What I Did to Finally Let Myself Be Happy
Dress: Amazon // Jewelry: Park Lane
Last year I chose the word “Abundance” for my word of the year. It was evident in my life I needed to find more joy every day. I wasn’t necessarily miserable or depressed at that time (I fought those battles a few years prior) but I was struggling with feeling happy. I remember that a mentor shared with me the area I needed the most growth in was just doing the things that make me happy. Not the things that made me the most productive. So here I go, trying to shift from doing what I’ve done year over year and now I am supposed to just find joy. About this time last year, I embarked on a 600-mile one-direction road trip. I guess when all was said and done it was the change I needed.
I started with buying myself the flowers
Once I dug myself out of a financial black hole, I was able to have a little spending money each month. I started buying myself the flowers. In the past I have had flowers given to me for birthdays, occasions, I’m sorry and makeup gifts, and then of course the I’m going to get lucky tonight move. I’m a sucker for a good bouquet of flowers. Well, right then and there I started buying myself flowers regularly. Sometimes I’d go with a ton of carnations, and another time it was a selection of anything I wanted. But I decided then and there I wanted to look at flowers every day in my house.
Then I went on solo trips
Some of you will read this and think there’s no way in hell you could pull off a solo trip. Well, I am here to tell you that the universe has a way of delivering. It started with a 1200 mile trip to Florida. I drove 600 miles in one day and pushed myself to do something scary. It worked. By June I was back in Florida. I traveled all over the South this year and cannot wait to do some more. I figured out an 8.5-hour drive in any direction was about as far as I could handle in one day. If I can split it into two days I’m happier. Getting out and going on my own was freeing.
I Let Go of The Things That Were Plaguing Me
I worked hard each day and realized that if I wanted to actually feel happy, I would have to make more room for it. In doing so, I’d have to let go of the negative things I was holding onto. I let go of frustrations I had no control over. I worked up a mental plan to face uncomfortable situations, so I had a framework to reference as I dealt with people who were tough. I also started spending more time journaling. When I don’t process my thoughts, I tend to struggle more. I’ve been happily journaling each morning before my day gets going and throughout the day if something difficult arises. It’s helped so much in being able to let go of things that don’t belong to me. Let go over how people acted when they were upset. Let go of things not going according to plan. Let go of anything that doesn’t serve you, make your life better, or bring you joy. I even discarded many mismatching socks. Items and emotions can be baggage and now I just redirect my focus to something that brings me joy.
