Blogging Challenge Day 13 | 5 Ways I Learned To Be Happy (No Matter The Circumstances)

Like everybody else, I began this year on a very positive note. I hoped for a better year than I had had in 2017. I had a plan that I laid out and I was determined to accomplish a lot of what was on my 2018 list. I once heard someone say that sometimes you plan and it doesn't work out not because you haven't put in enough effort but because God has other plans for you. So the first three months of 2018 were completely upside down for me. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I won't lie to you and tell you that I carried on happy in spite of everything that wasn't working. I struggled to smile, to wake up in the morning, to face my day, to be around people. However, I was determined to find lasting happiness. I wanted to find a way that would ensure that I remained happy even when life seemed to be going against me.

I did my research and tried out a few things and found the 5 ways listed below that I have now been putting into practice for the last four or so months and they have helped me to be happy no matter what the circumstances may be.

1. Entrust my life to God and let Him lead me to my destiny
The moment I stopped trying to control every aspect of my life and put my trust in God, I found a lasting joy that was unshakeable. I started constantly reminding myself that anything that happens, is happening for my own good and will lead me where God wants me to be and whatever doesn't seem to work out might be God's way of protecting me from something horrible.

2. Live my life for me and not for other people
It's detrimental trying to you live your life trying to please other people at the expense of your own happiness. I was a victim of people-pleasing but I chose to turn this around and simply live my life for me. I make my decisions based on my end goal and not on what others will think of me and I have found this leaves me feeling much more fulfilled. This also means that I take the time to do those things that I enjoy or simply to rest without feeling guilty.

3. Doing things for others
Putting myself out there to be of service to others helps me focus more on the needs of others than on what might not be going right in my life.

4. Avoid overthinking or replaying past mistakes
In the past, I noticed that my control-freak/perfectionism tendencies had started affecting my overall happiness. Instead of letting the past go and focusing on the here and now, I would replay past events especially those that I thought were unsatisfactory and then try and see how I should have handled those situations better. Most of the time, whatever I thought was unsatisfactory was so in other people's eyes and not necessarily in mine. But leaving the past in the past and really living in the present has helped to keep me happy.

5.Being in-charge of my own happiness
I used to blame others for taking away my happiness. That was until I realised that my happiness was in my hands and not in the hands of others. Bearing this in mind, I'm now more careful about who I let into my inner circle and what I internalise when I have conversations with people. I actively seek out to ensure that my joy isn't taken away by any person or circumstances.

Thank you for stopping by.