WEGO Health: What do you think is the key to happiness? Is it being able to overcome a hard time? Laughter? Maintaining a positive attitude? Tell us what you think and why.
The key to happiness. It seems like such a simple statement. But, at the same time, it feels like a loaded one. What is the key to happiness?
I feel that the key to happiness is a variety of things. I also think that it depends on the person. What I feel is the key to happiness may not be what other people believe. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t like it when people tell me to, “Just be positive.” There are times being positive is extremely hard when you have a chronic disease that won’t go away. There are times that I just need to get all of the negativity out of my system and I do that through ranting and raving.
For me I think the biggest key to happiness is learning how to deal with the times life knocks you down. It can be so hard to maintain a positive attitude and to have the energy to keep going sometimes. One thing I do to cope with the hard times is read a lot and play video games. It’s a way for me to escape life but not wear myself out at the same time. Which is very important for me. There are times I’m absolutely exhausted so I need things to do that don’t require a whole lot of energy. They also provide an escape from reality. There are times you just need a mental break and to not think about what’s going on.
Another thing that I have come to terms with is that life isn’t fair and will never be fair. If I try to think about why things happen or that I didn’t deserve this it will get me no where. I’ve had to accept the fact that I have a incurable autoimmune disease. What I do to cope with that is hold onto the good days when they come. I try to focus on what I can do every day instead of what I can’t do. Having this attitude everyday is what has helped me a lot. I don’t get upset like I used to when I would make long lists of things to do and not be able to get everything done.
Surrounding yourself with people who support you is another key to happiness. You don’t need people in your life who drag you down. Or make up excuses to not be involved in your life when you need them. It sucks when it happens and it hurts a lot. When it happened to me it raised a lot of questions as to why it happened but once I moved on as best as I could I definitely felt better. I have people now in my life that I know will be there for me when I need them.
In the end, I think that is very important that everyone discovers for themselves what the key to happiness is for them.