Hunting Happiness, Part 2

Thursday Thought
5/19/2012

Last week, I wrote about how happiness is a moving target. In the Army this term is used as something that is changing and updating continuously and thus forcing us to take it on from different perspectives and views. Read Part 1.

This week, as I continue to discuss how you can stalk and find happiness, I can talk about how happiness can be found in a variety of sources. Much like nutrition happiness comes from so many sources but are they all beneficial for you? That's something to talk about next week.

What I'm here to write about is healing the wounds from bad days so you can continue on the hunt of happiness.

I've been a college graduate for about three years now. Being what society considers by some sort of definition "an adult" has definitely led to some heartbreaks and letdowns while also having some huge growth and ecstatic moments. The setbacks are sudden, you remember those seemingly traumatic events. The growth is gradual, taken for granted the stones you've laid over the course of days for the development of yourself.

Shitty days are bound to happen, is the swing and sway of your ship as you sail through life. It's not what happens during those bad days or how many you have, it's about how you bounce back and continue your stride to victory. If you let the loss take over you, you have essentially surrendered and cannot survive.

There was this one time when I did not receive a promotion at my job. Observations of the hiring process in previous occurrences led to me to conclude that I was going to be a shoe-in. About a week after my second interview, I was disappointed, angry, hurt, and distraught by what I felt was a personal attack on my work ethic and who I was. I dwelled on this loss for a long time, poking the scar still brings pain, but I eventually let it go and moved on. That defeat in turn enabled me to grow and prove myself ten times over. I eventually reminded myself, I will be successful and I won't let this stop me.

When you face a really bad day, how do you recover? What do you do to recover? When do you let it go? What processes do you use to blow off steam? What measures do you put in place to ensure it won't happen again? It's impossible to prevent bad days, but it's how you prepare for them that allow you to prevent mass damage to your heart and ego.

Recapping what I discussed last week: the target of happiness is ever shifting.
This week: Bad days happen. Recovery and growth afterwards makes you stronger. Determine they won't defeat you and you will be victorious, maybe not that day but perhaps the next day.