First, I want to confess that I’ve been a serial worrier - I worried about being accepted, about my exams, about my love relationships. I worried about not offending anyone, getting a job, and not being happy at work. I worried about my health, my deadlines, what others might say, what others said, how I looked, and the list goes on and on. The problem is that so much worrying robbed me of many days of joy. Taking life so seriously inevitably brings us stress, takes power and creativity away, paralyzes us, and turns life color gray. However, I’m sure that coming to this world was the result of a miraculous process, this person I see in the mirror isn’t just a body, it’s life spreading through every cell that makes it up. The most sensible thing to do would be to be to celebrate this gift, right?

Nobody wants to be bitter for the sake of it; the thing is taking things to heart, applying ourselves hard, and getting serious, may not have made us happy but it sometimes helped us - in our studies, at work, in family life, and in our relationships.

There’s something very rigid in taking everything so seriously, though, in being very formal or excessively responsible. As usual, the secret is striking a happy balance, but how can we do it? Below are three ideas that may help you.

1. Question all the thoughts that torture you

 "Is it so?” “Really? “And if it is so, what’s the problem?” This is essential to become more flexible. This exercise requires a lot of introspection because we’re putting our limiting beliefs to the test. There’s so much beauty in this as we’ll discover new paths and the strength within us to take them.

2. Laugh at yourself and your circumstances

Our sense of humor is developed when we learn to play down what happens to us. It isn’t always suitable, but I have an example. On the days that followed my mother's death, I was very moved and sad and I used to speak to her. At night, however, I told her “don't even think about showing up or sending me signs now”. I laughed in the middle of those dark evenings, I even felt that my mother was laughing by my side.

3. Don't take things personally

How many times have we found ourselves hooked on a comment that someone made? How many times have we waited for a call for ages until we felt resentful or sad? It’s a challenge, especially for the sensitive souls, but the exercise of detaching oneself from other people’s actions is liberating. So-and-so didn't call me, he must have been very busy. He told me this or that because he must have had a bad day (or directly, forgive him in your heart and turn over a new leaf)

The next time we get circumspect and worried, we can pause and ask ourselves whether it's worth it, whether we can relax, whether we can be more self-compassionate. We can start little by little, and if we sprinkle that with humor, our life will be a lot more delicious.

A big hug ❤