Happy or Not Happy?

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆  𝘰𝘳 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 ?

Whatever your 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 is, it 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 your 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 beyond a feeling or memory.

It will affect your 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. Increase or decrease your heart rate, causes blushing or for you to turn pale. Your hairs may stand on end. You may start sweating. Your stomach may make noises due to gastrointestinal motility. And those are the things we can see or hear.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴?

You will already have experienced how different emotions elicit a different response in your body, such as how 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 are compared with 𝘫𝘰𝘺, 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. In fact, studies show that positive emotions such as joy and happiness result in altering the autonomic nervous system resulting in increased parasympathetic activity, what some people call the “rest and digest” or “feed and breed” activities, I think of them more like rest and recovery. While the negative emotions like fear and anger result in parasympathetic withdrawal and an increase in sympathetic activity, also known as “fight or flight” or stress response.

When your sympathetic nervous system is called into action, your body starts to breakdown muscles for resources it needs. Storing fat as adipose tissue ready for any potential hardship ahead, increases your heart rate and blood pressure, dilating your blood vessels to increase blood flow to your limbs prepared for action. Food takes longer to digest. Plus when asked, you are washing your hair tonight as your libido is suppressed.

Yet your parasympathetic nervous system helps to fix the damage that your sympathetic nervous system inflicts on your body. It allows muscles to be built, repairs the body, stimulates digestion and elimination plus you’ll find yourself wearing your lucky pants tonight!

If you are in a constant state of being stressed, angry, frustrated, etc. and wondering why you are not improving your body and health, then this may help turn things around.

Martin Seligman developed his theories of Authentic Happiness and Wellbeing based on the contributions from:
Positive Emotions
Engagement
Positive Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishment

When you get the right balance of these, they will lead you to flourish.

𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦?

★ 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. It is all too easy to get caught up in the negatives and even easier to remember the negative, letting them overpower what may have been a good day. It is not your fault. Evolutionarily speaking, you need to be more afraid of where the Sabretooth tiger is than where it is not. Yet control the urge to let a small incident like bad traffic, an argument or a bit of bad luck, overtake what may have been an otherwise ok, good or even great day. You may have caught up with friends, finished that great piece of work or even have found time for yourself, all of which were enjoyable. So remember these.

★ 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄. No matter what it is, getting lost in something because you get completely immersed in it and lose track of time, can be an amazingly powerful and positive experience, which you can enjoy, feel fulfilled and at peace with, even if these emotions weren’t at the forefront of your attention at the time.

★ 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. You can recall them later when you need to feel that joy and happiness. The bigger you make the feeling at the time, the more powerful it is when you relive it. So clap, jump, laugh out loud, giggle, scream and express yourself, congratulate yourself and where possible share the experience with others as they’ll all help with capturing a more powerful mental image.

★ 𝗔𝗥𝗞 (𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀) because it feels good when you do something nice for someone else. That surprise for a loved one or gift for someone to show you’ve remembered them—even simple things like picking something up when someone else has dropped it. Or being an ear and a shoulder to a friend who needs it. This helps in reducing our own stress levels and having beneficial effects on our physical health.

★ 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 by stopping to appreciate what you have in life. Whether that is being thankful for the weather, grateful for someone holding the door when you have your hands full or something more deep and meaningful. The simple act of being grateful for life and all it entails can bring about positive experiences.

★ 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴. So learn something new, like a new skill. This will improve your chances of success in the future by knowing new ways to tackle things. 

𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 
… 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴
… … 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴
… … … 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆
… … … … 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆