Notes on Life: Happiness is an Inside Job

Q for you: do you allow your happiness to be an inside job? (Or do you give your power away to the world around you?

Personally, I know it’s an inside job - but if I don’t constantly put that concept into practice, I unconsciously give my power away to ridiculous things.

For example, yesterday (Monday) I woke up with some low-grade anxiety rumbling through my body and mind. This happens very infrequently these days, so it always piques my interest and I try to drill down to the root of it. It was (what seemed like) the 79347th day without sun - which everyone was constantly commiserating over - and followed a weekend where I didn’t meditate or exercise like I had intended to because I was going with the flow of other people’s plans (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I feel SO much better when I prioritize those two).

The compound effect of not moving through two days in a row with intention left me feeling all sorts of disconnected, anxious, and frankly, kinda gloomy. Essentially, I let outside circumstances dictate my inner experience.Back when I had chronic anxiety - I had this whole toolkit of numbing mechanisms so I could run and hide from it for chunks of time. Again, giving my power away.

Now (yesterday, for example) I move straight into the discomfort - because the only real way out is through.

I sat with the anxiety without judging it or trying to numb it. I meditated, journaled, applied/diffused my favorite centering, grounding essential oils, and did an awesome, sweaty workout. Then I dove into work. Within a couple of hours, I felt amazing again.It was still a dreary morning with no sun - but I chose to let my happiness be an inside job - and that’s a choice we all get to make every single day. How good is that?

So, if you’re feeling a bit Debbie Downer today - how can you take the reigns back on your happiness regardless of what’s going on around you? You’ve got the powahhh.⚡️