Usually, people associate anger and sadness as the opposite of joy. But that’s not true. Happy people can also experience negativity once a while. But they know well, not to let the negativity take over them. But for people who can’t seem to push the negativity away, it’s usually the lack of emotions that make it hard for them to experience joy in their lives. Sadly, most of us have allowed the state of apathy to take over our lives.
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We ignore our feelings and intuitions by saying, ‘whatever’, ‘let’s go with the flow’ or ‘nevermind’. We shrug off our tears and feelings when we are hurt. Because of this you eventually learn to block your feelings away It becomes hard for you to experience negative emotions as well as positive emotions. If you block your emotions now, they there might be a time where you would be overcome with a glut of emotions and you wouldn’t know how to handle the mess. In this article, you will learn how to overcome emotional apathy and feel genuine joy.
6. Becoming Mindful
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For most people, the easiest way to deal with fear and anger is to simply avoid it, ignore it, or escape from the situation. You need to understand that these are not the solution to your problem. In order to overcome your fear and anger, you need to acknowledge it. You need to comprehend the underlining cause of your fear anger. Escapism is not an ideal method to deal with anger, in fact, it will further mold you into darkness and make you feel more negative emotions.
This is why we’ll understand mindfulness here. Mindfulness is a kind of meditation that helps you develop positive emotions in your mind. Instead of imagining situations and scenarios that you wish to happen, mindfulness allows you to enjoy the current moment you’re living in. This helps you in evaluating your conditions and options without being too critical of yourself.
The success rate of this therapy is quite high and it actually boosts physical changes in the brain that helps them in controlling their emotions better.
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Mindfulness can be observed in many ways, one is the traditional meditation that you do early morning, and make effort in investing some time to focus on your relaxation and breathing.
Once you get used to mediatation you’ll start experiencing new emotions, you’ll become more aware of your thoughts, the room temperature, your body. You will pay more attention to your heart rate and to your well being. In short, you are now more present and aware of your current state.
Another easy way to exercise meditation is to imitate it while in action. This can be a little difficult for beginners, but if you’ve been meditating for quite some time now, you’ll easily get the hang of it. This means to implement mindfulness when a negative emotion overcomes you, this could be anytime during the day. When you feel overpowered by a negative feeling, simple meditate to focus back on the positivity and the current situation.
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As mentioned above it can be difficult to practice mindfulness in the moment, as shrugging and ignoring a negative emotion can be easier. But going in a state of mindfulness can help you have more control over your emotional strength and negative emotions.
5. Explore The Source Of Your Apathy
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Most of the time mindfulness is not enough. To completely overcome the negativity, you need to figure out where your apathy is coming from. Usually, its a severe case of anxiety that stops you from experiencing any feelings or it is strongly associated with depression. However, lack of energy and poor diet can also be underlying causes for the lack of apathy.
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An easier way to understand the causes of apathy is to practice the above-mentioned meditation and mindfulness. It will enable you to learn more about your body and your emotions. Apart, from that keeping an honest journal to note down your thoughts, ideas and emotions can also help you connect the dots and discover the real causes of your lack of emotions.
Once you have all the dots connected and identified the real cause of the problem, you can scheme a plan or routine that will help you in overcoming it.
4. Recognize and Create Opportunities For Joy
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Make sure whatever plan you make, you emphasize on being happy and seeking joy. Throughout your life, you must have heard, happiness is not a choice, its a decision. Well, actually it is true. If you want to be happy, you seek for opportunities that will add on to your happiness and give you immense joy.
People who genuinely want to be happy, invest in their happiness. They do things that will make them happy. This could either be reading a book, taking yourself out for a movie, treating yourself a fancy dinner, buying yourself an expensive present as long as it makes you happy. Doing this also helps you explore new opportunities in life. Try going out on an adventure or doing something you’ve never done before. Go paragliding, or get guitar lessons, its time to put you out there and step out of your shell.
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Implementing this in your life will be exactly like pursuing new or old hobbies. Urging yourself to attend community events and going out for a party will definitely help you meet new people and explore your potential. Also, remember that not everyone you meet will have the same point of view as yours, but you might also meet people who are just as passionate as you and trying to find their happiness too.
3. Reach Out To Others
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Your struggle to achieve happiness can be difficult, but if you have people who support you and people to reach out in time of trouble then it will be a lot easier for you to experience positive emotions.
People who are generally happy have better relationships in their life. These people are also more resilient to negativity in their lives. You can also develop strong relationships by occasionally visiting community events, social gatherings. Remember all struggles and hardships become easy when you have friends and family showering you with immense support and love.
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Friendships and romantic relationships can play a great part in overcoming apathy, just keep in mind that they are not your only source of happiness. Involve yourself in volunteer work to meet new people and make new connections.
2. Ensure Your Actions Have Purpose
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If you ask the people in your life who are genuinely happy, they will tell you the things they do and the plans they make. They don’t have time to sit around and ponder over the negativity in life. If you sit and wonder what you did yesterday and you have no clue, then its time you make the most of every minute of your life.
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Fill your life with fun activities and adventures to keep yourself busy. You will see how dramatically your life will change and you will grow and prosper in all aspects of life.
1. Conclusion
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Every person deserves to be happy and every person has a chance of achieving great happiness in life. If you ever feel down, think of all the people who are disabled or lost their loved ones. They still get past their sorrow and live a happy contented life.
To reach the peak of happiness all it takes is a little self-awareness, strong will, and some meditation.
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Article By: Born Realist