As The Happiness Warrior, I believe that no matter what’s happening around us we have the power from within to control our thoughts and impulses. Life has a way of giving us challenges and how we carry on with grace and dignity is how we define our lives. We often see examples of this in leadership and in our communities. People who we admire that inspire confidence and strength. We see people who are always able to thrive and help others during times of chaos and turmoil. We can observe examples of those who we admire for their ability to survive and their purpose in even the most difficult situations.

These are the lives we all can lead if we can find the courage to work on ourselves, increase self-awareness, and create the lives we deserve. Lives with a greater feeling of happiness and emotional balance. Every endeavor and obstacle met with resilience and fortitude. These are the people who lead the way and often go unrecognized and unappreciated. They don’t need validation from others to know right for wrong. They take action when it makes sense to do so and stand back until needed.

Sometimes it seems like everywhere I go I see people struggling to feel happy and realize their potential. They tell us that they are happy but are terrified of revealing any vulnerability. They’ve let themselves down again and again and have let their self-created negative emotions tell their story and guide their narrative. They are victims by default and are terrified of looking within and discovering who they really are. They are angry for no reason, quick to react with emotion, and the first to shame others. These are our experiences from the past that we can relate to as individuals. Recognize, forgive, and move on. Only we can determine our ability to feel forgiveness and it’s healing powers.  

In my younger years I often felt out of place and imagining a better world that I’d wanted to create. Knowing I was different and creating my own playing field where revealing my truth and was continuously challenged. I struggled with my sexuality, read to many books, and learned to love time spent with myself.

My childhood dreams were always crushed by the reality of the world that I lived in. I was insecure and unsure of where I belonged. Yearning for a new life over a horizon that seemed too far to reach. I looked for thrills and had many dangerous friends, and life-threatening adventures. I created a cycle of destructive behaviors that left me blank and empty. I knew that there was more to life when at my lowest. A reckoning from that day on that only I had the power to change my life and be authentic to myself. I began to find emotional balance the day I decided to like myself. Slowly letting go of the simmering anger that had always been a part of my experience.  Never turning back and always looking forward to life. Every day a new adventure and a chance for enlightenment and redemption.

EMOTIONS ARE HABITS THAT GET OUT OF CONTROL

Too often we’re told that it’s just how we are or our genetics that influence how we feel about ourselves and interact with others. We can be told that we are rude and have no manners, or someone calls us stupid or inept. We begin to believe that things that we hear and absorb them into our consciousness. A cycle it started that starts to slowly spin. Diluting the best parts of ourselves with feelings of guilt and shame. Losing control of our self-directed thoughts and emotions.

Societal controls and influences can be daunting but when we learn to shift our mindset we can see more clearly how to rid of our minds of needless fear and doubt. We can adopt an attitude where we feel capable and learn to quiet the negative voices in our head. One step becomes a bigger step and healthy emotional habits will develop and grow. It’s just a matter of knowing that we are good enough to deserve better.

1.       Let go and destroy unhelpful thoughts and negative emotions. A worry is only created by our self-created anxiety. Most worries never happen, and the future takes care of itself. Be bold and maintain a ‘ready for anything’ mindset and let stress go and disappear. The past has already happened and look how things have turned out? Flow with the energy of the universe and be grateful for the even the smallest of good things. This will cause our spirit to grow more powerful with a rise in vibration. We never know what’s going to happen next, why not enjoy the journey and feel a sense of accomplishment when we realize that we are doing the best we can with our lives?

2.       Maintaining more balanced thoughts and emotions is the key to both managing and reducing anxiety. The trick is to realize that our thoughts aren’t always under control. Stating them aloud verbally is the first step to making them smaller and eventually removing them from our lives.
When feeling triggered its best to let the emotion rise, acknowledge it’s influence, and make it more insignificant. Identify and understand which types of thoughts have this effect and get them under control with self-awareness. Look back one day soon after and feel how ridiculous it seems in the present. Emotionally balanced people are adept at letting go of thoughts that intensify harmful self-created emotions.

3.       Understanding painful emotions and their impact on self-awareness and growth is the way to becoming happier with who we are accepting our circumstances. It’s important to understand that what we resist the most always persists in our lives until we are able to face them head on with clarity and an open mind. Karma is a philosophy that takes on new meaning when we realize that it’s completely self-directed. Do bad things and expect to forever chase happiness.  Bad things can happen to good people, but they are emotionally able to rise from the experience. They acquire wisdom and find new opportunities to find more gratitude and happiness. Pain is a signal of growth.

4.       Being able to set boundaries is a sign of emotional maturity and growth. It means that we are confident and understand our wants and desires. It helps others to set healthy boundaries for themselves and creates more honesty and respect. It might seem too hard to use our voices at first, but the first time is the most liberating. The emotional strength that comes when we give ourselves permission to show up for ourselves!

5.       Self-care is the root of all of our emotions and how we take care of ourselves is the foundation of our purpose and self-realization. Make the mind/body connection and realize that everything molecule in our body is connected to the others. An amazing machine that needs to be carefully tended to and operated. This is the key to a more peaceful and knowing existence. A place where stress and anxiety are carefully contained and measured.

Emotions can be tricky and lead us on the path to greater unhappiness and disconnect. They can also lift us and make us feel light and powerful. They can take us to places of great happiness as well as suffering. They are a part of us for as long as we’re alive and breathing. They can make us powerful beyond our dreams or cause us to crash and burn with intensity. They show us who we are and reveal our innermost thoughts and feelings. They make us vulnerable and authentic. Emotions are what makes us beautiful and human.

Eric North

IG  @TheHappinessWarrior1
www.thehappinesswarrior1.com