Initial thoughts on AoH
As per usual the first thing I get with a new sub - recon. So I sit down for my nightly routine I start with the question “What is happiness?”
The end of my introspective process lead to the answer - “I never realised I could be happy. The grownups always made it sound and seem like grumpiness, dragging through life was natural, the normal state of things”.
Recon fades.
Okay, so how can I encourage myself to be happy? - Avoid the negatives.
This is interesting, because I immediately of course, start thinking of a conversation earlier that day which is just bad vibes. Now normally I would say this was just a state-change. But this time it felt deeper. My thought-pattern, memories, recollection, my internal existence has changed. It’s darker, heavier, - overall just not a fun existence.
So now I think of a positive thing - and voila, the inner existence changes again. This brings up fun memories, pleasant thoughts and desires.
You see, this negative/positive polarity didn’t just change how I was feeling, it also changed how I reacted to my goals, interactions with others. In the negative state I was approaching and having encounters that encouraged further negativity, and in the positive state the opposite happened. I was looking for more ways to make myself happy and encountering ideas, thoughts which encouraged this happiness.
I’ve generally always been more of a neutral to positive guy who wants to avoid bad news. Not because I mind “facing reality”, but because there’s nothing to be gained by being surrounded by negative news, events all the time if one can avoid them. Save the energy for the events that can’t be avoided. But I didn’t realize just how deep of a impact the negative state of mind actually had, and how much more negativity it introduced. That whole negative/positive shift was an incredibly useful insight for me.
The next part is my favorite, because it’s something no other sub has dealt with. I’ve ran HoM, EoG, ASBR, Emp - but AoH is the one that helped.
As I wake up the day after my first loop my first thought is along the lines of
“What would make me happy today” - Money.
No, not piles of money, for the sake of money. But money in the sense of my idea of financial stability, financial independence being tested. Proving or disproving my idea of how I can get money would make me feel happy, and improve overall satisfaction in life (happiness). Me being productive, and working would give me a higher sense of satisfaction and joy in life, so I can combine those, be productive towards my goal of “money”. With that I can put sprinkles on top, with small exercises such as “What am I happy for in my life”. This question seemed for some reason more impactful than the standard “What am I grateful for”.
I like AoH, what I’ve written here and what’s in my private journal. I’m looking forward even more towards EoG since it includes a big portion of AoH and is directed towards my main goals atm.
Now back to being productive.
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