Happiness – Page 4

I walked up smiling, carrying my cooler. My friend called from his patio, “Is that an electric cooler?”

“Yep,” I said.

His neighbor came out on her porch and waved.

I said “Hey” and then felt a sharp pain on my foot and exclaimed, “Ow!” I quickly set down the cooler and bent over my foot.

The neighbor said with concern, “Oh, did a bee sting you?”

“I think so,” I looked down. “The stinger is stuck in my foot. Should I pull it out?”

She said, “I think you need Benadryl.”

My friend said, “I have cortisol cream, but you need to wait before applying it.”

I sat looking at the stinger and said, “I heard if you pull it out, you’ll squeeze more venom into your body.”

“Let me know, I can get the cream,’ my friend offered.

“I’m fine,” I replied, as my foot began to throb. I looked at them for help, but all they could do is stare attentively. Ignoring the pain, I limped further up to the house. Then I stopped. I bent down and without thinking about the pain, I swiftly removed the stinger.

Instead of addressing the problem, we overanalyze and avoid it

My friends, meaning well, wanted to treat the symptoms before we addressed the cause. I think we do it all the time. We know what our problems are, although we distract ourselves from them. Some of us tell ourselves that we don’t have a problem, or it’s not big enough to be concerned about. We can also blame others for our situation, so we avoid taking responsibility. Others use the delay or “I don’t have the time” option: “Once I get to my vacation, I’ll be happy, so I’ll tolerate working this job for now.” Or there’s the simple distraction of money, better stuff, or loved ones: “Once I get that job that pays more” or “that new car” or “that girlfriend/boyfriend”, I’ll be happy. And then there is the overanalyzing, which delays taking action.

Changing our lives may not be as easy as flicking a stinger away, but we may exaggerate the pain of removing that stinger from our lives. So make a plan and get started on removing the stinger. Our friends, family, or partners aren’t going to remove it for us.

My days felt sluggish. Have you ever felt like your body was walking through mud? This is how I felt. Work was not challenging me, and it had been three weeks since I had been to the gym. I wanted to get back, but only out of habit. Then, in the middle of my workout, after I’d pushed past the point when my mind had told me to stop, I was overwhelmed, but not from any physical pain. I realized how much I needed a consistent challenge in my life, and I wondered: Do most people get challenged in their daily lives?

Challenges bring us happiness

I looked in the gym mirror, breathing deeply. I saw past my face and looked into my eyes, and everything fell away. I didn’t worry about what I needed to do later, or what I should be doing next week. Their time would come, but right now, I knew I was ready, and whatever happened, it would be ok. I took the barbell onto my back smoothly, and balanced it there, feet planted firmly on the ground, and I gazed forward undistracted, but then I thought: Why don’t I feel like this all the time?

Work gives value to our life

Today we have evolved to get things done faster and with less work. Or we’ve evolved to a point we don’t need to do them at all. In the past, the time we spent resulted in a barn, a pair of pants, or a tasty meal. With exercise, there is nothing tangible. All we gain is the feeling that we’ve challenged our whole being, our heart, mind, every living part of us. It is a happiness that lasts all day, and can integrate into our whole life.

I think this is something we can all afford to spend time doing.

Category: Happiness

Remove the stinger from your life

Evolving towards unhappiness?