🙃 Get- happy secret series 😁
Week 2. Be Independent
Have you ever wondered that being independent means you are happier about yourself and your life?
When Suzanne was 11, she decided she will become a bridal dress designer.
Suzanne was a small town girl who grew up in a town where the women either became teachers or nurses. She always was dreaming of her own wedding with her Prince Charming and what she will wear.
Most little girls just keep this dream within the Cinderella storyline. However, not Suzanne.
She even was dreaming of a dress which was unique and one of a kind. She started secretly making drawings of herself in puffy white dresses and she told her Mom one day she will make bridal dresses for other girls.
Everyone kept telling her that it is so competitive and she is unlikely to make it. It was not for her and it is not a good woman’s job. Her friends and family discouraged her because they did not want her to fail and feel awful about it (and herself)…
Then one day on a school trip, they went up to the capital where she walked through the shopping streets and came across bridal shops with beautiful windows and dresses.
That day she decided she will not listen to anyone else! She decided she will do it because it is important for her and she enjoyed being creative and wanted to make women’s dreams come true.
She decided she will be a bridal dress designer for sure and never gave up on her dream.
Now, Suzanne’s dresses are available online and in several stores too. Her next project is opening her own little flagship store.
Studies show that making independent choices, like Suzanne CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY.
Happy people follow their own ideas.
When you choose your own activities, hobbies and life choices:
- you are not doing the things that you have to, YOU GET A FEELING OF AUTONOMY.
- Which leads you to have a happiness boost that lasts.
So how do you become the one who has a different colour of spark about them?
When Suzanne was young, she told me her parents told her to play nursing with her dolls. To take care of them. When she then started to cut the dolls’ dresses to create her own outfits for them, her parents were disappointed. They told her she should have taken care of the dolls instead of ruining their dresses….
So she was playing nursing with the dolls and feeling like she did something bad. She secretly still designed dresses for them and her mood lifted. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
Take a look at the things you do and ASK YOURSELF:
- Which are the things I do that I CHOSE?
- Which are the things I do that were chosen for me? (e.g. by parents, peer pressure etc.)
You will soon realise what you are doing for yourself and what you might be doing for others. Then switch the things which make you unhappy and watch your mood lift.
Sometimes, we cannot choose to do what we want. I get it. So in that case, make a switch on the one thing you can: Your Attitude.
If you understand why something is valuable to you, it makes you feel more independent.
Like, you can either feel terrified of applying to jobs and going to interviews or you can think, I am doing this so I can get a better job and earn more money to take care of my family.
Also do not forget that the only person who can make you happy is you. So be independent and make the choices that you want and watch yourself becoming happier and happier being you.