Life is already difficult, complicated, confusing and stressful. Don’t make it worse for yourself. Give up these 15 things for a happier and healthier you!
1. Give up your need to always be right
There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong — wanting to always be right — even at the risk of ending great relationships and causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it.
Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control
Be willing to give up your need to control everything that happens to you and around you — situations, events, people, etc. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will feel so much better! This applies to everyone, whether they are loved ones, co-workers, or just strangers you meet on the street.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” – Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame
Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your negative self-talk
Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” – Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs
…About what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” – Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining
Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things; people, situations and events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy and no situation can make you sad or miserable, unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it.
Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism
Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others
Stop trying so hard to be something you’re not, in hopes that others will like you. It doesn’t work this way.
The moment you stop trying so hard, the moment you take off your mask, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you’ll find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change
Change is good. Change helps you move from A to B. Change allows you make improvements in your life, and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change — don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” – Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels
Stop labeling things, people and events you don’t understand as “weird” or “different.” Minds only work when open.
“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” – Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears
Fear is just an illusion. It doesn’t exist until you create it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses
Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them.
A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses — excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even legitimate.
13. Give up the past
I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present, and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have (and all you will ever have).
The past you are longing for — the past that you are now dreaming about — was ignored by you when it was the present. So stop deluding yourself, and be present in everything you do. After all, life is a journey, and not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment
The moment you detach yourself from all things (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them — because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another. Attachment comes from a place of fear, while love is pure, kind and self-less. They can’t coexist) you’ll become so peaceful, tolerant, kind and so serene, that you’ll arrive at a place where you understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
This is a concept that, for most of us, is difficult to grasp. It was for me too (it still is), but it’s not impossible. You get better and better at this with time and practice.
15. Give up living your life for other people
Too many people are living a life that is not their own. Instead, they live their lives according to what others (their parents, their friends, their teachers, their government, their enemies and the media) believe is best for them.
They ignore their inner voice and inner calling. They are too busy pleasing everyone else, living up to other people’s expectations, and so they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget themselves.
You have one life, this one right now, and you must live it, own it, and never let other’s opinions distract you from your path.
I hope my tips guide you down the path to happiness.
All photos by Marcus Cooper
Meet the Author: Jessica Cooper
I am in my mid-twenties, blogging from Boston, and focusing on living a life full of meaning and happiness.
You can find me on Holistic Hippy. My blog’s purpose is to bring the mind, body, spirit, and environmental awareness to one place. There, you will find helpful tips on how to live in a clearer mind, obtain excellent physical health, find meaning in your life, and do so with an awareness for our environment, making conscious choices.
Every single thing is interconnected, so I find that a holistic approach to finding meaning and happiness works best.
Love & light to you,
Jessica
