Too often we spend our days wasting the limited and precious hours we have away. When we have a moment of boredom, awkwardness or even silence, we will pick up our phones and go straight to social media. We spend absurd amounts of time scrolling through pictures on Instagram, statuses on Facebook or taking silly photos on Snapchat. When we get home from work, we go straight to the couch and watch a random show and next thing ya know, it is time to get ready for bed. As we lay there, trying to fall asleep, we often wonder to ourselves how come we feel unfulfilled with what we did that day. |
We didn't help anyone, do anything life changing, or even work on ourselves. Once we get into this type of a cycle, it is hard to break until slowly things begin to change. I know for me, my mood will worsen, my job will be a struggle and friends and family are a cluster of arguments or let downs. After going through all of these factors, I finally get the light bulb realization that I haven't given it to the one who makes the decisions of my life. Here are four important things to help us live our lives with happiness:
Trust in the greater plan for your life
Too often we get comfortable in the life that we are living, to the point that we try to hold onto things that make us feel mediocre instead of passionate. For example, I have put my focus in the past on guys who made me feel comfortable instead of loved, familiar instead of refreshing and guys who use the relationship out of convenience instead of wanting to actually spend all of their free time together. It is always hard for us as twenty-somethings to accept that being alone is okay, so we easily allow ourselves to fall for those who we shouldn't have even tripped over in the first place. We may think we need them, and in all honesty it will be hard to let it go- whatever that may be. But when we learn to let it go we can open our hearts to what is out there. God is waiting for you to hand it over so he can give you a more cuddly, soft teddy. Trust me. Trust in Him. It's worth it.
Don't feel like you have to be stuck where you are
Many times we get into our routines and feel as though there is no way out. What we are doing doesn't give us joy. It's okay to admit that. The good news is that there is always a way to improve the situation. Look to friends and family for advice, look to new opportunities like getting involved in something or think about how you can address the issue at hand. Focus your energy on meditating, exercising and quiet time spent with the big guy upstairs. We are all entitled to bad days here and there, but just know that it doesn't last forever! The rain will pass and leave us with a beautiful view.
Pay it forward
"Life for us individually canbe very difficult at times, | On my way home from work, I always pass at least one person asking for money. When I go through a drive-thru, I don't stop to think about the person behind me and what they may be going through. Online I see posts about people struggling and others mourning. Too often we can easily get caught up in our own world, our own problems and our own thoughts that we don't even notice what is going on around us. There have been too many times that I have locked my doors when I see a homeless man on the street, bought my coffee without even looking behind me, or times I don't even take the time to read someones post on the internet and just scroll to the next thing. Thankfully, it is never too late for us to become aware of the people around us. Life for us individually can be very difficult at times, but if we all start to focus our attention on each other, then how bad could life really be? We would all be helping each other to the point that struggles won't seem so bad. |
Get out of your head and just be
Sometimes it can be pretty comical, our issues that is. Looking back, the problems were never as big as we made them out to be. All the stress our bodies endured, and all the mixed emotions our hearts handled over matters that have been resolved with time. If there is anyone who knows how hard it is to turn off your thoughts, it's me. I lay down to go to bed and instantly the next days events start playing through my thoughts. That's when I decide to incorporate time to just be. How? Well, it can be in a number of ways. For example, artists can get so involved in their work that they easily forget to eat because they are so focused on what they are doing. We all have that something we can do for hours on end that can make our thoughts slip away- even if it is only for a few minutes. Take some time to find that one thing and do it. For starters, try taking a walk without your phone and just watch what happens.