We all have off days. Today, I woke up with every intention to follow my to-do list and have a productive day. But, after my meetings ended around 1 PM – I found myself feeling off. I felt a bit anxious and worried. I did not want to do the things I had planned to complete that day. Instead, I ended up eating, watching YouTube, and scrolling through Instagram. This, in turn, made my anxiety even worse. I then forced myself to stop scrolling and take a nap. I napped for a good 2 hours and woke up feeling a bit better. Sometimes, we need to turn the mental windmill off by sleeping and that is exactly what I ended up doing. After I woke up, I did things that I had neglected to do in the morning: I read my Daily Stoic prompt of the day, I journaled a bit, and I studied for 1 and a half hours like I had planned. I wasn’t able to finish all my to-do list by a certain time but, I felt good that I had fulfilled the promises I made to myself. This I have realized is crucial – the more promises that you keep that you make to yourself, the higher your confidence grows. You cannot trust yourself to do great things if you cannot trust yourself to do the small things in life. This is why the completed task felt so good to me – I had promised myself something & I did it!
Tag: #stoic
May 7th: What Brings You Joy?
Happiness is a topic that everyone has tried to tackle in history. Jesus Christ, Buddha, Seneca, Aristotle and every remarkable person has attempted to find the key to happiness. I am not a philosopher or related to the Lord so, I don’t have an actual key or an answer that leads to happiness.
One thing I know is that we can control what we do to increase joy. What actions brings you happiness? For me, I get joy from nature (put me by a lake or an ocean and I am a happy woman), writing in my journal and reflecting, praying, and making progress on my goals. When I set time aside to do these things, I am more joyful. I notice that I am more available to others. I feel a sense of purpose. When I haven’t done these things, I am more selfish with my time and more resentful.
Write down a list of things that bring you happiness. Try to eliminate anything that brings instant gratification (i.e. social media, television, YouTube etc) and include things where you are in full control (i.e. going for a walk, writing, journaling etc). Try to do these things every single day and see if you feel better.
hi there 