Happiness is an Inside Job

“Most folks are as happy as they make their minds to be.” -Abraham Lincoln

I love this quote because it is so true! When I find myself feeling upset, angry, or frustrated, I try to stop and ask myself why I’m feeling this particular way. Usually I realize that there is no reason I need to be feeling that way. It just destroys my progress for the day and makes me feel even worse, because I lost out on my day.

Happiness is a state of mind. You have the choice to change how you feel. YOU are in control of your happiness, nobody else.

There are many ways to change your state of mind in every situation. One of my favorite ways to uplift myself is to get moving. A few examples are to simply standup and raise your arms above your head, do a few jumping jacks, stretch, take a walk in the yard, enjoy a moment with nature. These types of exercises are a great way to get your mind in the habit of correcting a bad emotion. It took a few days of practice for me to really get my mind set on creating this habit for myself.

One of the best moments I have utilizing the motion of putting your hands in the air, was when my sister was having a breakdown. Now I know this might not seem like a good moment, but it turned out well. It was her wedding day, she was feeling upset and sad over a particular topic, and there were a few of us trying to calm her down and redirect her away from the pain she was experiencing.

So, I took my own practice and decided to apply it to her.

I said, “Krista! Stand up!”
She looked at me with a huge amount of confusion
I responded, “Just do it.”
She trusted me, and followed my instructions. That simple movement started to diminish her tears. We weren’t done yet though. While standing in a room full of people who were now looking I said, “Throw your hands in the air!”
“What?” She was her first response to this direction.
I flung my hands up and told her to follow my lead. She did, and instantly started cracking up laughing, and wondered what the heck she was doing in front of all her guests. Her state of mind was changed in that instant and she began to regain focus on the present and focused on herself again.

Just the simple act of switching your posture through physical action, can change your mental state of mind. You just have to be able to recognize when you are in a slump and know that you can get out of it. Achieving a positive state of mind can be simple. There a few things that you can do today to begin improving your state of mind.

Stay motivated:
Give yourself a challenge. It could be large or small. Achieving goals will increase confidence in yourself and boost your mood. I find that I become my happier self just by hitting small goals, like keeping up with this blog.

Choose the people around you wisely:
Start to filter out the toxic people in your life, or limit your time with them. The more positive people you have around the happier you will be. I am lucky to have a multitude of people who are supporting me, my art and this blog.

Stop comparing yourself:
This is a big personal challenge for me. I am constantly coming across beautiful women on social media, music videos, events, and I put myself down instantly because I don’t feel “pretty” like them. But, realize everyone has their own beauty in different ways. You can’t compare yourself to anyone else because we are all unique. This is hard in the social media world, so try and remember that we all share the highlights more than we do the normal days.

Have a purpose:
Purpose in life can be our guiding light through the darkest moments. Everyone is on the planet for a reason. Find YOUR purpose!

Journal:
Take time to reflect on your own self. Write down your happy, sad, frustrating moments and learn how to see patterns in your ways of thinking and change them. This can also be a great way to calm your mind. Writing these things down let’s get out all of that energy on to paper and out of our minds.

Exercise:
This is vital to a great state of mind. Exercising daily, even if it’s just a short walk around the block, can positively impact serotonin levels in your brain. Raising your levels of serotonin boosts your mood and overall sense of well-being

There are many other ways to increase your state of mind, but these are just a few examples that I currently use, and have noticed a dramatic difference in myself. Thank you for joining me on this post, and if you could, at this moment, with the most outrageous energy that you can muster up, stand up and throw your hands up in the air and release that energy!

What helps you when having feelings of sadness or frustration?
Would love to get new perspectives!