TRULY HAPPY PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO STARE IN THE MIRROR AND TELL THEMSELVES THEY ARE

“I am strong”. “I am capable”. “I am impactful”. “I deserve respect”.

Sound familiar? What people are really doing when they repeat mantras and affirmations in the mirror are distracting themselves from the shortcomings that they have. They repeat “I am happy” over and over again in the mirror, until they get a short-term, not very long lasting feeling that comes with it, and carry on with their day with an extremely false and inflated sense of self worth. They are simply trying to convince themselves of something that they’re not.

This strategy takes minimal effort, almost no self-examination, and gains no ground on becoming a happy person.

When in reality, those who repeat “I am happy” into the mirror every morning probably aren’t that happy at all.

I have been asking myself this question a little bit more recently. “What if I’m not happy? What happens then?” Obviously, happiness is a great state to live in. A upbeat and joyful outlook on life is awesome, and when we do feel that way, we feel awesome too. However, I don’t think we are supposed to feel happy all the time, and trying to convince ourselves we are, when we are not, causes some problems.

Discomfort, unhappiness, and stress cause us to move. We get things done when we are under a deadline, we work to fix fractured relationships with people we are about, when feel feel stress, we spring into action in order to alleviate it.

So after some thinking, I came to know that unhappiness just means I need to move. I need to get outside, I need to call a friend, go workout, or do something in order to feel better. Feeling better and living in a state of happiness comes from action, real, tangible action. So being unhappy not only is okay and can be fixed, but has the potential to only last a short period of time if we do the right thing.

Truly happy people, however, recognize that they’re flawed, have moments of unhappiness, see their shortcomings and faults, and have countless bad days. The difference is they just keep moving and continue to solve the problems that make them happy. They ask the tough questions of themselves, truly do the work it takes to make those parts of themselves just a little better, and quit trying so hard to be perfect all the time. And if they aren’t, it’s not a day wrecker, it’s just part of life.

Cheers,
Corey Kispert