The Secret To Become Happy In The Midst Of Hardship

How can you teach yourself to be happy when you are in the middle of a crisis? How do you find happiness in your life when it seems as if nothing that you do is going right? 

Going through rough times is part of growing up. In fact, those who think positively say that the problems that come along are there to teach them lessons. 

And yet, sometimes, in this life, you will have troubles that make you want to put everything on hold. You will hope that you could stop what is happening and make a complete turnaround. You may want to stay in bed and sleep all day long. 

You are not the only one wishing for things to change. Trials in life can indeed be very challenging. In times of hardship, all that you could hold on to is the hope that things will be better in the future. 

Everyone has to go through the hardships of life. No one is exempt. In fact, some people go through life with worse conditions than you. Others have to deal with mental illness or physical disabilities, abuse and trauma, or poor financial situations. 

Perhaps the more important question to ask is this--how do you teach yourself not to retreat? How do you teach yourself to smile no matter how hard it gets? 

It Always Begins With A Smile

How often do you practice smiling? While this may seem to be a small gesture, it has a big impact on one’s physical and mental health. Smiling can help give people the boost that they need. Did you know that smiling helps lower stress levels too?

Smiling can also help you build a good rapport with another person. It can help increase connections while strengthening a relationship. The smile that you give creates that starts a domino effect in the body. It gives you a positive vibe from within that will translate into a good mood. 

But how do you know that your smile is genuine? While others will judge whether you are giving an authentic smile or not, it does not matter what they think. As long as you want to smile, then go ahead. But if you don’t want to smile, then that’s up to you as well. 

Your smile can help you feel empowered. You can bring about a positive impact on others if you want to. Everything begins with a simple smile. Your smile speaks of the courage that you have deep within. It is about having the strength to go through life. When you find it in yourself to smile, you can face any adversity. 

How Do You Embrace Happiness?

The first step to embracing happiness amid the challenges in life is about regaining control over the situation. There is always a reason for you to smile. All you have to do is to find it. 

But how do you find these things?

Identify the things that make you a smile

It does not matter if it is small or big; there will always be a good reason for you to feel happy.

For example, you may find it from the joy of waking up in the morning to the birds chirping by the window of your bedroom. Their sound reminds you of your childhood days when you would recklessly play in the front yard with your siblings. 

Those exciting memories from way back will always be a constant reminder that, at some point in your life, you did feel genuine happiness.

There will always be small things in life that will give you a good reason to smile today. Whether it is a happy memory of the past or a simple thing from today, smile, simply because you can. 

Identify the things that truly matter

When you only look at the problems you have, all you can think of are the challenges that you encounter. But when you try to look at the other side of things, these challenges helped mold you into the strong person you are. 

What matters to you? This is what you should ask yourself every day. The problems that you have gone through have taught you a lesson or two. They taught you how to be strong. They reminded you of what truly matters in your life. 

Whenever you look back to check on what’s important, remember that it is your sanity that’s more important than anything. Your value lies in the fact that you have chosen to learn, move on, and become better. 

Look into what you are good at

When you stop to think about what you are truly good at, you will realize how you can use your strengths to your advantage. 

For example, whenever you are dealing with a problem, getting to the root cause of it should help you solve it. In the process, you will also discover that you are good at picking out important details. 

When your problem gets solved, you not only got rid of it, but you also learned how to deal with it more effectively next time. 

Some people think that nothing good ever comes out of their suffering. While the problems you encounter may hurt you in several ways, they are also teaching you that there is joy in suffering. 

It is only through tough times that people realize who they are and what they can be. It teaches you how to take care of yourself. It makes you recognize the unique skills that you have developed over time. It shows you the value of self-love in all that you do. 

While in this life, you will have trouble, at the end of the day, problems do not come with a purely negative value. They come with a lot of benefits that make you a better version of yourself.