Happy & Healthy
ARE YOU ALSO SUFFERING FROM
HAPPINESS STRESS?
With a pounding head (because of wine), I scrolled through my timeline for the tenth time on New Year's Day. You know the good resolutions: exercise more, live healthier, quit smoking, and have a dry January. But also those quotes (‘don't look back, you are not going that way’) and here and there a stray but perfectly looking romantic Christmas photo (kissing under the mistletoe with a bottle of Moët in hand and the still brand new Chanel 2.0 under the tree) passed by. But it wasn't the Chanel that left me speechless. It was c who, with his 15-minute talk, explained to me precisely why we, millennials, can't find our way in life. We are all said to be spoiled, narcissistic, and lazy. Something is going terribly wrong, because one of the biggest culprits in this story is social media. We act as if we are all very happy, but in the meantime, we put a filter over everything and mask our depressions. We suffer from happiness stress, and this is, don't be shocked, largely caused by our phone behavior. Because let's be honest, secretly you check your phone all the time too, even if you haven't heard or seen anything come in...
And now I could go on about this for a long time, because I find this extremely interesting, but actually, you just need to listen to Simon for a moment. Because he really hits the nail on the head.
According to Sinek, millennials are addicted to social media and as a result, their self-confidence is affected. ‘They can't build deep relationships at work because of Facebook and Instagram. The phone is always within reach, whether the screen is facing up or down. Every free moment, we reach for our mobile phone and there's no interest left in what is happening around us.’ According to Sinek, a large part of the responsibility for helping millennials lies with our employers. But if you ask me, the groundwork lies with ourselves.
My resolutions I have adjusted a bit. Okay, maybe I should call it more of a challenge that I am taking on with myself. From now on, my phone will go on airplane mode after meal times, and in the time I save, I will make more time for things that truly make me happy or give me peace. Meeting up with friends (or with a date, haha), relaxing with a yoga class, or flopping down on the couch with a good book. Reflecting less on the outside world, because that only throws your life out of balance.
And life is so much more beautiful without a filter.
