We often have discussions in spiritual groups about shadow work and what it takes to heal pain and trauma, but let us take a minute to think about committing to happiness. We often hear that we need to try to raise our vibe and avoid low vibe people which makes sense, no matter what you believe it is generally a great idea to avoid chaotic and angry people that want us to be as equally unhappy as they are... but what can we do that is proactive instead of reactionary and defensive? As always, I have a few suggestions that came up as I was meditating.
Image source: Whispers of Healing by Angela Hartfield
The Morning Ritual
When I wake up, I drink my coffee and I scroll through my favourite Instagram accounts. I look at beautiful stones, I read posts about unicorns, magic and dragons. I choose one post that really uplifts me and I visit it two or three times that day when I start to feel irritated or tired. Choosing that one image or post that makes me smile has been a lifeline to keeping my vibe high. Another thing I do in the morning is pull a card for myself. I ask my spirit team to choose a card that will keep me on the right path for my day and uplift me so if I get sad or dejected I just have a moment and it reminds me to avoid spiraling into frustration. After all, I find it much easier to stop myself from having a meltdown five minutes in rather than committing to that emotion for 30 minutes and trying to pull myself back up.
Let me be clear this is NOT a judgement on others, I have decided that the energy it takes to pull myself out of a spiral is exhausting, I am 41 years old and I do not want to do it anymore. I would rather use my precious energy enjoying my family, creating something, helping people in a session or just sitting outside meditating. I want peace, I choose peace, that is my happiness. Am I perfect at it? No! But what I can tell you is that when I start to walk down a dark path that will zap my energy and possibly takes hours or days to recover I stop and rethink my path. Here are a few other tips I have for you.
Eat in Peace
When my family is sleeping, that is when I have my breakfast. I read a page or two of my favourite books, complete the morning rituals above and I do something similar for lunch. When I am on my lunch break I pop in my ear buds, and do one of two things, I eat outside in the sun or I find a quiet space to eat and then close my eyes and listen to music. It may only be 15 minutes of my lunch time but it is just enough to feel better. When I do this at breakfast and lunch I feel relaxed enough to sit and chat with my family when I come home. I made an effort to eat in peace so that energy carries over to dinner where I try to enjoy the moments.
Does this mean that I am successful and zen every single day? Of course not! But I try and by modeling this behaviour my family knows meals are a quiet time of calm. We are making an effort to commit to our happiness and trying to show the importance of peaceful togetherness. We do laugh and chat but the number one rule is that we don argue. I've had days where I pick up my plate and sit in another room and guess what? the message was received. I choose my moments of peace. You should too, I highly recommend it.
Pick Something to Love or Learn Daily
My last tip would be choose something to really be grateful for or eager to learn every day. This can be as simple or as complicated as you like. I have a bit of an obsession with Paris, so sometimes I will just ask a question to learn something new about my favourite city. Or if I see an interesting article about a country or something magical that I don know much about, I like commit a few minutes to reading about it and just admiring it. On the days I feel ill or just cannot get motivated I am grateful I have a family and friends that care about me and I send a small thank you to the universe. The thing that you love or learn about can literally be anything.
So what can you do today to commit to daily happiness? Take small steps, it is worth it. Know that I am cheering you on. We can do it. The small steps add up when the shadow work or life´s challenges come for us, the small moments of happiness act as a life raft. I like the idea of making my own life raft.
Wishing you strides towards happiness,
Meg
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