Because life is short, follow the Happy Path for more tips and inspiration to live your happiest live.
There is an old fable about two wolves in the heart of a person. One for light and one for darkness or one for happiness and one for sadness. As the grandfather tells his granddaughter about these two animals locked in an epic battle she asks him “which one wins?” And his reply is simply “The one you feed.”
It got me thinking. How do we feed the monster of anxiety or depression and how can we feed happiness.
Ways we feed the unhelpful wolf
- Setting unrealistic expectations of ourselves
- Being unkind to ourselves
- Avoiding getting treatment
- Isolating ourselves
- Tolerating abuse
- Focusing on money too much / not focusing on money enough
- Accepting a steady decline
- Accepting a difficult/unbearable depression or aniexty
- Letting mental health continually affect our lives and not taking action
Good ways to feed the happiness wolf
- Regularly doing things we enjoy
- Resting often (micro, meso and macro breaks)
- Challenging ourselves safely
- Learning new things
- Taking a balanced view on situations
- Getting help
- Offering help
- Understanding our wants and needs
- Focus our lives around those core beliefs that drive us
How do you feed your wolves?
Ultimately it is about us reflecting on who we feed our internal beasts and how that affects us.
Recently I have been feeding the unhappy wolf, working far too much, not cultivating positive internal dialogue and not spending enough time with friends, or taking regular breaks. All things I can and I am actively working to address. I am now limiting the amount of evenings I spend working late and how late I work, I am trying to prioritise more, I am booking in lunch dates and evening dates with friends and I am trying to catch and stop the negative self speak.
All this matters simply because if something resonates with you to empower you to think about being happier, even if you are happy to start with then it is worth sharing our ideas. Sharing is caring people 🙂
Fight 4 Happiness 
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