic in my home during this time.
But for me, there were times where I was exhausted from all of those emotions and I needed even just one small moment of happiness to strengthen me. These moments helped me focus on what was most important and how to formulate a practical plan to get through it all.
1 – Express gratitude.
Simply reminding myself of what I already have is not going to make the problems go away but sometimes it can help to put them into perspective. I like to do this every day anyway and for me, I express gratitude in the form of thanksgiving to God, but any gratitude can help. On tough days, I simply add in some additional prayer/thanksgiving breaks.
2 – Show kindness to others.
Helping other people always makes me happy. Again, I firmly believe I am allowed to have my feelings and that they are valid, but sometimes, if left unchecked, I can tend to wallow. My wallowing doesn’t get me through the negative feelings, it doesn’t help me come up with solutions – for me, it only ever leads to more negativity. By showing kindness to others, I focus on them and doing something to make them happy and my problems are put on the back burner.
This, in itself, can help lead me to expressing more gratitude, but also, when I’m not focusing directly on my problems, they’re often there in the back of mind where I truly believe my greatest problem-solving abilities exist. So, while I am focused on helping others, my subconscious is still working on solutions to my own problems – it’s a win-win situation.
Some ideas – call in an Instacart order to be sent to the local shelter or other organization working with those in need, go for a walk (great for body and mind!) and pick up trash along the way, hold the door for someone, take care of someone else’s household chore for them, or send a card to someone letting them know what you love and appreciate about them.
Bonus tip – If you know someone with young children, offer to help out. Rocking a baby or playing with a child and seeing their smiles, hearing their laughter can be so refreshing and create so much joy. And you’d be giving some parents a little break at the same time.
3 – Take a breath.
Meditate, take a nap, pray (if that’s part of your life), or do some breathing exercises. My personal favorite when it comes to breathing exercises is either to do some 4-4-8s (inhale through the nose for 4, hold for 4, and exhale through the mouth for 8) or to engage in some breath prayers (a form of combining breath work with praying).