If you have ever been in love with someone, then you’ll know how amazing it feels when he or she smiles at you. Or how we feel complete when they are around. You can work hard on a surprise party for them after work hours, prepare their favorite menu or even go for a drive at odd hours just because they love it. In a nutshell, your love for the person makes you do everything possible to care for them.
But we hardly ever care for our own selves in this manner. In fact, a lot of our struggle is done alone. Handling everyday stress or emotional burnouts, facing financial setbacks and curve balls like this can devoid us of peace and merrier times. However, that is no reason to live life unhappily or live a life that is only for the sake of others. “You are the central source of your happiness and entirely responsible for a happy life,” said the Greek philosopher Aristotle. We then owe it to ourselves to have a happy life that puts us in the centre.
‘Happiness depends upon ourselves.’
Soulveda has researched many facets of living a happy life and the primary factor that comes out in most scenarios is self-care. When practised properly, the power of self-care has the potential to uplift your mood in depressing situations. This ability of living a happy life no matter what enables you to relax better and keep you productively engaged. Self-care helps improve your self-esteem and enables you to live healthier with an improved immunity. It refuels your body, mind and soul with positive energy.
Self-care is the panacea for a happy life
When was the last time you clicked a happy selfie, the kind you click when feeling a bout of joy? Just the act of clicking your own picture gave you so much joy that you might have even shared it on social media, right? In a similar vein, self-care is all about replenishing your energy levels in terms of emotional and physical wellbeing. You task yourself with so much through the day, be it finishing a project with a tight deadline or working out in the gym. It then becomes your responsibility to care for yourself at the end of the day and live happily in simple, joyous moments.
Self-care, is in its core, the ability to lead a happy life on your own.
Self-care for physical happiness
Self-care is the ability to encourage a life full of health sans diseases or cope with illnesses successfully. To be happy, one needs to have a sound physical health. A robust physical health allows you to finish all your daily chores and mission critical projects as efficiently as possible. When you care for your body, you feel and think better too. Taking proper sleep, exercising regularly for a healthy and fit body are some of the simple things that can be done daily. Good health not just enhances your physical happiness but helps generate a confident persona as well . With self-care, your bodily hormones become trained to work hard and release bundles of joy within.
Self-care for social happiness
Humans are social animals. When people are really happy, they like to talk and share with others and become happier doing so. A conversation with a spouse or a friend leads to a burst of happy hormones. So try and plan face-to-face meetings with friends and schedule family get-togethers for bringing excitement, enthusiasm in your life while staving off loneliness.
Social happiness is all about celebrating the good times and giving or receiving support in the bad times from your inner circle of loved ones.
Self-care for mental happiness
It is commonly known that our attitude decides every act or omission that happens in our life. Psychological wellbeing is most critical for mental peace and a happy life. Happy thoughts lead to happy outcomes, so we must learn to refine our internal thought process towards positivity.
Train your mind to focus on self-compassion and acceptance. Also, perform mentally stimulating activities like reading or solving puzzles. Doing so helps to have an alert and positive mind, which becomes the fuel for generating the power for self-care to live a happy life. ‘A beautiful mind’ is not just the title of a movie. It is in reality, a happy solution to all complex equations of one’s life.
Self-Care for spiritual happiness
Dean Karnazes, who ran 50 marathons in 50 days, once stated that the human body has limitations but the human spirit is boundless. Put simply, it means that our spirit decides what and how much we achieve in life.
A positive human spirit helps develop a deeper sense of understanding and makes us believe in a bigger force called the universe. Praying, connecting with nature, gazing at stars and meditating helps us to draw energy from different galaxies of happiness and lead a zestful life. A resolute us is a direct result of spiritual happiness within. So choose to live happily by having an open yet connected mindset that allows you to be flexible to all world views while being deeply in touch with your inner self.
Self-care for emotional happiness
Emotions are the strongest of forces that any human can encounter in their life. On ground situations or relationships lead to intense feelings within your body, and that is why emotional self-care is the treasure trove of limitless happiness.
Taking care of your emotions helps to regulate and channelize the energy of life for happiness, which can be found everywhere. Practicing mindfulness, writing a journal, setting boundaries with exit channels for destructive emotions is the right way to be.
In fact, experts share that extreme emotions like anger can convert into calm; frustration can convert into satisfaction only if you are able to convert emotions into your friend and not a foe.
5 elements of ultimate happiness
The 5 elements of happiness achieved through self-care are physical stamina, constructive social networking, a positive mind, having connected thoughts and emotionally rich feelings. The power of these elements is supreme and makes self-care a shining example for a happy living for all.
The Buddha stated, “There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path.’’ What this signifies is that happiness is not a product or a destination but a constant state of peace and contentment. It comes from practising self-care from small things done everyday to big things done sometimes. The key to living a happy life comes from self-care in its simplest sense. So go ahead and love yourself.