3 Life Lessons I Learned This Year on Healing, Growth and Happiness

<p>Birthdays are like pit stops. And life is the long and winding road we drive on.</p> <p>Like pit stops, a birthday is an opportunity to slow down, stop and reassess the direction we&rsquo;ve been moving towards. Are we still going the right way? Do we still want to continue down this path? How much further do we have to go, and do we need to fill up the gas tank?</p> <p>When we take a moment to pull over, stretch out our legs and look back on the journey we&rsquo;ve had so far, we experience a newfound appreciation for ourselves for making it to this checkpoint, overcoming the ups and downs that may have come our way.</p> <h1>3 life lessons I learned on healing, growth and happiness</h1> <h2>1. Waiting well through seasons and transitions</h2> <p>Life happens in seasons. A season of love or of heartbreak. A season of growth or of stillness. A season of holding on or of letting go. Some seasons can feel like a lifetime, some can happen in a blink of an eye, and some can overlap and take place all at once. Whatever season we find ourselves in, moving with it instead of against it can save us from unnecessary stress, frustrations and disappointments.</p> <p>Waiting well can look like walking away from what no longer serves us. It is saying words of affirmation to ourselves when we&rsquo;re filled with doubt. It is tuning into our bodies and releasing any tension we have. It is taking slower and deeper breaths. It is showing up even when we don&rsquo;t feel like it. It is surrendering what is beyond our control. We wait well and we trust that the best is yet to come.</p> <p>When we believe that seasons inevitably change, we put trust and faith that every season has its purpose, leading us to where we need to go and who we need to be.</p> <h2>2. Happiness is a by-product of healthy habits</h2> <p>Picture this in your head: A slice of pizza.</p> <p>Now, picture this: Happiness.</p> <p>Between the two, it most likely took you a little longer to paint a picture of happiness. This is because happiness can look like different things to different people.</p> <p>For one, happiness can be family. For another, happiness can be their career. Whatever happiness means to you, only one thing is certain, happiness is abstract. It is neither seen nor touched. It is something we feel inside us.</p> <p>We tend to look for happiness in tangible things, more clothes, more money, more likes, more friends, but what we&rsquo;re actually yearning for is simply the feeling of happiness. A feeling that always eludes us the more we try to chase it.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/@itslin/3-life-lessons-i-learned-this-year-on-healing-growth-and-happiness-fc14c5a07e0b"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>