I'm good, wbu?

Often we don’t realise that our response and reaction to most things are actually automated. The psychology behind it is very interesting and I could be here all day talking about our schema, memory cues and memory models that could pretty much explain this all. However, that’s not what we’re here to discuss.

I want you to ask yourself how many times have you replied with complete honesty when someone has asked “how are you?” or “what you saying?” or “you good?” The truth is most times we tend to answer “I’m good thanks, wbu”(or something similar) without even actually thinking about the question or more importantly, our answer. I know for a fact I’m guilty of this and I didn’t even realise the extent of how meaningful this is until a good friend of mine brought it to my attention. And she did this by simply asking me: “Are you happy?”

Now notice with this question it is so much more specific, why? Well firstly, this is a closed question therefore I can only answer her by saying yes or no. Secondly the question at hand is very specific, I’m being asked if I currently feel a certain emotion, not just if I’m “good”. So because we have such a specific question with quite a simple answer, the question is harder to respond to because you actually have to think, am I happy?

My answer at the time was “I don’t know” and when I answered her I was quite confused and a little upset at the fact that I didn’t even know whether I was happy or not. However this is normal. I feel that sometimes we get so caught up with our day-to-day activities and responsibilities, yes we may have a few giggles here and there but we never consider our genuine happiness. And there’s nothing wrong when you can establish that actually in fact you are not happy but your next step from acknowledging this should be to change that. I’m not saying we should feel happiness 24/7 because to be very honest that would not be normal at all, however when we come to a realisation that we’re not as happy as we should be or want to be, something needs to change.

So today take some time to ask yourself “Am I happy?” and if the answer is no, then start doing things that are going to make you happy and try to stop doing things that don’t. No matter how small or big, make a start somewhere to take care of your happiness, your mental health and most of all yourself.

#happiness#mentalhealth#selfcare