Last week, one of my favorite podcasts, Reply All, reported on some scientific research related to happiness. The ongoing study they reported on has found a way to quantify the overall cultural level of happiness in the English-speaking world by analyzing decades of a cross-section of all the tweets on Twitter. These researchers have discovered that culturally, we have hit record-breaking lows in 2020 multiple times, crushing several times the record set during the market crash in 2008.
Research like this feels incredibly validating this year. It’s been a tough year for dozens of reasons for all of us. How do we find our way out of the negative, divisive and toxic patterns we’ve been living in culturally? How does the path to happiness begin for our communities?
As I was considering this question, the results of the election were announced. This year’s race went my way, but I was reflecting upon the way I felt when it didn’t in 2016. I remember feeling anxious, afraid and deeply disappointed. I had felt an incredible investment in my candidate, and I had become polarized against the competition. The loss devastated me, because so much of the messaging I’d subscribed to for months had prescribed this outcome as the worst possible thing.
So, while I’m celebrating a victory now, I’m also keenly aware that there are people I love and care about who may be experiencing the distress I felt four years ago in the wake of a loss. Rather than pouring salt in their wounds, I’m looking for ways to show compassion, to be a balm to their fears and help them to process what they’re feeling in a way that’s kind and gracious. When we can show love to those who disagree with us, we all win.
Anxieties have been running high all year long. Whether or not you struggle with your mental health, this year has pushed us all to the max. Even when our minds settle, physical manifestations of anxiety can still upset our systems.
Managing our mental health requires some extra intentionality right now. There are so many things we can do to care for and help calm our bodies, minds and spirits. Practicing mindfulness and gratitude, giving ourselves enough time to sleep at night, eating nutritious meals, practicing spiritual disciplines, drinking enough water and getting exercise and sunshine are just a few things we can do to care for ourselves.
When we’re in a bad way, though, it can be incredibly challenging to begin to care for ourselves in the ways we know will help. In a stressful season, we’re far more inclined to comfort with things that offer a quick fix but no lasting help. Often, however, there’s one thing that will be the first domino in self-care to kick the rest into gear. For me, those things are adequate sleep and exercise. If you can identify just one behavior to adopt this week as you care for yourself, that’s a great place to start and will often lead to other, better habits.
As we culturally begin to shift out of the toxicity of this climate, one of the most important and challenging things we can do to influence for the good is to shift our posture towards others to one of grace and mercy. It is easy to adopt an “us versus them” mindset in our world.
Colleen Cook works full-time as the Director of Operations at Vinyl Marketing in Ashland, where she resides with her husband Mike and three young daughters. She’s an insatiable extrovert who enjoys finding reasons to gather people.
Tribalism is in our wiring; we’re inclined to align ourselves into homogeneous groups and fear those who are different from us. But, the vast majority of people are trying their best to do what’s right, to the best of their understanding.
Very few people want to be the villain in the story. When someone’s lashing out, it’s because they’re hurting or in pain. When we respond defensively, we miss out on an opportunity to show grace and bring healing and peace to a situation. But, if we assume positive intent for others, we can build bridges and unity.
We can each decide whether we’re ready to move the needle on our individual happiness. If we each begin to make small efforts towards being even 5% happier personally, perhaps then our world will begin to feel the clouds break and the light break in, just a bit.
