Hi, I’m Sandra. Welcome to The Happyist. Here we get transform through holistic, eudaimonic happiness. Best part? It’s easy and kind of fun.
A little housekeeping: This month’s Last Saturday Salon is open to all subscribers. To RSVP, please send me a DM or reply to the email you received for this post, and I’ll send you the link. It will happen on the 28th at 11AM Pacific on Google Meets.
We are officially in the year of the Fire Horse. Double Fire Horse, if I understand correctly. And I’m sure I don’t. While I am a proud Aries, with a Scorpio rising and Capricorn moon, born in the year of the Rooster, if you’re being polite, that’s pretty much the extent of my astrology knowledge. That, and you should respect Mercury Retrograde because it is not to be effed with.
From what I’ve been told and have read, we needed to buckle the fuck up for this year of the Double Fire Horse, because it is going to tear stuff up. In probably a good way? Let’s hope so.
Look, my feeling through all of this bullshittery is that this isn’t going to last as long as we fear, if we stand in our own power. Easier said than done and, yes, I’m aware I’m a white woman saying this from Los Angeles, California. But I’m talking about in the spiritual sense, our collective power that we must first harness within and then connect in a wonderful web of fuck-with-us-not.
It’s happening. Slowly. Much too slowly. But it is happening. And, as of yesterday, it might happen a bit faster now.
We are regularly overwhelmed by what is going on around us; and what are we doing to be sure we are standing in our power? Feeling confident and sure and resilient? It’s kind of a tall order right now, and it’s not only possible to do, it’s pretty mandatory.
Over at the Happy Rebel podcast, the tagline is “Get Happy and Disrupty”. Why? Because what is the least predictable thing to be right now? Happy! And not in a toxic positivity way, or by being blissfully ignorant, but standing firmly in our eudaimonic wellbeing, being bullshit-proof, unfuckwithable and resilient AF.
It is worth it to be it.
And I’ll ask my favorite question yet again: Who do you think is stronger: an angry person or a happy one?
Once we really understand what happiness — or eudaimonic wellbeing — truly is, that becomes easier to answer.
So, what are you doing to fortify yourself in that way? Yes, this is a pop quiz. Write down your answers.
And what if you can’t answer because you don’t know where to start? Here are a few tips:
First, if you are feeling anxiety, remember, that comes from worrying about the future or wallowing in the past. I’m excluding anxiety disorders from this because I’m not a doctor. But anxiety, in general, is a symptom of not being present.
Get present.
Really. How? Sing. Dance. Play your favorite songs. Meditate. Go for a walk and take in the scenery. Do some yoga or your favorite form of exercise. All of these activities are shown to pull you out of your head and into your body. Even meditation. Do a guided one or simply focus on your breathing. Be in the moment and drag yourself back into the moment when you start going too far forward or back.
Second, say Thank You. Yes, I’m a broken record with this. And?
I harp on it because it’s a game-changer. Swim daily in your appreciation. Write it down if you find that helpful, talk into your Voice Memos app if that’s a time-saver. Just bring your awareness to the good stuff in your life and maybe even the not-so-good stuff that you can learn from.
Appreciation is alchemy.
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