Happy

There's a lot of talk going around about physical health, mental health and the steps we should be doing, the things that we should be doing to keep healthy. I know that it is hard to maintain a healthy weight, and keep your mental health up, so we don't experience burn out or decision fatigue. There's just so much we need to be aware of. I was watching a video of Dr. Phil the other day; it was about how people of Generation Z refusing to work and doing something called "quiet quitting" where you just do the bare minimum to not be fired. The controversy starts with Gen Z saying they do not want to do something they are not paid to do. This has been more and more common because people want to spend more time doing what they love over a job that takes up most of your time and days. Yet, we are all controlled by money, that's all we ever want is money, we want money to retire, money to have children, money to buy a house, money to buy a new car that the newest iPhone, we are all just doing what it takes to get by, and it used to be so easy to find a job that you love. Less and less people want to go into the trades because the generation Z don't enjoy doing it. No one dreams about becoming a plumber or electrician, but school is minimal, and money comes to your household. Anyways, we are not going to get into that, but instead I am going to talk about the topic of happiness.

What is happiness? A State of well-being and joy. That is the purest definition of happiness. Am I well? Yes. Am I joyful? yes. That's all happiness is. Do I love my job? Of course I do! I am working with oncologists who save people's lives every day. Are there times where I don't want to think about it? Absolutely. If you are going to work every day and not enjoying it a single bit then change jobs, change careers especially if you can't get excited about the little things about your job. The key to being happy at work is to find the little things at work, for example in my office job I look forward to using a stamp, it's such an easy mindless task, but I find it so satisfying in using a date stamp. I bought rose gold office supplies for myself to bring a bit of joy into a very routine job. There are little things that you can do, to make it worth going to your job. However, I also know that if I feel no reward at my job, I have no motivation to go to go it. That's why I chose to work in healthcare and help people.

I think we need stop trying to think about money so much and just focus on what bring you joy and happiness. For example, getting my morning coffee at Starbucks brings me joy, but after getting it day, after day, after day I find I am not as happy because it became a routine in my life. In order to bring back the happy aspect of it, I see it now as something I treat myself because I worked all week for that Friday coffee, and it tastes better, and I find that I am much happier that way. So, I save more money and I find happiness in that method. I know I said it's not about the money, but it certainly is a perk.

Turn off the news, I find my happiness had gone up since I stopped listening/reading the news. Ignorance is bliss and it is true. We already have much to deal with in our daily lives, we don't need to carry the burden of others, especially strangers. I know what happens in third world countries and it is depressing and terrible, but there is not a whole lot I can do about it. It sounds selfish, but honestly, if I worried about this every day of my life, I would not be able to get out of bed. The best I can do is donate some money here and there to charitable organizations. I constantly donate clothing to Goodwill and Women in Need. I've also donated to 4Oceans, who clean out the oceans from litter. There are alternative ways to help others without burdening ourselves with it.

We can all freak out about not saving for retirement, or children that's easy to do, but what if for one second you stopped worrying about it and just realized you should do what makes you happy. You should go to that coffee shop that you've been dreaming about going to, you should buy those shoes you've been eyeing for months now. There is no sense in tiring yourself out worrying about all these things, sure you can keep an eye on your savings. However, if you are doing that to the point where you are stressed then you need to change your perspective. It's okay to spend money on things that you value like eating out, it's okay to do it once a month. Put money away for doing those things and give yourself a budget. If you cannot afford it though, then find some free activities to do that make you happy like going on a walk and listing things that make you smile. Go to the beach, enjoy the sun, binge that show. There are many ways to do things that don't cost money. Save money by getting a membership to that gym you go to everyday, or that museum that you like.

You will be so much happier, if you do the things that bring you happiness.