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Few changes that have helped me greatly towards a happier life are: 1. Cutting out alcohol 2. 15 minute meditation before sleeping 3. Regular exercise - e.g

by vgchh 5y ago

Few changes that have helped me greatly towards a happier life are: 1. Cutting out alcohol 2. 15 minute meditation before sleeping 3. Regular exercise - e.g from YouTube 4. Eating less…sort of intermittent fasting 5. Reminding myself to do actions/thoughts that my soul would approve of. Others can do what their soul approves of or not. This has been especially useful. For example I am no longer hurt if someone is being mean. Ultimately they have to be a witness to their soul and are probably just having a bad day. I can’t get inside them and fix it for them. Edit: These steps have essentially made me more alert - more capable if you will. I am able to deal better with good and bad.

kcrx 5y ago
I like this a lot. I’ve struggled with… let’s call it unhappiness a lot in my life. I spent years trying to work through deep emotional things intellectually, but the things that really got me on the right track were: 1. Sleeping 8 hours a day 2. Eating less processed foods & more fruits and vegetables 3. Walking Simple things, and they all took time to turn into habits, but better health/more energy eventually made everything else so much easier.
- kordlessagain 5y ago
  Maybe learning what kills happiness (reference to that post on how to kill pilots) leads to happiness?
  - kcrx 5y ago
    I’m going to borrow that way of thinking about it. Removing obstacles, letting go, etc.
    - pdimitar 5y ago
      That's the way to go. Very often if we are asked "What do you want?" we can't give a good answer, whereas "What do you dislike / hate?" almost always gets an instant answer. In this regard I just succumbed to this brain quirk so I prefer to find 5 things this month that irk me and do my best to remove them from my life, as opposed to meditating hours every day trying to find those 3-4 ultimate things that will instantly make me happy. Better chase the mouse in your feet than to try and find the elephant beyond the horizon.
  - q_andrew 5y ago
    7 ways to maximize misery (one of the more useful CGP Grey videos) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1mTELoj6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1mTELoj6o
AlwaysRock 5y ago
I mean this list seems obvious but its incredible how few people do it. Intermittent fasting is the only way I have been able to control my weight as an adult. Exercising makes you feel better and live longer. Alcohol is a poison that offers short term fun for long term sadness and pain. Sleep makes an immediately and daily impact on your life. Meditation (I don't do it anymore) is like cleaning for your brain and short amounts can be very helpful.
- sankumsek 5y ago
  Could I ask why you don't do meditation anymore?
  - AlwaysRock 5y ago
    I have ADHD and even 7 minutes of guided meditation does wonders for my restless mind in the morning. But mostly I feel out of habit and have not gotten back into it. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 25 so spend most of my life with racing thoughts. The clarity I got from meditation was nice but it also feels like it impairs the way I am used to my brain working so the trade off was not really welcomed. I cut my caffeine consumption drastically (several expressos a day to 1 regular cup) which helped with racing thoughts and started taking melatonin before bed which helps prevent me staying awake trying to sleep for hours. Those two things also came from meditation but I'm able to get them elsewhere now without losing some of the creativity I find in my thought patterns during the day.
- wing-_-nuts 5y ago
  >Alcohol is a poison that offers short term fun for long term sadness and pain. Alcohol in excess? Certainly, but I don't buy the idea that alcohol in moderation is harmful. There have, of course, been studies that draw negative conclusions about alcohol, but they either commingle societal effects or discount the cardiovascular benefits. TLDR: Alcohol in moderation is fine. Just don't drink to excess. Nearly all the negative impacts of alcohol are on a J-shaped curve that increase exponentially beyond about 20 drinks / week, and that is far from 'moderate' drinking.

by vgchh 5y ago

kcrx 5y ago

I like this a lot. I’ve struggled with… let’s call it unhappiness a lot in my life. I spent years trying to work through deep emotional things intellectually, but the things that really got me on the right track were: 1. Sleeping 8 hours a day 2. Eating less processed foods & more fruits and vegetables 3. Walking Simple things, and they all took time to turn into habits, but better health/more energy eventually made everything else so much easier.

kordlessagain 5y ago
Maybe learning what kills happiness (reference to that post on how to kill pilots) leads to happiness?
- kcrx 5y ago
  I’m going to borrow that way of thinking about it. Removing obstacles, letting go, etc.
  - pdimitar 5y ago
    That's the way to go. Very often if we are asked "What do you want?" we can't give a good answer, whereas "What do you dislike / hate?" almost always gets an instant answer. In this regard I just succumbed to this brain quirk so I prefer to find 5 things this month that irk me and do my best to remove them from my life, as opposed to meditating hours every day trying to find those 3-4 ultimate things that will instantly make me happy. Better chase the mouse in your feet than to try and find the elephant beyond the horizon.
- q_andrew 5y ago
  7 ways to maximize misery (one of the more useful CGP Grey videos) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1mTELoj6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO1mTELoj6o

AlwaysRock 5y ago

I mean this list seems obvious but its incredible how few people do it. Intermittent fasting is the only way I have been able to control my weight as an adult. Exercising makes you feel better and live longer. Alcohol is a poison that offers short term fun for long term sadness and pain. Sleep makes an immediately and daily impact on your life. Meditation (I don't do it anymore) is like cleaning for your brain and short amounts can be very helpful.

sankumsek 5y ago
Could I ask why you don't do meditation anymore?
- AlwaysRock 5y ago
  I have ADHD and even 7 minutes of guided meditation does wonders for my restless mind in the morning. But mostly I feel out of habit and have not gotten back into it. I was diagnosed with ADHD at 25 so spend most of my life with racing thoughts. The clarity I got from meditation was nice but it also feels like it impairs the way I am used to my brain working so the trade off was not really welcomed. I cut my caffeine consumption drastically (several expressos a day to 1 regular cup) which helped with racing thoughts and started taking melatonin before bed which helps prevent me staying awake trying to sleep for hours. Those two things also came from meditation but I'm able to get them elsewhere now without losing some of the creativity I find in my thought patterns during the day.
wing-_-nuts 5y ago
>Alcohol is a poison that offers short term fun for long term sadness and pain. Alcohol in excess? Certainly, but I don't buy the idea that alcohol in moderation is harmful. There have, of course, been studies that draw negative conclusions about alcohol, but they either commingle societal effects or discount the cardiovascular benefits. TLDR: Alcohol in moderation is fine. Just don't drink to excess. Nearly all the negative impacts of alcohol are on a J-shaped curve that increase exponentially beyond about 20 drinks / week, and that is far from 'moderate' drinking.