Physical Activity and Happiness

What can I say? Being active makes me happier than most other activities I pursue. I would like to say that it's ONLY about how I feel afterwards... the accomplishment, the endorphins, etc... but it's very hard not to focus on the physical changes that come along with working out. I often find myself looking in the mirror or taking pictures of my more defined muscles or smaller stomach. What I've noticed over time, however, is that weight fluctuates... throughout the year, the month, the week... even throughout the DAY. Why should I bother checking out my stomach if it's just going to make me UNHAPPY when it's bigger after dinner?

I have to say that I do NOT recommend working out to see physical changes. This may seem hypocritical because, yes, I do it too, but it doesn't make me happy, and, if anything, it causes me more distress. It is something that I am currently working on changing.

Not everything we do has to be in our own best interest... in fact, if it were, nobody would ever do nice things for others. However, exercise, aside from sports, is a personal and self-centered activity. We should do it to improve our cardiovascular health, our strength, and our longevity. Magazines, which I will discuss in depth another time, often portray exercise as a vehicle for weight loss or toning up, but that puts unnecessary pressure on us. People wouldn't care what they looked like if they felt happy and healthy already!

Also, wouldn't it be nice to just work out when we felt like it and when we had the energy? I know that in our society, with stressful jobs, home lives, and other seemingly more important priorities, exercise seems more like a chore than an activity to do for fun. This is why there are days when we can't exercise or just don't want to, and that's OKAY. I find that I have to consistently remind myself that even a 15 minute walk counts for physical activity. If I have a lot of homework, even stretching in between assignments makes me feel better.

The main idea here is that...
1) Our bodies were meant to move, but we aren't all gym junkies, and we don't all need to be! I personally like pumping iron sometimes, but salsa dancing, hiking, and kayaking are all just as beneficial.
2) On those days when we just have too much to do, we can't beat ourselves up about being "LAZY". If you're one of those people who KNOWS you will be unhappy if you don't get any physical activity, then you're like me, and you probably want to take a short stroll or a stretching break. If you are totally okay with not exercising for a day, then good for you! We all admire you :)
3) I don't believe that excuses help anybody too much, but neither does regret. My tip is to just say, "What can I do that will make me feel better in the long run?" (haha, maybe go for a LONG RUN. Okay, that was stupid.)
4) If you are more of the type who makes excuses and lacks motivation on most days to work out, try some type of new exercise. There are endless ways to get your body moving and your heart rate up. I actually shot hoops yesterday and scootered around the block for the first time since last summer, and it was incredibly fun!

Fitness is one of those things that is always on my mind, so you will definitely hear more from me on this topic.

Why a blog of all things?

Hi! My name is Julia, and I've decided to start a blog on happiness.

If you don't know me at all, one thing you should know is that I feel better when things are organized. However, I am far from a neat freak, which, as you might guess, causes me quite a bit of cognitive dissonance... but we can get into that another time. For now.. to stay on track, let me tell you why I wanted to start a blog.

1) I want to become a better writer. Yes, I do know that many blogs are written in chat lingo, but I plan on using (more or less) grammatically correct sentences on my posts. I also hope to broaden my vocabulary a bit, which will always be helpful in the future.

2) At the same time... blogs are casual. I know for myself that I need a delicate balance between organization and leniency in order to avoid being stressed out with writing.

3) It has taken me a long time to realize it, but I truly enjoy expressive and creative writing. It is really hard to be a high school student in a regular English class and really LIKE writing all the essays we are assigned...fortunately, I am officially a high school graduate in five (5) days! I think that the assigned reading really turned me away from taking the Honors English courses at my high school, which could have probably enhanced my literary skills quite a bit. However, regret gets us nowhere.

4) I want to be able to help myself as well as others find the "key" to happiness. I used quotations because, of course, there is no magical solution for everyone that cures depression or life dissatisfaction. That is why everything in this blog is completely subjective, and any advice I may give is not meant to be taken personally. You can use it however you feel works for you.

I know I mentioned myself above, and yes, I will admit right now, I have suffered from depression on and off since I was about 12 years old. It has manifested itself in many different ways, but, thanks to lots of introspection (and a lot of therapy in general), I have become self-aware enough to keep it in check. I feel that a lot of people, especially in the United States, are unhappy for various reasons... maybe due to societal pressures, family problems, chemical imbalances, negative explanatory styles... there are endless causes for unhappiness.

There are also an infinite number of solutions for unhappiness. Nothing works for everyone, but I TRULY believe that each and every human being is capable of being happy. One of the first steps is figuring out what is truly bothering you... the underlying issue... which is often masked by a more obvious problem. The fix comes next, and applying it takes the longest.

As I have diverged from my original list, my point is that I am making a blog so that others can learn, as I continue to learn, what makes them happy and how to maintain happiness in the long run. I'm sure my blog will still appear more like a journal and become more informal, but I hope to keep it organized enough so people can obtain what's important from it and so that its underlying THEME still comes out.

The last thing in this entry (because shorter entries are more fun to read than ridiculously long ones, in my book) is my reiteration of the fact that nothing I write should be taken TOO seriously. I want to assume that people will read this blog, but I don't want anybody to butcher the advice I give and end up in some sort of bad situation... although I would hope that wouldn't happen. I don't have any therapy license or professional degree... all I have to offer is COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE INSIGHT ON HAPPINESS. :)

[More coming soon!]