There is rarely a quick fix that works. Change takes time. The beauty of the Grand Canyon wasn’t formed after one big rainstorm. It took years and years of storms and erosion to create such a natural wonder. Our lives are no different. It would be extremely rare to find a person who just wakes up one day and decides to be happy and everything is suddenly perfect. The journey to achieve daily happiness happens one step at a time.
I just completed my sixth half marathon race. It’s no easy feat, especially for someone not naturally genetically disposed to being athletic. My ancestors were carrying potatoes through a field and not sprinting across a prairie. But one thing I’ve learned from training for these runs is that it takes time. There are no shortcuts to putting the work in. You have to do the long lungs to prepare your body to take on that kind of impact. You have to exercise frequently at a challenging level to increase your ability to sustain a higher heart rate and still be able to breathe! You have to adjust your thinking to push through the boredom, frustration, and discomfort to prove to yourself that you are capable of more than you expected. So each step of the way, quite literally, is preparing you for the greater challenge ahead.
Life is no different. The little choices you make each day prepare you for future challenges. The more you push yourself to be more, do more, learn more, and love more the better prepared you will be for anything life throws your way in the future. It’s not always going to be fun. It’s not a quick process. It’s going to feel uncomfortable quite often, but it will be worth it.
Making the choice to do things that will bring you more happiness is not always an easy choice. Each day take time to be aware of how you feel and what choices are bringing more happiness. I made the choice a few years ago to stop eating Chinese food unless it was at a nicer restaurant. I loved that quick take out cheap food, but I noticed I always felt awful afterward. It’s the same with dairy ice cream, but I still splurge on it every once in a while! There are plenty of days I don’t feel like exercising, but I do it anyway because I know if I skip a day, I’m far more likely to skip the next day. Today’s discomfort of doing something I don’t want to do leads to the longer-lasting happiness of being in great shape and feeling healthy. I didn’t love the long runs I did every Sunday for three months before this race, but I love that I was once again able to achieve a goal and hopefully inspire a few people as well.
Creating a beautiful and happy life is going come from surviving the storms and eroding away the unnecessary beliefs that are holding you back. Follow the steps that lead to long term happiness instead of the quick fix. That binge meal isn’t going to lead to happiness, and talking with that friend that always brings you down isn’t carving a new path to happiness either. Look at the effects of the choices you make each day, and you will discover what truly creates happiness in your life. When you are committed to creating true happiness, the path will become quite clear if you are looking for it.
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