The other day I saw a quote that instantly made me feel better.
“Life is still beautiful, we’re just too stressed out.”
Thinking about it, how long has it been since we stopped to take in the scenery?
Fast-paced work and life, the constant emergence of new things around us, all make us feel overwhelmed and exhausted. We’re so busy chasing after everything, we forget that while we complain about how busy life is, life is still beautiful. We just don’t have the time or energy to discover that beauty.
“Life is not just about the grind, there’s also poetry and the distant horizon.”
So, if we put down our burdens and go find that poetry and that distant horizon, will we be happier?
The answer is no.
Poetry and the distant horizon are beautiful, but without bread and bus fare, we can’t get there.
A lot of people miss their childhood, thinking that their childhood was carefree and happy.
That’s because those burdens weren’t on our shoulders yet. It feels like everything is because we’ve grown up, and so we have to shoulder responsibilities and pressures, face work, family, and all sorts of problems.
But the real reason is that we want more things now compared to when we were kids.
As a kid, a few marbles, a kite, a doll, a dress, could make us happy for a long, long time.
But now, even a few bottles of wine, a new phone, a bunch of handbags, a whole closet full of dresses, can’t make us happy anymore.
We’re sad and heartbroken over what we’ve lost and the opportunities we’ve missed, and we’re anxious and worried about the future.
The More You Know, The Harder It Is to Be Happy
Calm down, look around, those things that made us happy as kids are still there. Like the blue sky, the green trees, the white clouds and the sunset, the flowers on the side of the road, the birds and the cats and the dogs. It’s just that our busy footsteps have missed them.
Because our daily lives are so busy, we should learn to relax, learn to enjoy life, and discover the beauty in life.
But before that, we need to be clear about one thing: relaxation isn’t indulgence.
To create a better life, there are some difficulties that must be overcome. That’s not life being difficult, it’s the trials and tribulations we have to go through on the road to progress.
Like a stone being ground into an inkstone, it goes through countless rounds of grinding, changing and perfecting its shape in the pain, finally transforming from a seemingly ordinary stone into a beautiful and practical work of art, just like our lives.
At the same time, life isn’t just about striving, it’s also about pursuing happiness and joy, enjoying a high quality of life. Just like the grinding of an inkstone needs water to cool and lubricate it, so the stone doesn’t crack, life is the same way. If we only pursue speed and perfection, it could eventually lead to us breaking down because of too much pressure.
If you want to find the beauty in life, to reward your busy self, you only need a few simple things.
Cultivate a Mindset of Enjoyment
When we do something we don’t like, we feel tortured. If it’s something we like doing, we’ll feel like we’re enjoying it. So, we should learn to choose things we’re good at doing, not what everyone else is doing, not what people expect us to do.
Everyone has different strengths. If we insist on doing things we don’t like or aren’t good at, we’ll only get half the results for twice the effort, and become more tired and exhausted. To know how to enjoy something, you first have to be your true self.
Only by truly facing your own thoughts, not forcing yourself, can you treat yourself well, truly love yourself.
When we learn to treat ourselves well, we can truly have a mindset of enjoying life, discover more beauty in life, and bring that beauty to the people around us.
Learn to Be Grateful
Gratitude isn’t like a thank-you speech where you thank everyone and everything around you. It’s a habit of discovering beauty, a kind of contentment. For example, being grateful for everything you have.
Those things we think are ordinary, might be something others dream of. When we look at the world, there are many people who are groping around in the dark. When we listen, there are many people who are wandering in silence. As healthy people, we’re already very lucky.
The same goes for our loved ones, family, and friends. Cherishing the people around us is a form of gratitude. It can make us feel happy every day, and make us grateful every day that we can open our eyes in the morning and welcome a new day in our lives.
For example, every time we eat, we’re grateful for the delicious food, grateful that we haven’t gotten sick and don’t have to give up meat and oil. Food can enhance our sense of happiness. If we just eat mechanically, we’ll be wasting three opportunities to feel happiness and joy every day.
Understand That Some Things Are Up to Fate
We should work hard for what we want, because we can control our efforts. When it comes to the results, we should learn to go with the flow, because the outcome is up to fate. We should strive for what we might get, because it’s up to us to make things happen.
Going with the flow doesn’t mean not working hard, it means that when we face results we can’t control, we shouldn’t be overly anxious or worried, or overly demanding of the outcome we hope for. Some things, we get them, great. If we don’t get them, we tried our best.
Don’t punish or torture yourself with a disappointing outcome, and lose your happiness.
Many people experience repeated setbacks and pain in relationships because they can’t go with the flow. The higher our expectations, the more painful the disappointment. If we constantly pursue perfection, we’ll also feel a lot of pressure throughout the process. This pressure will actually affect our mood and lead to the results we don’t want.
So, people who know how to go with the flow are actually more likely to get results they’re satisfied with. It’s not because they’ve lowered their standards, it’s because they’re calm and relaxed, and more likely to make the right choices.
In addition to these things, we can also try some practical tips to cultivate our ability to discover beauty.
For example, actively tell yourself. Psychologist William James once said, “If you are unhappy, the only way to become happy is to sit up straight, act happy, and talk and move as if you were happy.” Sometimes our actions can change our mood. When our mood gets better, our state also gets better, we can continuously discover the beauty in life, which in turn promotes a good mood, becoming a virtuous cycle.
For example, find your hobbies, spend a little time each day doing them. This is your time to rest, and it can also be a reward for your hard work. It will make your future endeavors more motivated. And doing what you love can make you feel that life is beautiful.
For example, when choosing friends, try to spend more time with people who are cheerful. Emotions can be contagious, whether it’s happiness or sadness. Since that’s the case, why should we spread sadness? Let happiness continue to spread and accumulate, isn’t that better?
The little beauties everywhere in life can make us feel better. When we’re feeling happy and relaxed, we can discover even more beauty.
Like a warm ray of sunshine in winter, like the first hint of green in spring, like a tree full of flowers we happen to encounter around the corner, they are all praises of life.