How to find true happiness, pt. 2: Getting over the bumps
I’m sorry it took so long to update this blog with a new post. If you didn’t know, I was traveling across the Mediterranean for a few weeks. It was a wonderful experience that left me with a lot to think about in terms of priorities.
Anyway, today I wanted to continue on my previous post about finding true happiness (or attempting to). Today’s post, “Getting Over the Bumps,” comes partly because I had been struggling with staying positive in the past week. A few months ago, I injured my back. Since I returned from Europe, I started physical therapy. A week ago, I further injured myself by seriously spraining my ankle, leaving me unable to walk effectively. Being under self-placed house arrest, I tried to focus on the positives to turn my negative situation into something I could work with. I think this is also the key to finding true happiness from the inside out.
1.) Stop Complaining
Bad things happen. Often, these bad things are out of our control. Even if a negative situation arises from our own doing, we are unable to travel back in time (for now) to erase them. What are we left with? The natural reaction is to complain. For example, I very much wanted to say out loud, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t gone to that house party where I tripped down that step.” But I tried not to. Why? Because negative thoughts fester inside and only make things worse. So the first step in getting over the bumps is to simply stop complaining.
2.) Focus on the Positives
For the first two days, I was nearly bedridden (or couch-ridden, to be more specific). Being a naturally restless person, I tried to use the situation to benefit myself. Normally easily distracted, immobility forced me to focus on one thing at a time. As a writer, I was forced to sit and write without having the temptation of getting up to do other things. I studied Italian, read philosophy and basically took care of myself. I got a lot of needed work done, and I spent very little time outside partying (read: saved a ton of money). Additionally, being temporarily handicapped made me recognize how lucky I was to be so zippy and active in the past. An elderly neighbor said to me, “Now you know what it’s like to be old like us!” And, in a small way, I did welcome this new perspective. Also, it was convenient that I was already seeing a physical therapist.
3.) Be Grateful for What You Have
I am elated with each step of improvement. During the second day, I was able to shower. Something this simple, a task I often took for granted, became an accomplishment. And when I get better, I’ll remember how hard it was to function now, and be grateful for the mobility I’ll have later. I also tried to avoid the word “want.”
These are just a few things I found very helpful in turning the energy within myself into a positive one. It’s easy to be negative, with all the horrible things going on in the world, but if you want life to be more bearable, it’s in your best interest to buck up.
