Happiness Comes From Movement, Not From Inertia
We all want the day to come when we can close our eyes, take a deep breath and feel a pleasant feeling of well-being at the thought that in our body, in addition to blood, happiness also flows. Who doesn’t like to feel good and feel happiness on their skin?
The problem is that happiness doesn’t come overnight, like a miracle. Being happy is more than just hoping and adapting; it’s about deciding, acting and using your values and motivation to build something solid. Happiness is an inner condition. Here is the secret.
The trap of inactivity
We can all think we are unlucky, because happiness does not enter our lives and it is equally common to ask ourselves: “when will I be happy?”. The fact is that happiness does not depend on time, external conditions or luck. It depends on what we do to achieve it.
According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD in Psychology and researcher, 50% of our ability to be happy is influenced by genetic factors, 10% by external factors and 40% by what we do or think. In this sense, our thoughts and actions carry 4 times greater weight than what we cannot control. We have no excuse, therefore, to work on our happiness.
If we are not happy with how we live, things will not change on their own, we must act. Complaining is never the remedy or the solution to achieve well-being, it is simply the trap that leads to apathy and malaise.
This tempting inactivity or inertia, to which we are well accustomed, is not positive. There are no excuses: if we want to be happy, we must act. Are we really convinced that by continuing to act in the way that already makes us feel bad things will change and we will be able to be happy? Nothing has changed so far, so why keep being so blind?
What does it mean to be happy?
As we have seen, to be happy, we must learn to control our thoughts. Among these, what determines and influences our mood the most is our personal concept of happiness.
What is happiness for us? What is happiness for me? What is happiness for others? These are general questions, but we often don’t ask them seriously. But if we don’t, how can we tell when we are happy? Even if we get the answer wrong, it is at least necessary to ask ourselves the question.
Once the question is asked, several ideas must be taken into consideration, such as that happiness is not what we feel when we buy a car or a house; in other words, it has nothing to do with material things. It is true that material things give a pleasant feeling, but it is still materialistic. It is not about quantity, but about quality.
Happiness is not a smile, even if the smile helps to build it. Happiness is not even living without worries, but facing reality and building what makes us feel good, without hurting others, without considering them a means or a tool.
If you want happiness in your life, make decisions
It is not enough to want to be happy, you also have to do something to become happy. This is the most important aspect. Because happiness depends on us, on what we think, on what we do, on how we feel and, ultimately, on our decisions. It is our will in motion.
We are the ones who choose whether to be the protagonists of our life or, on the contrary, to stay and observe it as spectators. In the first case we would approach well-being, in the second, the role of victims. It all depends on us. The decisions we make leave traces that create a path.
We cannot forget that happiness requires courage, the courage to face one’s fears, those that only increase uncertainty. We can’t even be happy if we believe we don’t deserve it, so it’s very important to believe in this possibility. Because happiness is an attitude, a condition that we cultivate within ourselves, in motion.
