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We all have the same 24-hours in a day. It’s what we do with our moments, and how we dance with life, that makes all the difference.
 
Happy Thursday Friend,
 
I hope this week’s note finds you well. What is one highlight (big or small) you’ve had recently? If you feel like it, hit reply and share. It’s always a highlight for me to hear back from you. 😊

This week’s feature is one I wrote a few years ago, but I draw on it often. Along with sharing some strategies for re-setting when life gets hard, I share a bit on the biology of positivity. When we are going through challenges and don’t feel our best, it can be extra challenging to find our way back to feeling good. But, when we become more practiced at tapping into our inner resourcefulness, we can climb our way out of our stuck places quicker. I hope this week's topic is helpful and timely.

In this Week’s Featured Article (it's also posted below): 5 Strategies to Stop Delaying Your Happiness, I share 5 ways to get back on the path of feeling your best. If you’d rather view/listen to this week’s feature, you can access that by going to this week's Happiness Video (also posted below).

However the week unfolds Friend, may you see how amazing you are as you are, and love the life you are in.

🧡 Emily

Empowered Living Resource Corner: 

Helpful resources to enhance well-being and create lasting healthy habits.
 
Would you like to feel aligned in a life you love? Come check out my 'Fall in Love With Your Life, One Week at a Time' book, or explore the different E-Course offerings on my Love Your Life School. These resources are themed around creating new habits that will help you ride the storms of life feeling your best and re-setting when you fall off course (as we all do). It's not about feeling good all the time, it's about building your inner resourcefulness so you know you can and will journey through whatever life brings.

 
Weekly Happiness Video:

This Week’s Featured Article:

5 Strategies to Stop Delaying Your Happiness

How often in your day do you delay feeling happy? Maybe it’s because you feel overwhelmed with too much to do, and not enough time for all of your important doing. Perhaps you feel stuck in an unhappy relationship or job. Or maybe you feel stuck in general and you’re simply not sure where to start.

Our reasons for delaying happiness, can quickly become a familiar story we stand behind. But our reasons, no matter how convincing – even in our current challenging circumstances – aren’t the true problem. It’s our habits of thinking and being that hold us back from our “sense” of happiness.  

For some people, realizing they are the common denominator in a happy or unhappy life, can be transformational. It can be exciting and freeing to recognize you have a say in how you dance with life, and you don’t have to suffer. 

For others, this absurd idea will be brushed off with a huff and an eye-roll, because nobody could “possibly understand” the terrible hand they’ve been dealt.

Whatever pattern you find yourself in, don’t fret. As human beings, we have the inherent traits necessary to live a happy life. Sometimes, we require extra practice and focus to remind ourselves that happiness is a choice. We all deserve to experience happiness. There is no need to delay the enjoyment of life – even when we find ourselves in challenging times.

Here are the 5 strategies I use to stop delaying happiness, and instead get back on the path of enjoying my journey. If any of these tips resonate, give them a try and see what shifts for you.

#1. Daily Check-Ins

When we get stuck in patterns of thinking and being that are self-defeating, it’s challenging to find a clear path to happiness. It’s like searching for the light switch in a very dark room. When we are familiar with the layout of the room, we can find our way to the light switch with precision and ease – even when we can’t see where we are going. If we are in unfamiliar territory, or out of practice, it becomes much harder to feel our way to the light switch. It’s like that with happiness too. We must practice what it feels like to look for the good and give life to thoughts that have a hopeful and happy tone.  

In order to get a clear picture of your tendencies and patterns of thinking, you’ve got to become familiar with the lay of the land in your inner world. The more familiar and comfortable you are sitting in stillness with yourself, the easier it becomes to find the light switch when darkness prevails.

Practice Strategy 1: Have periodic check-ins throughout the day where you consciously listen in on the tone of your thoughts. Set check-in reminders on your phone, or choose a regular time, so it’s easy to stick to. Don’t try to steer your thoughts in a certain direction. Simply approach this practice with the willingness to be curious. You don’t need to judge or label the thoughts. The practice is to notice and get more comfortable listening. Get to know the tapestry of your inner world, so it doesn’t feel like a scary or uncomfortable place to go.

#2. Train Your Focus

When you become more comfortable noticing the way your thinking affects your experience of life, you can begin having fun shaping your experience. The easiest way to do this, is to re-direct your thoughts towards what you do enjoy.

According to an article in Harvard Graduate School of Education: “Our brains can change, physically, as a result of learning, says mindfulness expert Metta McGarvey. In a process called “experience dependent neuroplasticity,” neural connections grow based on what we’re learning. Repeating the same thoughts, feelings, and behaviors increases synaptic connectivity, strengthens neural networks, and creates new neurons through learning. In other words, practicing a positive habit can predispose our thoughts to be more affirmative.”

For more on this, check out Harvard Education’s short one-minute video called, ‘The Biology of Positivity

Practice Strategy 2: One strategy I regularly use to re-direct my focus, is to free write a gratitude list. When I find myself repeating a negative thought cycle about an event in my life, I stop what I’m doing and get out a piece of paper and pen. Then without thinking, I write down a steady stream of reasons I’m grateful. If I’m in a real funk, these reasons usually start out basic, for example: I’m grateful for fresh air, for the beautiful flower that bloomed outside my window, for the way I can see colour, for the texture of the carpet under my toes. Then as I get going, this list always becomes more dynamic, and expands to include the special people in my life, the experiences, the gift of life, etc. I keep going until I feel the shift in my body as the heaviness of my mood lifts.

#3. Small Steps Towards Your Definition of Happiness

We all have our own personal definition of happiness. Our definition of happiness is influenced by many factors, including: our cultural background, our values and beliefs, our upbringing, where we live in the world, our personalities and so much more – it’s personal for a reason. It’s important to be clear on what happiness means to you, so you aren’t chasing someone else’s version of a happy life.

Practice Strategy 3: Create a list of what happiness looks like to you. If you want to take it one step further, create a vision board or visual representation of your list and display it where you’ll see it regularly. If you want to dive in even deeper, answer these questions for yourself:

1. What are some small steps you can take towards this picture of happiness?
2. What is one thing you can commit to in your daily life that is in line with your definition of happiness?  
3. How might your life change in one week, one month, and one year from now by taking small steps towards your definition of happiness?
4. What kind of ripple effect will your happiness have on the people in your life?
5. What are some of the ways you might sabotage your happiness?
6. What support can you put in place to help you align with your definition of happiness?
7. Are you ready to commit to making small steps toward your definition of happiness?...COME ON OVER to my website to read the rest of the article or share it with someone who could use a little dose of happiness today.

 

This Week’s Quote:

*Know someone who would enjoy this week’s note? Please feel free to forward it along to them.

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