Updated: May 6, 2020
I believe happy people are happy because they are at peace and have an acceptance of their life and their gifts, however small they may be.
They are ok with the burdens that they have to carry which we all have, only some of us have not made peace with them and fight them on a regular basis. Or we question the things that are difficult in our lives, and that causes us constant angst.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
That’s your basic serenity prayer.
I posit that serenity is where happiness, success, strength lies for all of us.
But of course, one has to be unsettled or unhappy or moved to action somehow, to attain success and change the world for the better and that goes against the idea of serenity.
But does it? I think not, a basic sense of serenity is very important in order to make progress. There are some things in life you have to become very comfortable with in order to be able to move forward. No matter what your circumstances I believe everyone can make progress.
You can’t change things like your parents, your past, your current situations that are unchangeable, like an unwell spouse or a child that has some issues or your own ill health, these are the things you can not change and can not ignore and can not abandon or shake. They are just there and you have to make peace with them.
Once you have a handle on these basics then you can do better at focusing on your future not in spite of them but with them. Think of it as choosing not to beat a dead horse or choosing not to bang your head against a brick wall.
If you’re feeling adrift or angry or agitated.
I recommend my favorite life hack.
The list!
Step 1
Make a list of all the things that are making you feel that way, incidents, people, factors (maybe something in your house or workplace). Writing things down is a clarifying activity. It is proven to clear up the cobwebs of our jumbled thoughts.
Step 2
Look at which things make you mad but you can’t change.
Put a cross next to it.
Step 3
Look at which ones you can control and put a checkmark next to it.
Step 4
Then get to work on your checkmark list and put to rest the list that has crosses on it.
Sometimes the best you can do is to focus on the things you can do versus the things you can’t do.
We get willful about the two things we have no control over and obsess about them while we could be pouring our energy into the twenty things we can do right away to massively improve our lives right away.
So let’s do that. Let’s get a handle on the things we can do!
Action is the important thing here. Action empowers us no matter how hard things are.
Step 5
And then please please please reward yourself for not wallowing in sadness and powerlessness, go watch that show read that book mindfully. Tell yourself that you are being rewarded for taking back your power.
This reinforces that good behavior.
I hope this makes sense.
My blog is usually about what is front and center for me and the things I am dealing with currently.
So please know that all the advice I give or suggestions I make are tried and tested and my way of sharing some useful information and advice and life hacks.
So let’s get cracking on that list. We’ll get through this quarantine and the cabin fever and the groundhog day and all of that, trust me better days are ahead.
Sending you love and light
Hawra
