happiness
Happiness, defined; things that help you find happiness, keep it, and share it with others.
New Year. New Me. New Start.
New Year. New Me. Fresh Start. Or that is how the saying goes. I, like many others, join the same cult every year only to disappoint ourselves within a short frame of time. Whether it be a day, a week, a month. I envy those who stick to their new perspective and outlook on life and get on with what they want to do. They succeed, and to those on the outside looking in, it seems effortless. This in turn leads me into telling myself off, getting annoyed and frustrated at my own lack of motivation and drive, and ultimately giving up on any goals and wishes I had when the New Year began. I fail. Every. Year.
By RaeOfSunshine5 years ago in Motivation
Here's to Being Happy
As an opportunity slips through your fingers, it is often easy to forget the many others sitting just beside you, waiting to be taken. 2020 had these opportunities passed through many hands, and as the new year calls an end to its first month, I am finally grasping hold and taking strides for the future.
By Amba Kelly5 years ago in Motivation
Bravely Writing All I Couldn't Say Before. Top Story - February 2021.
Hey You, When I was a teenager, I wasn’t crazy about myself. If you’ve ever been a teenager, you can probably relate. Why did you hate yourself? For me, I detested how shy I was. I loathed how I found it so difficult to speak my mind. I was so jealous of all the people who, I believed, had such an easy time being confidently themselves while the words I wanted to speak were hopelessly trapped in my chest, squished down behind an awkward giggle and over-eager smile.
By Sara Rose5 years ago in Motivation
Being Present
I remember seeing Watchmen in theatres back in 2009, and connecting with the character who was meant to be the least relatable. Dr. Manhattan was a near omnipotent figure who saw time differently than everyone around him. He could simultaneously see the past, present and future.
By Cadeem Lalor5 years ago in Motivation
Why you need a guilty pleasure
The definition of a guilty pleasure is something that one enjoys despite the feeling that it is not generally held in high regard. But it can really mean anything to anyone. What one person thinks is the smartest show to watch can seem ridiculous to someone else. Though, isn't that what is great about the world. Everyone has the right to like or make whatever they want and whatever brings you joy. Whatever it is that you enjoy there is a community out there in the world for that, or mostly anything, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.
By Talara Nolan5 years ago in Motivation
How to Be More Organized and the Challenges of Chaos Theory
When I was younger, I found myself often engaging in a classic exchange between parent and child. My mother would knock, come into my room, and perform a brief thirty-second inspection; at which time she would label my domicile as a garbage heap or a toxic waste site. My mother would then place the demand upon me that I needed to clean my room. And honestly, I really couldn’t argue with her about this particular observation about my room. After looking at the toys on the floor, magazines and books on my desk, and piles of laundry for months on end that I told myself that some type of cleaning plan needed to be implemented.
By William Gold5 years ago in Motivation
The Pursuit of Laziness
For 2021, I decided to be lazy and selfish. As a mental health therapist and small business owner, “lazy” and “selfish” are the antithesis of how I’d normally measure success, but as 2020 drew to a close, they were exactly the anti-virtues that I needed to survive.
By R.A. Anderson5 years ago in Motivation
My friend
Fresh start. Reset. Start again. Do better. Be better. You be better. You get better. Then you fail. Fresh start. Start again. Don't wait for a year to go by to allow yourself to start again. If you're not happy where you are or how you are, allow yourself to identify what could make you happier. Allow yourself to not care about what others think. Allow yourself to love yourself. To be happy with yourself. My new year resolution is to be happy with myself and to love myself. By loving what I'm doing. By being what I am supposed to be. By loving me I can allow myself to love others. By being happy with me, I can be happy around others. My 2021 resolution is all about me, about doing what makes me happy, and about getting the fresh start. The fresh start of a journey of loving myself, and being happy. I felt like I was being influenced by exterior factors, so I started meditation and I found out that I am actually a vegan. I had the thought before, but I never allowed myself to think about it in essence, allways denying myself. I allready knew I love animals and life, I just didn't allow myself to make the connection. I want 2021 to be the year where I stop denying myself. To be the year I listen to myself, even if sometimes the thoughts are crazy. But life isn't supposed to be mundane and predictable and safe. Life is supposed to be about emotions, and experience and about feeling good. As far as I know I only get one chance to ride this body in this life, so my resolution is to make the most of the chance that I've been given and to make it a pleasurable, or at least interesting journey. In my quest of feeling good I realised that I need to improve my body health as well as my mind health. As a resolution I am working everyday to improve both of the aspects I identified problems with. I know I will allways feel better after I go for a run in the park, while listening to my favourite music. I don't even try to set any goals, like distance, or time. I just go for a run for the feeling of it. For the feeling of being alive, and for the knowledge that is also improving my body and my mind. What a beautiful and rewarding activity. I will not make a plan. I will not say "I have to run everyday". Instead I will just listen to my body. I remember a quote from my school that was written on a wall. It said "mens sana in corpore sano", which means healthy mind in a healthy body. So easy to remember. So easy to apply. So easy to understand. Sometimes I like to imagine how happy I will be when I ll get my body where it wants to be, and it's beautiful. I also realised that I like to write. And that I like to think about what to write. I am learning that writing can't be bad or good. Writing is about me. Writing is about making myself feel good about what I'm writing. And I don't need any motivation to do any of those things, because I like to do them, and they make me feel better. And, as I said, my resolution is to feel better. We're living in uncertain times, so let's get better and happier, and maybe things will change for the better.
By Adrian Nitu5 years ago in Motivation
The road to happiness within myself
The encouraging words of ‘self improvement’, well this is quite a phrase I have struggled with for a long time. The words self improvement goes into how one feels about themselves, for health and appearance reasons. Social media has distorted my form of self-image and what the ideal form of success with identity truely is. I look in the mirror and still see flaws, of course there are good days and bad days but am never truely content with what I see. My weight has fluctuated dramatically and no matter what weight I had reached, whether big or small I have never been content. The first thing I realised was constantly comparing myself to the images I see on Instagram and asking myself why I don’t look that certain way. This is where I went wrong, everyone’s bodies are different and the main take from it is no matter if I had the same diet and exercise of that Instagram model, my body still wouldn’t look the same as theirs. I unfollowed all these influencers that promoted unachievability and had started following the ones who had promoted acceptance and health. My favourite kind were the girls that promoted different body poses to show the Instagram vs reality versions. I have realised that Self -improvement is not trying to reach the same bodies as other girls I ‘admire’ and want to look like but rather what I can improve outside and myself. I no longer strive for the ‘perfect body’ I view on social media and you know what, to me, that is the greatest self-improvement for me. On another note, exercise is a positive approach for me. I used to exercise for weight loss and the weight on the scale to go down. This form of thinking is very negative and enabled me to go down a drastic road of unhappiness. The moment I realised exercise makes me feel good and have better mental health was the day my life and view on myself had changed forever, for the better of course. Whether it’s going on a run outdoors or kayaking I am taking in nature and it barely feels like exercise but rather grounding and calming. The crisp air that surrounds me allows me to appreciate the sights seen and enables me to feel fulfilled. There is so much beauty in the world and sometimes people are too engulfed in the basis of life that no one takes a step back and appreciates the beauty that encapsulates our world. The moment I stopped focusing on silly things for example, that stupid thing that keeps playing in the back of my head but rather thinking “you were brave enough to even take part in that event” unconditional positive said to yourself can greatly improve your mind and how you view yourself. The beauty of being self-reflective has allowed me to know where I can improve, rather than cringe at the silly thing I did, everything that happens in life is a lesson or a gift and realising thing helped my mental health for the greater. Self-identity is a major concept in a persons life, may be even the whole encompass of a person. The realisation that every individual is unique and amazing in their own way makes the world such a beautiful place and knowing that every individual was brought into the world for a reason makes me extremely cheerful and I hope that one day I can make a change for many people’s lives just by a compliment that would boost their day, because at the end of the day making people happy is rewarding for me. That being said, I am still on the road to improving my self-identity but I am grateful for how far I have come reflecting back one to three years and am excited to see what the future holds.
By Sophia Daher5 years ago in Motivation
FRESH START!
The end of last year, I impulsively decided a big change in my life. I booked a flight and gave myself just enough time to notify my real estate agent that I would be leaving in 2 weeks' time. I decided to leave the hustle of Sydney and moved to a quiet town around Launceston. I took a leap of faith with the minimal saving I had left (thanks to joblessness during Covid). A very fresh start indeed!
By Nashi Pear5 years ago in Motivation
Finding the way
“Surely it can’t be”, thought Alicia as she held her breath whilst scratching off the last bit of silver to reveal the picture underneath. She blinked, looked again, then laughed bitterly as she tossed the scratchie onto the table. “Just my luck” she said out loud, grabbing her coat and backpack on the way out. She left behind the little piece of cardboard, with the three matching cupcakes and the $20,000 designated prize amount printed in the winner’s square.
By Zoe H5 years ago in Motivation
March to the beat of your drum.
I started in 2021 with a challenge unlike any I have had before in 29 years. In the short time since, I have had to learn to redo all of the regular activities that brought meaning to my day, and I have to give up those that were not feasible, such as toting around open containers of my favorite snacks. Giving up my regular commute to the fridge and work vending machines has shaved off a few pounds, but giving up my dog walks took a heavy toll on my relationship with my pup. What I have traded off in loss of some independence I have learned to substitute with mindfulness, however. I fractured my left 5th metatarsal and am now bound to a crutch and boot for some time this year. The doctor described it as a “funny ho-ho ha-ha” kind of fracture that he’d like to heal noninvasively. While the road to recovery is still early in its stages, and I may be moving considerably slower than what I have been used to, I am resolved to modify my expectations not to be put down by this challenge and grow as I learn to navigate this new form.
By Hector Cardenas5 years ago in Motivation
