Happiness & Setbacks

In the pursuit of happiness or contentment, one is bound to encounter setbacks. This can be in the form of someone's words being hurtful, the weather affecting our mood, life throwing a curve ball, etc. While it's hard to maintain a positive mental attitude during these times, we should try to focus less on what we can't control and more on what we can.

For example, today while I was swimming, for the first time in at least two years, I found that while a torn muscle in my leg had mostly healed, it was quite painful to try and kick for the front crawl. I think it caused enough pain that I worried the lifeguard with my expression! I could have dwelt on this fact all day, but instead, I finished out my half hour swim (doing the side stroke instead), and continued with my day.

Now I'm not always that composed. I have days that I wallow in sadness, self-pity, or even give in to depression. It happens. What's important is to not to stay there.

I realize that it's not that easy for everyone. Each individual is unique. You just need to find what works for you, whether it's meditation, starting up an exercise routine, taking more walks, whatever it takes to help boost your mood!

Getting back to the point though: instead of focusing on what is out of our control or what we can't control, focus on what you can control. Your boss yelled at you. You can't control their actions, but you can control your response. You can control not yelling back. You can control not taking it personally. You can control whether or not you remain at said job (obviously depending on the circumstances.

Better example: you missed your alarm and are late for work. You can either freak out about it, or you can remain calm, call your job, explain what happened, go into work, and just have a normal, or even potentially good day.

I for one am a firm believer in things happening for a reason. What those reasons are, half the time remain unknown to me, other times they are clearer. As I stated, I'm still learning too. Like I said, I have bad days...more than I'd like to have, but that's the point of this blog! To write down what I learn, how I interpret that and (maybe) get feedback and conversation from it from others who are also pursuing a quality lifetime.

So the next time you're having a rough day, try to take a step back and think about what you can and can't control. Try to put the situation into perspective: is it worth getting upset about? And then there are the legitimate times that you just need to be upset to get back on track to happiness and/or contentment.

Till the next time!