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happiness Archives - Just Justice

Tag: happiness

Happy/ Mental Health /

Choosing Happiness

Happy Tuesday friends!

About a month or so ago I went to this yoga class with a friend & boy oh boy did our sweet sweet instructor speak to me. I just had to share this little piece of advice as I think everyone needs to hear it!!

She began telling us a story about how she used to have a yoga studio in New York and how she and her family have now moved to Nashville. She said she found herself that week really missing the community that she had in New York. She missed her friendships and everything she had built there. She then began to tell us how as humans we fall into this hole of sadness, anxiety, anger, loneliness, or frustration. We sit in it. We let this run our days. She then said you know we can have many different feelings at once, what is most important is what we let drive our day. We can be sad and miss something, but we can also be really happy with our lives right now. We might be annoyed with a situation at work or with a friend, but we can choose joy over annoyance. 

I needed to hear this! I am someone who lets the littlest things ruin my day. I just let my thoughts overpower my brain sometimes, with negativity. According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000-60,000 thoughts per day. 80% of those are negative. I have a hard time believing that it is a whole 80%!!! Let’s rewire our brains friends.

Yes, life gets hard and there will be frustrating and sad things that pop up in our everyday lives. But it is our choice on what we let drive. Happiness over being pissed off. Joy over sadness. One of my best friends and I call each other quite often and just rant to each other if something happened that day. In this case, she called me telling me how she got her feelings hurt. I told her about what my yoga instructor said… and said, “Okay we are going to be 25% frustrated, but 75% happy!” 

Last week I had two flat tires right when I got to the gym. Instead of throwing a pity party (which is what I would have normally done), I chose calmness over freaking out. Just wanted to share this little piece of advice in hopes that it spoke to you as much as it did for me. Hope y’all have a wonderful week!

 

Happy/ Mental Health /

Ups & Downs

Happy Summer friends !!

Life has truly been so crazy with graduation and starting a job and just all the things happening.

I first want to start this blog off with the fact that I have been feeling a lot of highs and lows in the past couple of months. Graduating college is scary, and no one prepares you for the anxiety you feel lol!! I think there is this pressure society puts on you to be extremely successful right when you graduate. You should have it all together, right?

I think the biggest thing that I have been struggling with is the fact that I thought I would have it all figured out by now. Let me break it to ya, I don’t think anyone ever feels like they have figured life out. But I always thought I would by now. I think I grew up with this mindset that “by 23 I will have all my shit together.” I will be happy and feel fulfilled and feel all the happy feelings. This is not true people!! I have just been reminding myself that life is all about learning and figuring yourself out. I will always be going through things, that is life! 

I wanted to be honest in the fact that I have just been feeling off these past couple of months, and if that is you that is okay!! I am obviously not the biggest fan lol, but I do trust God and his path for me.  I think we just need to take a deep breath and enjoy the time of life that we are in. Our brains can simply be too hard on ourselves. We must stop believing the lies and anxious thoughts our brain is telling us! I obviously have been loving life at this stage, but a lot of change and uncertainty also creep in sometimes. I was telling my therapist all about these life doubts I have, telling her I just hope this is God’s path. She said, “You know you are such a big believer in God but it really doesn’t seem like you have any faith in him and what he has in store for you and your life.” LOL. I was like welppppp YOU RIGHT!! 

Psalm 20:7 says that many will trust in the world and the things it has to offer, but few will trust in God. My challenge for you today is to just put more trust in him and his plan for your life. 

Speaking of my therapist she also said something to me the other day that just made me really think, and I wanted to share it with you. She asked me, “Where are you your happiest? Who are you with? What are all the vibes?” This really made me realize that my happy self is not in Nashville. My most confident, fun-loving, peaceful Justice is at the lake with my family in Michigan. There is something so peaceful about being with your person and the people you love with no worries. My therapist began to explain how it’s sad that I am not the happiest version of myself here in Nashville where I live!  I explained wellllll there is just so much going on here in Nashville. Work is stressful, I am trying to be successful, have good grades, and have a social life and blah blah blah. There is a lot of pressure. I feel like I need to be doing something at all times when I am in Nashville. What if I started treating Nashville like the lake? Taking more time out of the day for me? Being around people that my soul feel happier. Doing things that I want to do!

I have spoken on this before, but I mostly am saying this because I need to also hear it. We are in control of our happiness. If I am being honest I have not been taking care of myself recently. I have just been so anxious about what my life Is going to look like and if I am doing all the right things in the right order, I have not been taking care of myself. 

I encourage you to just realize how beautiful your life is. Lean into spending time with yourself. You get to wake up every morning and be a change in someone’s life. You personally have the ability to do that in someone’s life. You have the ability to make someone feel seen and beautiful. You have friends and family in your life that love you. You have so many wonderful opportunities in life for traveling and being successful. There is just so much to life. So when I start spiraling and freaking out a little inside, I hope I can remind myself of these same things. 

Most importantly you have a God that is so in love with you and only wants you to be happy. He personally hand-made you… how freaking cool. 

Every single day, we have two choices: we can simply react to everything happening around us, or we can take action and create the lives we want to live. Don’t give someone else the keys to your happiness!

Happy/ Mental Health /

Be Present

HEYO friends. Happy new year. I hope you are feeling refreshed and excited about what this new year may bring you. One of my goals for the new year was to write more blogs because I truly enjoy sharing about my life. Also, the idea of a new year and resolutions REALLY stresses me out. So if you’re like me, and get stressed every time a new year rolls around, don’t worry, it’s normal. It’s just a good idea to think of some areas in your life where you want to grow. Maybe you want to be better on LinkedIn, talking to your grandparents more, or even making more soups this year. It does not have to be this huge life-changing resolution. Start small ?

As I am approaching graduation at Belmont, I feel a lot of stress and anxiety mostly. There is so much pressure! So much pressure to be successful and figure your life out. If you’re not about to graduate I am sure you can relate in some way. The future can be scary!

This is normal. The first thing I keep reminding myself of is to start being present. I had a friend text me this the other day. I was ranting on and on about how I was so stressed, and I am going to get cut off and blah blah. She said, “it is so important to be present in this season of your life.”  She was so right. I think a lot of us are preparing for the future, which is good, but we also need to live in the moment and enjoy where we are right now. Some of us are in the moments when we used to dream and pray about.

I also have noticed, when I start getting anxious about life/ future plans/anything… my mind starts spiraling with a million negative thoughts. This is so bad!! We must start being positive and feeding our brains happy things. If you need to go get ice cream, call your mom, or go on a walk. DO IT. For instance, you might be getting yourself all worked up because you have so much on your plate, you have no idea how you are going to get everything done. First, recognize the difficulty or stress. Next, you must figure out how you are going to overcome this. Maybe you could wake up earlier, or ask your boss for some tips on how to achieve this goal of yours. We can do hard things friends. 

The next thing I want to implement in this new year is just being really intentional in my conversations with people. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I am talking to someone and they are on their phone. & to be quite honest I am sure I’ve done this to many people. We live in a society where everything is on the screen in front of us. What would it look like if we started to implement that in our friendships? Actually listening in our conversations. I’ll be on the phone with someone while also working out or making dinner. I’m half listening, and I am telling myself I am just multitasking. LOL NO. Your friends and family deserve your full attention. 

As I was thinking about being intentional with my time, I decided to look up the definition. Intentional means that you are doing things in your life with intention and purpose (shocker) but….. in order to feel happy and fulfilled. You are actively doing things to make yourself happier. As I began to think about what I fill my days with, a lot of the time I am just doing something to please people or because I have to do something. SHOCKER!! This is not being intentional. This might come across as a little selfish to some of you, but I think that is simply okay. Some of us need to put our own needs first sometimes. Some of you are so exhausted from a 9-5, you don’t even know how to be happy because your entire day is crammed-packed. Let’s first, start out by carving out some time for ourselves. 

 

Happy/ Mental Health /

Life is too Short

HEYYYOOO friends! It has been a while since my last blog post, but don’t worry I am trying to be better about posting more blogs. As I finished up my junior year of college, I realized the peace I felt after finals were over. I feel that I have nothing to worry about, and I feel like myself. Happy Justice! I know many of you can relate to this feeling, and as I began to ponder why I feel so peaceful and content in my life. I just realized that we oftentimes put so much pressure on ourselves to be the best all the time. Whether that looks like being the best mom, employee, boss, friend, or girlfriend. What would it look like if we all just slowed down for a little bit? This is easier said than done. I believe we must be cautious of our time each day and what we want to fill it with. Or else your day goes by too fast trying to accomplish everything off your to-do list. I fall into this trap way too often, I am obsessed with my to-do list. You can ask my friends if I have “get gas, go on a walk” on my to-do lists. My main point in this is we need to be intentional about how we use our time, and what makes us happy. If you’re unsure about how you can destress your life, here are a couple of things that I like to do that makes me feel less stressed and happy.

– Take a walk
– Journal
– Paint
– Call your mom/ friend/ anyone that will make you happy
– Put your phone down and enjoy quiet time

I am sure you have heard the saying “you’re stuck with yourself forever,” well it’s true. You’re with yourself 24/7. Make time for yourself every day. Check-in with yourself. Are you truly happy?
Life does get in the way at times, but let me reassure you that as hard as life may feel, your mental health and happiness are just as important. It is so easy to fall into a trap of stress and anxiety about your future and what is next, but God has you in a very specific place on purpose. In times of stress and anxiety take a moment to realize that everything happening right now is supposed to happen. God has you at this exact point in your life on purpose. Lean into your present time.

Let me ask you something. When was there a time when you felt your happiest? You felt the most content or felt the closest to God. You felt proud of yourself. What is in the way of becoming that person, or even becoming a better person? I found that when I spend time by myself, I can understand myself better and whom I want to become. It’s time to feel peace again friends!

I am going to make a large assumption that everyone reading this can agree that time goes by way too fast. “The older you get, the faster it goes.” You might feel this way. I want to remind you, that YOU can make a difference in your own life. It’s time to put yourself first. Time to make YOU happy. Life is too short for you to be unhappy.

Happy/ Mental Health /

Creating A Healthier Brain

Hello friends!

Today I want to talk about something that you likely have never given much thought to before…brain health. I can almost read your brain now as you read this, “Justice, what does that even mean?” Well, I’m glad you asked! I hope to share just a little information about what that means and why it is so crucial to your overall wellness and happiness.

I recently listened to one of the best podcasts called, “How You Can Be Happier: Practical Tips & Advice” by Sadie Robertson. She speaks with leading psychiatrist Dr.Daniel Amen about this exact topic. He explains that happiness is a moral obligation. 

Our society is constantly saying, “more is better.” If we have a nicer car or more money, that will make us happier. Right? This is such a lie. I fall into this trap almost daily. Scrolling through Instagram, the devil is feeding my brain lies, “if you had a flatter stomach, a designer purse, or more money, you might be happier.” More stuff will not make you happier my friends. Why is this so hard for all of us to realize? 

According to Dr. Daniel Amen, drug and alcohol abuse are one of the leading causes of an “unhealthy brain.” As we all have come to realize substance abuse also leads to depression and anxiety. The brain is very much like our bodies, it’s what we fill and fuel it with that makes all the difference. 

Dr. Daniel Amen gave a statistic that blew my brain…no pun intended. He stated that happiness is 40% genetic, 10% situational, and 50% our control and habits. Let that sink in for just a moment. We can become happier, whether we know it or not. It all boils down to our daily routines and habits. We have more control than we often realize. As I think about the concept of happiness, there’s no denying that every human is searching for it. We are wired and designed to long for happiness in our lives. When we are not living with a purpose or to our full potential these alone can be detrimental to our brain health. Your purpose and goals, like showing God’s love to others or putting more effort into school or career are vital to living a purpose-filled life. The healthier and more positive our purpose is, often leads to a healthier brain and overall good health. 

If you feel your past defines the person you are today, my encouragement is that you have the power to change that narrative. Brain health needs to become a priority to experience the life we desire to live. This might sound silly, but write down 2-3 areas in your life that you know could use some improvement. For me, I want to be more present in my conversations with people. I find that sometimes my mind is elsewhere during conversations with people that I love. Yours might be working out more, finding more time to spend with your family, unplugging for stress triggers, or even finding a therapist. Whatever yours might be, it’s time to start creating more purpose in your life. 

I want to pause here for a quick second…I am fully aware that not everyone is in a great place emotionally and we can’t always flip a switch and we are all better or in a better place for that matter. Life can be very challenging and we are not always meant to navigate our quest for happiness alone. I want to encourage you to never feel ashamed for seeking professional help or talking with a friend. This is way too important to continue brushing your happiness under the rug. I don’t know a single soul who isn’t interested in becoming better or becoming happier, who is with me?

Comment below some ways you are going to make your brain healthier! The link to the podcast is down below.