If I'm being honest, it was a real low in my life. Nothing brought me lasting joy, I was always tired, and I never got anything done. Of all the remedies I desperately sought, nothing brought me hope. My optimism died as my options ran out. I thought I was stuck.
I listened to a lot of sad music, a lot of Akon’s “Lonely”, and yes, I’ll admit it, Daniel Powter’s “Bad day.” If that song can’t make you miserable I don’t know what will. One day I was in a bad mood and searched for “Bad day remix” or something on youtube. (You never know what new favorite version you’ll discover.) This is the song that came up. It takes the sad lyrics and sure, it keeps them, but it makes the song incredibly upbeat and positive. I was expecting morose sympathy from the song but all I got was the happy vibes telling me to cheer up. It didn’t really fit within my victimized, self-pity issue I was going with, but I did notice something. The music absolutely lifted my mood. As long as I was listening to happy songs, life was better. No longer was I bound to my emotions; I could control them! This was the hope I needed! If I could indeed influence my own happiness, then that opened up a world of possibilities outside music I needed to explore. For the next year I listened to almost no music but “tropical house.” (Here are some recommendations!)
No longer was I bound to my emotions; I could control them! This was the hope I needed! If I could indeed influence my own happiness, then that opened up a world of possibilities outside music I needed to explore.
This epiphany had an inverse. I should focus on positive music but I should also reject sad music. There were still neural pathways which would bring me back to indulgent self-pity and reckless hubris. With my newfound knowledge, I was to have none of that!
It took a long time before those pathways moved elsewhere and I was able to listen to sad music again. Since this experience I became interested in the search for Positivity. I’ve picked up a wealth of knowledge about this which I would like to share. After all, great men plant trees other men lie under.
We have control over our happiness - the question is, to what extent? The extent only grows with practice and learning, so I dedicate this blog to discussing methods that increase your control over your happiness. These are things that have worked for me and maybe they will work for you, too. I look forward to reading through this in the future in order that I can see what’s worked in the past so I can try them anew. I'll try to make each posting bite-sized, ideal for morning contemplation, maybe over a hot brew of coffee.
Lesson: See if happy music can appropriately help your mood out! It’s one of the many simple things that can be beneficial to some people's attitudes. Likewise, try cutting out sad music. Tropical House playlist
Comments