You might be surprised to hear that many people aren’t authentically happy.
Sure, they might have some happy feelings sometimes. However, deep down, much of the time they struggle with feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, and so much more.
Even so, most people don’t really let others know that they are struggling. When someone asks them how they’re doing, they smile, say “Great!” and keep it moving. But within, they aren’t super happy.
Have you ever just lay in bed at night and wondered about your life?
- What your purpose is?
- Why you feel so sad lately?
- What would make you happy?
These types of questions are fairly common. Part of life’s journey is trying to figure out your purpose and discover authentic joy. The good news is that you can find lasting joy with the right tools, attitude, and plenty of perseverance.
What Do You Believe?
Our beliefs are so important.
Do you realize that wherever you are currently in life is a correlation of your beliefs and actions from your past? If your thought life and beliefs were primarily negative, your circumstances today are probably more negative than you’d like.
If your thought life and beliefs were primarily positive, you’re probably feeling some joy in your life today.
This principle is called the Law of Attraction. Essentially, it means that whatever you put your focus on, you attract more of the same. Granted, it’s not an all or nothing thing. However, there is enough proof around that should help us become more curious.
What you think and believe affects your moods and actions every day.
If you sway toward the negative, it’s time to change to the positive. Learn to retrain your brain to be more positive and what will happen is that you will begin to attract more positive things into your life.
Take some time to gauge your thought life and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Just like a virus has the potential to harm a computer, negative thoughts have the potential to harm your life, so it’s important to take care of this issue.
Try to Enjoy the Journey
Sometimes things don’t go our way or trying times come, but we still have the ability to do our best to enjoy the journey.
Why is it one person can still smile and authentically feel happy when tough times come and another one can’t?
The former person has tapped into the realm of positive thinking and beliefs. They understand that tough times will come, and they’ve decided ahead of time to keep a positive perspective when they do.
Let the Past Go
You probably won’t find lasting joy if you keep living in the past.
The past is over and it’s time to learn from it and let it go. Let go of any guilt and allow old wounds to heal. You can have a clean slate any time you determine.
Today is a great day to bid adieu to negativity, regrets, fear, anger, etc. and embrace a new journey– a journey that you will enjoy regardless of what happens.
You may have to learn to let go. You may have been holding so tightly to your past that the emotions surrounding it are stuck to you like glue. It may take some time to retrain your brain from negative to positive, but if you’re persistent, it will happen.
Life is too short to be miserable day in and day out.
Enjoy the journey.
Do What Makes You Feel Happy
One of the toughest things for me to do when feeling sad, angry, frustrated, etc. is to get up and do something that might make me feel better.
I want to, but the motivation just isn’t there.
However, because I understand the principle and Law of Attraction, I make myself get up and do something that causes me to feel some joy. Even if it’s something as simple as playing with my dog, I raise my emotional vibration.
If you engage in some activities that make you feel happy, chances are you’ll tap into authentic joy more often.
You will get out from under those negative feelings more and more.
- Do you enjoy walking in the woods? Get out there and do it.
- Do you giggle like a kid when you hang out with your nephews and nieces? Make time to do that more often.
- Do you get a feeling of joy when you spend quality time with your partner? Then be sure that you do it frequently.
Life can get busy with work, chores, errands, and duties and those things do not always cultivate joy, so be sure that you are engaging in things that do.
You Can Find Lasting Joy – It Takes Time!
Please don’t think that you have to be happy ALL the time.
That’s not a realistic goal. However, you can cultivate higher levels of joy in your life, and that will feel great! Note that it takes time and effort. It may also take professional help if you’ve never really worked on past issues that tripped you up in some way.
So, don’t be afraid to reach out for help if need be. The time spent in therapy is usually well worth the investment.
Remember, you are worthy of experiencing so much joy. Smile and feel it more often.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published Aug 20, 2022 and has been updated to improve reader experience.
Photo by mellamed
