Health, September 2014

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always
told me that happiness was the key to life.
When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted
to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’
They told me I didn’t understand the assignment,
and I told them they didn’t understand life”
- John Lennon

The theme for this month’s editorial is Be Healthy. While there are a million things I could write about along the lines of health, given my ongoing weight loss journey, I’m going to write about happiness, instead. I thought long and hard about the topic of health and discovered it is multi-dimensional. Health doesn’t only mean you are not sick. It also isn’t as simple as your body working correctly. Health is a well-rounded phenomenon, which is the sum of being, and a major part of the equation is happiness.

Without health, life ends. Without happiness, we wish life would end. I was talking with my doctor and she stated that most overweight people are unhappy or even depressed. I started thinking about how many people are overweight nowadays and marveled about how much sadness people must be experiencing. However, unhappiness isn’t exclusive to the heavier set. It truly has no bounds or prejudices. The good news is: Neither does happiness! Both emotions are available at any given moment.

Happiness, and unhappiness, for the most part, is a choice. I’m not talking about the immense sadness you feel when a loved one dies or if something terrible happens; I am referring to how you wake up and face each day. How do you choose to emotionally move through life? How do you approach each day? The choice is yours.

Pretend I have six boxes and each box contains an emotion that will define your day: Anger; Drama; Hatred; Worry; Guilt and Happiness. Would you intentionally choose any of the boxes other than happiness? When illustrated like this, the choice is a no-brainer. However, millions of people wake up every day and choose one of the other five. We all have “those” days, however if you find yourself choosing negativity more often than not, here are a few suggestions to help you choose happiness:

1. Find something that brings you joy and give it attention daily. It can be something small. It can be for 10-minutes. But, there needs to be something.

2. Stop negative self-talk. Your mind can play tricks on you. It will tell you things that do not serve, such as: I can’t do this; I’m too old (fat, poor, dumb, tired, etc.); I’m stuck; I need help to move forward; I can’t do anything about that; etc. Take control of your negative thoughts and tame them. Most were probably planted in your mind as a child. Quit giving these tired, worn-out thoughts validity—they don’t deserve it.

3. Quit worrying. Easier said than done, but at least take a break from worrying everyday. Worrying truly wreaks havoc on your body and doesn’t solve anything. Purposely give yourself at least an hour every day to put worrisome thoughts aside and be happy.

4. Stop complaining. This is imperative. You get back what you put out. The more you complain, the more you have to complain about. Every time you catch yourself complaining, consciously tell yourself to stop. If this doesn’t work, wear a rubber band around your wrist and pop yourself each time you catch yourself complaining. Nobody, not even other complainers, wants to listen to chronic complainers. Just decide right now not to be that person. It will drastically improve your life.

5. Smile. You can’t help but feel a little happy when you smile. If you think you have nothing to smile about, smile anyway. It won’t kill you. In fact, it will help you. You might actually like it. Beware; it could become a wonderfully happy habit:)

6. Finally, decide to choose happiness. Visualize those six boxes everyday. Put whatever negative emotions you are dealing with in them, but always allow happiness to be an option. Remember, this is a no-brainer choice.

To be happy in life, we have three options: 1. Change a situation that is making you unhappy. 2. Change the way you think about a situation that is making you unhappy (sometimes, that’s all it takes). 3. Remain unhappy.

And with that, here is one more piece of advice: Life’s too short to choose door number three. Now get out there and relish your life. We ALL deserve happiness, and that includes you.