Being honest appears to be a simple concept to abide by. To live a life of complete truthfulness, towards others and especially yourself. To adopt the core basic principles, for living a healthy happy life. Being honest, being real however is proving to be a difficult process to adopt.
The reason being, what being honest entails is enacting certain spiritual principles in yourself. The ones which can improve anxiety, anger, or addiction.
This spirituality isn’t to be confused with being religious, obeying to a god. But it’s rather finding ways of living life to its fullest.
It’s been said the first step towards being happy, is to be honest with yourself first, and being able to deal with it.
What this means is developing a strong awareness of oneself, which includes what you like and need. Knowing what you can control, knowing your feelings and what they mean.
To Be Happy
Most who are anxious, addicted or depressed, fail to realize the real reasons for their misery.
What they react to instead is the immediate instinct, whatever it was that triggered the negativity in them.
What’s not realized is all this fear and anger are related, linked to one another, which is also the cause of their frustration.
What humans have are six basic fears: failure, rejection, isolation, the unknown, loss of control, and death.
Once getting angry, anxious, or scared, just ask yourself which one of these fears you’re experiencing.
The reason why you fear it, and how rational it is.
Dealing With Being Scared
For instance, you may be feeling nerves going in for a job interview. These fears are rejection, failure, and the unknown.
The fear that they won’t hire you, (rejection), the failure of not getting the job, means you’re letting others down, such as your spouse.
Aside from the fact you didn’t get the job, do you really honestly care if the prospective employer liked you or not.
Does this really change the way your loved ones, sees or feels about you.
Sure, you’d prefer to get the job, but if you don’t, is it really the end of the world.
Feed The Fears
To be honest with yourself, you need to be aware of how you’re contributing to your own misery.
Such as you don’t take responsibility for your actions, while constantly blaming others, looking for the easy answers, or making yourself feel miserable.
It’s done intentionally but not consciously, as there are many who inadvertently sabotages their wellness, because being and feeling miserable can be rewarding.
If depressed, wrought with anxiety or addiction, what others will do is pay attention to you, feel sorry for you. Making excuses for mistakes, gives you a built in reason for failure.
Most fear failure, because they see “failing” at a task, means they’ve failed as a person, or they equate failure with rejection. These are the lethal claws of fear, though not always rational.
To Become More Mindful
Begin by developing self-awareness. Keep a journal, as it only takes a few moments. Ask yourself, how do I feel right now emotionally.
Do I feel happy, sad, lonely, grumpy, resentful, etc. Mentally, do I feel confused, creative, foggy. Physically, do I feel weak, sick, lethargic, strong, energetic, etc.
Then identify the reason why you feel that way, and what you can do to change the negative ones, those you have control over.
This is your own personal private journal, so be completely honest with yourself.
Constantly be reviewing them, to see if you’re feeling better or worse. If your interventions are working, or if you need to do something different.
Begin By Asking Yourself
• Will this even matter tomorrow, next month or 6 months from now?
• Does worrying, being mad or regretful help me in any way. How can I use this energy to do something to solve the problem?
• Is this worth the negative impact it’s having on me or my family?
• Do I have any control over this, what are the consequences of this, what does it say about me as a person?
Not Feeling Great
If you’re constantly feeling tired, confused, then find out the reasons why.
Often, the easy answer is you didn’t get enough sleep. To fix this, make it a priority to get more rest.
Begin by eliminating caffeine or cola after dinner. Set up the bedroom so it becomes comfortable for you to sleep, by making it dark, cool, and quiet.
To Sleep The Fear Away
Then there are those who gets too much sleep, often because of the stress and anxiety they feel.
If you’re currently getting more than 9 hours of sleep, break up your daily routine by getting physically active.
This can be walking the dog, jogging around the block, yoga, lifting weights after work.
Any type of physical activity that can fit into your day, as all you need is just 20 minutes daily which breaks up the doldrums.
Watch Your Diet
What many resort to is consuming too much sugar or caffeine, while depriving themselves of water. Doing so causes confusion while disrupting proper bodily function, resulting in poor sleep.
Make sure you keep yourself hydrated. Try adding lemon to your water, to make it tastier.
Make sure to avoid carbonated drinks, caffeine, or alcohol, which makes make you dehydrated and moody.
Just Get Real
Always be mindful of how you feel emotionally, mentally and physically. Remain mindful of what you can control, and monitor what your body is trying to tell you.
Learn to accept you can’t control everything. Being completely honest with yourself, improves how you feel, which instantly improves your health and relationships.