mindfulness Archives - Wellness and Health Tips

Do You Believe You Are Happy?

Happiness is something we all seek, yet few of us stop to ask ourselves: Am I truly happy? In today’s fast-paced, competitive, and often overwhelming world, the definition of happiness can feel confusing. Some equate it with success, money, or relationships, while others find it in inner peace, gratitude, or simple daily joys.

Understanding Happiness

Happiness is more than just a fleeting emotion—it is a state of being. According to psychologists, happiness is often linked to overall life satisfaction, a sense of purpose, and the ability to handle life’s ups and downs with resilience. It is not about smiling all the time but about feeling content and aligned with your values.

For some, happiness comes from achievements—landing a dream job, buying a new home, or traveling the world. For others, it is as simple as spending time with loved ones, enjoying a hobby, or appreciating a sunset. What matters is how you define it.

The Illusion of Happiness

In today’s digital world, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing your life to others. Social media often shows polished versions of reality, leading us to believe that happiness lies in material wealth, luxury vacations, or picture-perfect moments. But this illusion can leave us feeling dissatisfied with our own lives.

The truth is, happiness is deeply personal. What makes one person joyful may not matter to another. That’s why it is important to ask yourself honestly: Am I happy with where I am, or am I chasing someone else’s definition of happiness?

Signs You Are Truly Happy

You may not always feel euphoric, but true happiness often shows up in subtle ways:

Gratitude: You regularly appreciate the small things in life.
Contentment: You feel at peace with what you have rather than constantly wanting more.
Meaningful relationships: You nurture healthy connections with people who uplift you.
Resilience: You bounce back from challenges instead of being consumed by them.
Balance: You make time for work, rest, hobbies, and self-care.

If you resonate with these signs, chances are you are living a genuinely happy life.

How to Cultivate More Happiness

If you feel happiness is slipping away, there are ways to nurture it:

Practice Gratitude – Write down three things you’re grateful for daily. Gratitude shifts your mindset toward positivity.
Live in the Present – Happiness is often missed when we worry about the future or dwell on the past. Mindfulness practices like meditation can help.
Prioritize Relationships – Surround yourself with people who bring joy and avoid toxic connections.
Take Care of Your Health – A healthy body supports a healthy mind. Exercise, eat well, and sleep enough.
Pursue Meaning, Not Just Pleasure – True happiness often comes from having purpose, whether through work, creativity, or helping others.

The Personal Nature of Happiness

Happiness is not a fixed destination—it evolves with time, experiences, and priorities. What makes you happy at 20 may not be the same at 40 or 60. Instead of chasing a universal definition, focus on discovering what lights you up personally.

When you pause and ask, Do I believe I am happy? the answer may surprise you. Sometimes happiness is already present in your life—you just need to recognize it.

Final Thought

Happiness is not about perfection. It’s about embracing the journey, appreciating the present, and living authentically. So take a deep breath, look within, and ask yourself again: Do you believe you are happy?

Emotional wellbeing means the quality of our emotions in individual experiences. Our emotions are influenced by situations, people surrounded by or dealing with, the economy, and so on. In recent studies, the COVID-19 outbreak has lowered our emotional wellbeing by 74%. Many people suffered from stress, anxiety, and depression. A few have become pessimistic, have low self-esteem, are very self-critical, very sensitive emotionally. However, on the positive side, awareness of the aspects of emotional wellbeing has contributed to increasing self-esteem, work productivity, performance, and optimism in many people.

Feelings, Thoughts, and Emotions

Our feelings and thoughts have a close connection with our bodies. When our thoughts are positive, it affects our feelings and in turn, our body generates hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. I bet it is difficult to change one’s thoughts if they got that adrenaline rush at least once in their lifetime. Feelings depend on thoughts and these determine attitudes and actions. That’s why it is important to educate children right from their schoolings. Good emotional health prevents diseases and makes it possible to enjoy life most happily.

How to Build Emotional Health?

Mental health and emotional health are different from each other. Emotional health is a basic aspect of self-awareness, resilience, and overall contentment. Remember that, good emotional health does not always mean happiness and being free from negative emotions. It is the mindfulness to manage the ups and downs in life.

The majority of us are not ready to accept the emotional messages from others. Instead, we hide them by distracting ourselves with destructive behaviors like drugs and alcohol.

It is of utmost importance to protect our emotional health before it affects our physical and mental wellness.

Let’s talk about how to improve or get into action.

Interacting with people

Yes, this comes first on our to-do list. Interacting with people in the real world is far more important than talking on computer screens or TV. It is our responsibility to find a person who is a good listener. A good listener is someone who does not criticize, judge, or hurt you; instead, they understand your feelings behind your words. Such supportive relationships help strengthen emotionally. Communication breaks stress, talking helps us feel relaxed. So trust me, follow this first step. Living alone is neither a solution to any problem nor makes us happier.

Handling Stress

When you are under extreme stress, it reduces social interactions and stops you from doing regular works. This affects your overall growth in life. Learning stress management techniques like yoga, mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, keeping your muscles and body in a relaxed state, and so on. These strategies can help your mind and body to get back to a balanced state.

Eating Healthy

The food we intake has a direct impact on our feelings. Healthy meals give you tremendous energy and help you look beautiful. Physical and mental health helps us to improve self-esteem, self-awareness, and control of our situations. That’s eventually emotional wellbeing. Right?

Joy of Giving

Gifting our loved ones delivers immense pleasure to the receiver. That positivity develops a great feeling on our level of emotional health. On the other hand, giving with love and joy increases social interactions and strengthens our emotions.

Being Mindful

Focusing on the present is what being mindful is all about. Learn to maintain a complete awareness of our feelings, thoughts, and surrounding environment. Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and several other mindfulness techniques help you achieve this. You will get great control over all your emotions in daily activities.

Self-Care

Learn to enjoy the beauty of life. Book a ticket to a funny movie, have a walk in the garden, read a good book, talk to your loved ones, spend money on buying beautiful outfits and grooming, eat a tasty and healthy meal, and do whatever you love. Do not postpone anything in life. Live in the present and enjoy your life. Believe me; these investments will pay good dividends in terms of immense pleasure.

The Bottom Line

Bad things happen to everyone, never mind if you’re a good person or not. Being healthy in aspects of emotional wellbeing, physical and mental health enables a person to take on life’s challenges in a productive way. These not only improve one’s life, behavior but also gain an indefinite number of trustworthy social connections.