Happiness improves the mind, body and soul

Every person is born with the ability to smile or the chance to be happy and have a glorious prosperous life, filled with plenty of opportunities whether they are big or small. Maybe you show teeth? Or possibly just a grin? Either way, by smiling you are showing the happiness from within. Some may say that it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown. Given this information, people should easily be able to smile more often. So why is it that so many people look as though they are on a roller coaster that only goes down? Therefore, I have decided to write to the unhappy souls, or to whomever it may please, the importance of happiness and how to get “unstuck.”

The feeling of happiness comes in several waves. Having affection for someone, passion for a hobby, caring for your body by exercising and demonstrating healthy habits, having a positive outlook on life, practising acts of kindness regularly and, most importantly, loving yourself. Although it sounds easy, retaining happiness can become a complicated task when you’ve felt at loss for someone, yourself or even your hope and faith. It may seem as though you are stuck. In the midst of pretending you’re OK and breaking out the fake smiles and fake laughs, you try to please those around you by being polite and very considerate. You keep trying every day, putting your worries behind you, yet they are there and you wear them like a chip on the shoulder. This is the result to your unhappy and insecure state of mind. And then the phrase “everything’s fine, really I’m fine” is spoken and that’s where it all begins. The lying. The hard truth is causing you to show a reflection of the person you no longer know.

We’ve all been there. That small crack in the sidewalk that has been stepped on by many and continues to deteriorate until suddenly it becomes covered by the thickness of snow or the fixation of fresh concrete. Life is very similar to the damaged cracks of a sidewalk. They definitely need repair from time to time, but shall be considered firm and in decent condition until then. As we all have experienced, life comes with its challenges and proves to be quite the journey. Through our years, it can slowly start to eat away our joy due to its powerful demands. Therefore, throughout every person’s chosen path it’s easy to get lost on the way, leading to unhappiness and uncertainties. It’s interesting, though, that many people forget when they’ve fallen on hard times, to look at the brighter side and make the best of each day. When people refuse to see the beauty of everyday life and instead soak themselves in their troubling misfortunes, it may lead them to suffer extreme sadness, clinical depression or, even worse, suicide. Knowing this, it is very important to constantly have reminders of what you love, your ambitions, and who are you as a person and/or who you aspire to be.

In today’s society, it is very easy to get caught up in the glamour and satisfaction of earning money, but none of it matters if you don’t have bliss and contentment. Instead of counting our dollars, we should be counting our blessings. It is also very easy to lose touch with ourselves and because of this, we begin to resent the fact that we are lost and oblivious to where we belong. Although money is a strong contributor to society, true happiness has the greatest effect on people and the environment. Considering the fact that the majority of us have grown up living in a well-rooted country with a healthcare system in place and immediate assistance just a phone dial away, we should be extremely thankful. It is very easy to take advantage of the opportunities given to us, which whenever they appear we may simply not be appreciative and gracious towards them. These situations occur all the time and could be as small as accepting a compliment.

Often when thanking someone for complimenting us, we are polite but don’t take it to heart and realize how nice it actually was. No matter how many times someone has said we look beautiful, we don’t always believe that we truly are. Instead, we just say “thank you” and move on with our lives. This idea is followed by the statement of whether or not you have self-confidence, but it is very important to see the beauty in ourselves when relating to happiness. Many people are oblivious to the fact that they are beautiful inside and out, and sometimes hearing it from someone else can make us feel special and wanted. That is why it is exceedingly vital to show appreciation for yourself and who you are. Everyone should take a look in the mirror and see the beauty in themselves.

Happiness is not only about loving yourself and appreciating the little things in life, but it is also about doing what makes you feel best. As we all know, life gets tough along the way because we are too busy dealing with all the cracks on the sidewalk. We often allow our problems to interfere and we forget about the factors we highly depend on to keep us feeling cheerful and spirited. We must take time to do what makes us happy because (as we’ve all heard a million times) life is too short to waste on precious moments.

Achieving happiness may not be an easy task for some, as I have previously stated, but there are ways to work around your inner blues and to improve the quality of your lifestyle. By having a positive outlook on life you are not only influencing others to do the same, but you are demonstrating a good quality of life for yourself. This may include exercising and practicing healthy habits. In fact, recent studies have shown that people who exercise regularly release a higher amount of endorphins which relieve your perception of pain in the brain and also trigger a positive feeling that will not only improve your physical health, but your mental stability as well. An abundance of people can admit, it is difficult to get a kick start on the crucial habits you are trying to get rid of or to begin practising. But, it is important that we each learn and adapt to a broad perspective that revolves around the thought: “What consumes your mind controls your life.” As a society, we tend to live in the confines of our comfort zone; we need to break free of that and begin living a healthier, impactful life which involves inner happiness.

In addition, practising acts of kindness regularly will improve the quality of someone else’s life as well as your own. We often forget to follow up on calling an old friend or smiling at a stranger on the street. However, it’s these small details that go a long way and make a person’s day that much brighter. People tend to forget how it feels to reminisce on a part of their day that made them feel special and then to pay it forward once more. After all, it is almost impossible to tell how a person is feeling (other than by their facial expression), to completely understand what is happening in their life. As we all might have heard, “Put yourself in someone else’s shoes and walk around in them.” So by implementing a good deed you could be the hero to their day. It is also essential to remember that when practising acts of kindness, it is not about being selfless, but rather the fact that doing good things for others is naturally benefitting to do.

I hope everyone will take a valid piece of information from this with them and reflect on how they could improve their lifestyle. Dedicating yourself to a new-found hobby, staying away from bad habits, practising acts of kindness and, lastly, loving yourself and others will lead to having a positive outlook on life. I wish that everyone could see the beauty in themselves and appreciate how fortunate we are to have numerous opportunities spread out before us. Because after all, as people, we all deserve the right to be happy. So how about that smile?

Written by Tessa R. Adamski