{"id":1014,"date":"2018-09-23T19:13:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T23:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atashajordan.com\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2020-02-01T19:09:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T00:09:10","slug":"be-happy-on-purpose-the-secret-to-living-your-best-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atashajordan.com\/blog\/be-happy-on-purpose-the-secret-to-living-your-best-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Happy on Purpose: The Secret to Living Your Best Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A lot of folks have mentioned to me lately that I seem really happy. Some have asked if it\u2019s genuine joy or happiness presented \u201cfor the 'gram.\u201d Well, to clear up any confusion: I am, indeed, quite happy! This doesn\u2019t mean that everything in my life is perfect. But despite that, I\u2019ve chosen to be happy on purpose.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be happy on purpose?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

The mantra \u201cbe happy on purpose\u201d sounds nice, but what does it actually mean?<\/p>\n

I see purposeful happiness as a strategy of aligning my thoughts and behaviors to create the emotion that I desire<\/em>: happiness. If you want to learn more about the psychology behind this, I go into detail about the relationship between behavior, thoughts,\u00a0and emotions, in this Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Triangle series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/p>\n

Where does my happiness come from?<\/strong><\/h6>\n

When I reflect on this new journey of purposeful happiness, I realize that my happiness is rooted in my relationship with Christ. I\u2019ve become more purposeful about praying and checking with my spirit as I experience different things in life. This has helped me to remain joyous even when things are tough. This might be hard to understand, especially if you're not Christian. So, I'll also speak more specifically to how I adjust my thoughts and behaviors to achieve the happiness that I seek.<\/p>\n

To be happy on purpose, first I focus on my thoughts. In general, I tend to skew more negative than positive in my thought processes. I usually prepare for the worse while hoping for the best. But now, I actively recognize the moments when I\u2019m spiraling in negative thoughts. Most of the time, the \u201cwhat if\u201d scenarios that I envision have a .0001% chance of ever happening. So, instead of being focused on negativity, which leads to sadness instead of happiness, I have worked to focus on the positive. Here are some recent examples from my life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Annoying\/Negative Event<\/th>My Reaction<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
I got off on the wrong bus stop on the way to work<\/td>Viewed it as extra exercise that morning (and I ended up bumping into a high school friend!)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
My Megabus to NYC this weekend was overbooked and the driver wouldn\u2019t let me on<\/td>I just waited to get on the next one since I wasn\u2019t in a rush. I ended up getting put on another bus just a couple minutes later<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I didn\u2019t wake up early enough to workout in the morning for a whole week<\/td>I worked out in the evening instead. My gym is in my building so I can go whenever<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The scanner at school wouldn\u2019t work when I needed to send a time sensitive document<\/td>I took a picture of the document. Thankfully, I have a phone that takes decent pictures of documents with the scanner app, so all was fine in the end<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
My residency application submission process was not as smooth as I envisioned (aka...incredibly stressful)<\/td>I freaked out, stressed, cried and vented on my IG stories (hey...I'm not perfect lol)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Funny enough\u2026.making the list above was actually really hard. Because I truly have been focusing on the positive in my life, I can\u2019t remember anything else that was bad! #LivingMyBestLife By shifting my thoughts to the positive things in my life - family, health, great friends, the privilege to travel, an apartment that I love...etc etc - I realized being anything but happy would be a shame.<\/p>\n

In addition to focusing on more positive thoughts, I've adjusted my behaviors to help me to be happy on purpose. You've probably heard the saying \"stop and smell the roses\" more times than you'd like. But that saying exemplifies how I've changed my behaviors to be happy on purpose. I have worked toward being more mindful and present in my daily experiences. The birds sound just a bit chirpier, and the sunshine seems a bit brighter\u00a0when I focus on how these things bring me tiny doses of joy throughout the day. On top of that, I make sure to do the activities that I enjoy. I've been exercising almost every day,<\/a> writing blog posts, and hanging out with friends. These are just some examples of how I use my behaviors to be happy on purpose.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things\u201d - Sunflowers are \u2018common things\u2019 that bring me tons of joy ...but I\u2019m not smelling the sunflowers here because there were mad bees on them, and I don\u2019t do bees \ud83d\ude02 - This summer has been one of finding happiness in the little things. Bit by bit, it built up to overwhelming joy. Joy doesn\u2019t mean that things are perfect. Rather, I\u2019ve made peace that my life is mine, and I have to make the most of it everyday. - - - #midweek #wednesday #humpday #almostthere #finishline #wednesdayfeels #wednesdayvibes #wednesdaymotivation #wednesdaygrind #motivation #wcw #inspiring #youcandoit #icandoit #justbringit #dreambig #success #staypositive #noexcuses #grind #focus #dedication #selflove #selfcare #smile #happiness #joy<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Atasha Jordan<\/a> (@atashajordan) on