Happiness is a good place to be. Living well, living mindfully applies no matter what stage we are in life – childhood or adulthood. So anyway, in keeping with today’s prompt at the Write Tribe’s “7 days to rediscovering your blogging groove”, which is “Write a list” – my favorite type of post – here’s my list 10 attitudes to ditch if you want to be happy. With age, comes the wisdom to make lists. And here is mine:
10 attitudes to ditch if you want to be happy
Hatred and grudges
Hatred in any form is detrimental to health and steals your energy. While I am not the type of person who “hates” I do get mad with people sometimes. Temporarily. Still, what I’ve realized is this: hating or harboring ill-feelings gets you nowhere. It won’t reverse what happened and it definitely won’t make you feel better, unless you count that momentary sense of satisfaction at cussing them. So it is best, for our own good, to let it go. Try forgiveness for your own sake. Don’t hold those grudges
Gossip
Good clean gossip – who doesn’t love it? So long as it produces a good laugh among friends and eases your tension – and lets you move on happily with your routine, good. But when it becomes a habit and you revel in saying mean things – you know you’re in trouble. My policy is – as far as possible, if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing. That doesn’t mean being silent when you should speak up.
Being Ungrateful
Gratitude is the direct route to happiness. I have proof. It is worth cultivating as an attitude, a habit. Focusing on what we have rather than what we don’t have will only make us happy. So if you’d rather be happy (who wouldn’t?), being grateful has to be a habit. Develop the ability to see the silver lining no matter how bleak some things look! What am saying is – count your blessings. Regularly.
Toxic friends
You know those frenemies, those pseudo-friends. Everyone has them. Those clingy people who fill your ear with their whiny tales, their complaints and who, when you finally try to help them, will ignore your advice and carry on exactly the same way. And be back to go through the whole hamster wheel experience. Tiring, annoying. Let go of these “friends”. Friendship has to be interactive and the ones who permanently lean on you are the ones that believe in give and take. You give, they take. Know what I mean? Weed them out, now. And don’t be guilty. They’ll just find someone else, they will!
Clutter
Less is really more, people. As I find out every single day now. I’ve been working hard at clearing my clutter. I’ve made spring cleaning a year-round activity. Living as we do in a decently sized apartment, it is all too easy to accumulate. Also, I grew up in a thrifty household where the “waste-not-want-not” concept was rigidly followed. Old habits die hard. But new habits must take the place of old if we are to move on. Purging helps to focus on the things that matter – relationships, people and things we really enjoy doing. So now is a good time to go through your closet, your attic, your life – and discard what you haven’t needed or used in three months. No just-in-cases!
Expectations
Seriously, this is one big thing to let go of. You know what the Buddha said. Desire is the cause of all suffering. It is true. When you expect nothing, you are never disappointed. When we’re happy with what we have, life takes on meaning.
The extra weight
I just had to add that in, right? Health is wealth. Maintaining a healthy weight is the key to good health. So dump the extra pounds. Take action now.
Confusing complex with complicated
Complexity is interesting. Fun, even, whether it is people or things. Complicated, not really. Simplify, don’t complicate. Enjoy the complex, and kiss the complicated goodbye.
Saying yes by default
Yikes, I suffer from this and am working on letting it go. I really must learn to “say no” more often. Why the need to please everyone? If something cuts into our time or makes us unhappy, why do it?
Fear of growing old
Really! What is to get scared of? Age is a number, most of the time. It is how we live that counts. Do the things that you are passionate about. Don’t put off things. Ditch the someday thinking. You are never too old to dare to dream and live your dream!
Do not regret growing old. It is a privilege denied to many
So now tell me – what do you think of this list?
Got additions? Let me know and I’ll add them to this post and credit you!
I am enjoying blogging daily and linking to the Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge, 31 Days, NaBloPoMo, the Ultimate Blog Challenge and Sarah Arrow’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge.
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