I Felt So Much Happier When I Did This One Simple Thing Each Day

The way we react to what goes on around us has the profound ability to throw us completely off our day. 

We look for answers in how we evaluate what happens.

Could I have said, or done anything to make that situation better?

If I look for the bad, does the bad find me?

How can I inject more positivity into my life?

I want to preface this topic by asking you to take a deep breath.

It is in the power of the breath that you can find your moment, and sink into the present fully.

Be happier.

Starting today. 

The Days Used To Hit Me Like A Bus

I sometimes reflect on the past, and how I used to view days.

Each one felt like I was stuck on a conveyor belt, and I’d wake up and look for annoyances.

I didn’t even know I was doing it until I started to feel a constant frown etched upon my forehead.

To say I felt as though I was climbing uphill is an understatement, but it’s also a fact. Everything I did felt so heavy. 

I had a long day at work, followed by not prioritizing my relationships, followed by not taking proper care of myself.

It all started to add up and heap together.

I could feel the anxiety grow within me, especially when I used to think about what the next day would bring.

More difficulty?

More misery?

More reasons to be angry with the world?

It wasn’t pleasant.

Grinding Into Life

Well, we have to, don’t we?

Responsibilities, jobs; what people expect from you.

I used to complain, because I felt like I was doing it all, and no good feeling was coming back to me.

Why am I making sure my day is so ironed out, if the day can’t even give me back some goodness?

That was half my problem. I was expecting goodness to show up at my door with a big sign on it that said, “Goodness!”

And I was actually resentful that it wasn’t doing that. 

Searching For Happiness

Another mistake I made was to try and search for happiness. 

I was looking for a stranger in the street to pass me by and smile at me, so I felt part of something – that human connection.

It felt nice when people did, but not everybody did.

So along came the anger again.

Well! That was rude! A smile wouldn’t hurt, I thought. 

I think the common mistake people make is searching for happiness, like it’s a set of keys lost down the back of the couch. 

There’s no eureka moment. You don’t find it. Instead, happiness is a state of mind that you will meet only when you invite other concepts to your life. 

I Needed A Thing

It was painfully obvious that I needed a thing. 

My life was great, and I had a lot going for me, but that thing was missing.

Not knowing what that was, left me thinking that I’d never feel positive, until one morning at my local coffee shop.

I was late to work, I ran in to grab my order, and on my way out, I held the door open for a very, very pregnant woman who looked absolutely exhausted.

“Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I really appreciate it.” 

She smiled and came through the door.

It was no skin off my nose, I was just being polite and now letting the door shut in her face, but it clearly meant a great deal to her. 

“No problem,” I replied. 

That day, my thing was born. 

And hey, maybe her baby was, too!

I Did A Thing!

It dawned on me that in that moment I saw how thankful the woman was, that thankfulness was something I rarely practiced. 

I’m not rude – far from it. I thank people if they have done something for me, but did I ever practice the art of gratitude?

Never!

That day was the day it all changed. 

I started to think about the little things that I could be thankful for that I’d usually not pay any attention to.

Frequently, some might say too frequently, I would only throw my focus toward pain or setbacks.

Not only would my focus be thrown, but so would my energy.

No wonder I had nothing left to be positive for. 

So – back to my thing. 

I wanted life to give to me what it always gave to me, but instead of ignoring 90 per cent of it, I started to comb it for the good.

And this was where I started to really taste that morning coffee.

I’d notice how it physically woke me up in the morning, but I rarely if at all, paused to savor the taste.

It became the first thing I showed gratitude for, and became the conscious silver lining to my early mornings. 

The Gift Gratitude Gave Me 

Although it didn’t immediately make a difference, after a week or two, my brain got used to spotting things to be grateful for. 

Within that time frame, I’d grown to look up more.

I started to make shapes out of the clouds that passed by like I did when I was a kid.

It made me smile knowing I was just being mindful and in the moment, so right there, two things to be grateful for:

Fun clouds in the shape of the Titanic, and the present moment. 

Positivity started to grow inside me, like I’d planted a seed and was actually watering it. 

It felt good to feel good, and that positive seemed to clear away the dark clouds of anger and moodiness I had gotten used to carrying around with me. 

The quality of my energy changed, and my bad days became easier to manage and put a positive spin on.

Oh well, I get another chance tomorrow. 

Never mind. It was a bad day, not a bad life. 

A good sleep is what I need.

It felt like magic, but it was just a shift in perception. 

That flow of energy was a much leaner mind and body river than the one I’d clogged up before with debris of negativity, that’s for sure. 

Less Worrier, More Warrier

Before long, I started to see problems as all having a solution, rather than seeing the problem and giving up at the point where that’s all I’d previously seen.

I saw what was, and I worked with it, and it was just such a refreshing mindset to have.

It meant I could start to achieve the bigger things in my life.

I always wanted to put together a good hiking trail for myself on the weekends, but I never sat and looked on the map to plot one out.

Instead, I spent weekend after weekend just aimlessly walking a circuit that I stopped enjoying months, if not years ago. 

A lot of refusing to change is the underlying fear that what you change may end up being worse than what you originally had.

That in itself creates stress – I mean – assumption is a real jug of oil on any fire of fear. 

It was time I used my gratitude to open doors, instead of allowing fear to close them. 

Gratitude helped me plot that new route.

It helped me see color, and allowed me to be in the moment without judging it, or worrying about what I had to do next. 

Gratitude made me so much happier, and I think it can do the same for you.