When we feel sad, depressed or unhappy, we often think that we’re the only one, and we’re alone. And we think that if we had more money, if were rich and famous, all our troubles would just go away. We’d be together and happy all the time. But money and being rich and famous do not make us immune from the stresses and emotional struggles of life.
Yesterday my friend at Everyday Health shared with me an article titled, How Happy is Dr. Oz? In the article, the famous cardiothoracic surgeon and prominent TV host, Dr. Mehmet Oz, candidly shared, in an interview with Dr. Andrew Weil, his blues, his afternoon sugar cravings, and why he was once known as “The Mad Turk.”
Dr. Andrew Weil, one of my personal heroes, also shared personal stories about his own long-term depression, social isolation and loneliness, in his new book Spontaneous Happiness.
It’s somehow comforting to know that the famous and successful, the health gurus, and the people you admire, also struggle with the eternal pursuit of human happiness. Isn’t happiness the ultimate goal that each of us desires? But is it something that just drops in our lap or is it something we have to work on to experience?
I’m increasingly convinced that happiness is a result of how we manage our physical, mental and emotional states. And Dr. Weil and Dr. Oz’s experiences seem to confirm this notion.
Surely there are times we are simply joyous and happy. But there are many other times when we have to work to bring our moods back into equilibrium, “an emotional sea level” as Dr. Weil calls it. In fact, he believes that our emotional sea level is not necessarily happiness but rather contentment – which seems a more realistically worthwhile goal to aim for.
These are a couple of things Dr. Oz, Dr. Weil and I do to help maintain our emotional equilibrium:
- Finding the blessings in the people around you, because they’re the ones that support your life.
- Automating your life by establishing regular rhythms and routines, which offers you room for creativity and relaxation.
- Realizing that life is full of ups and downs, and learning to increase your capacity for dealing with life’s stresses and challenges.
- Training your mind to focus, because a focused mind is a happy mind.
- Cultivating healthy lifestyle. When your body is happy, your mind is likely to be happy as well.
How do you manage your emotional wellbeing? What’s your experience? What have you learned? Please share it with us…
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