Recipe for Happiness

Pretty much everybody is a top chef when it comes to preparing hate, anger, depression, and so many other unhealthy dishes. The ingredients used are just so darn rotten that the consumers themselves become bitter.

I’m startled whenever I see people ingest those dishes on a daily basis. How can they handle taking in all of those negative calories in such large amounts? It saddens me to see their abused bodies and souls being put through that unhealthy diet.
 
I used to follow that diet; it was what everyone ingested. It seemed far easier to simply eat that garbage instead of taking the time to make healthy dishes that would provide the proper nourishment to be happy. Eventually, something within me woke up, and I was filled with the fear that my soul would become obese with all of the negative energy that plagued me.    

Now as a medicine student, I’ve learned about the importance of not just physical nutrition, but also emotional nutrition which is “the action or effect of emotionally nurturing”. There are three groups of ingredients that when combined together result in a high caloric value of emotional intelligence, (the ability to act on not just yourself, but also on those around you, understanding and respecting the feelings of others, and injecting positive feelings and motivation onto them):

1.      Constructors: include emotional nutrients that form the structure of emotional intelligence. They are: love, acceptance, respect, affection and recognition. Be sure to cook them properly so that they don’t become spoiled.

2.      Energy: includes all emotional nutrients that inspire us to “act” (motivation). They are: opportunities, dreams and creativity. It’s best to get them fresh so that they don’t leave an aftertaste of hopelessness and end up draining your energy instead of providing you with it.

3.      Protectors: include emotional nutrients that protect us from the negative influences of the environment and that help us interact harmoniously with ourselves. They are: high self-esteem and assertive communication. Take them with a bit of salt to prevent becoming ego-centric and selfish.  

These healthy ingredients are guaranteed to leave you feeling energized and able to view the world in a positive manner.  There is, however, a secret ingredient that I’m going to share with you that is guaranteed to lead you to happiness.

Forgiveness: I know it seems hard to do it, but in the long run forgiveness will leave you feeling relieved and free of any unnecessary burdens. Think of your problems as an infected tooth: it’s going to keep causing you pain unless you just get rid of it!
                                                                      
Buddha once said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” Most of us equate this “burn” to psychological distress; after all, holding a grudge causes you more mental pain than the person who did you wrong.

Did you know that physical pain can occur as well? Have you ever felt the pain that occurs under intense emotional stress when your heart compresses so tightly that you feel like you can’t breathe? Studies show that holding on to grudges raises the blood pressure which cause the heart rate to go up.

In order to forgive you must let go of your anger and negative thoughts, and forgive the person deep within yourself as well as outwardly. You can even do this without a true apology, if the person doesn’t feel that they are wrong or has too much pride.      
                        
Forgiveness is not just a formality, but also a loving, accepting state of mind that can lift you from a lot of burdens—mentally and physically.

Try out this emotional nutrition diet for a week, and see just how much you can calm your inner storm. It’s worked wonders for me.