A few days ago, I wrote about what makes me happy and then I thought, I should analyze the causes of my unhappiness too. I suppose, learning the causes of my unhappiness would be the first step toward helping myself.
I think the biggest source of unhappiness for me is the struggles and problems faced by my loved ones i.e.my family, friends and sometimes, people I haven't met but know of from the news.
The lack of things in my life does not make me unhappy or at least not much. This may be because (a)I have all I want or (b)my needs are within my means or(c) I am a pretty unambitious and content person.
I also think that I experience many negative emotions which are strictly speaking, not Unhappiness per-se. The negative emotions I experience very often and a lot more often than unhappiness are:
anxiety
anger
jealousy
worry
Revengefulness
Egoism:
sense of inferiority
shame
When do I experience these emotions? What are the triggers? What will help me get over these emotions? I suppose if I could figure out how to get over these emotions, I would be happy. But figuring out is the problem!
Anxiety & worry: I was learning car driving recently (for the fourth time and gave up again!) and I was quite anxious behind the wheel. The teacher yelling at me dint help either! My anxiety is manifested by my brain freezing over and me being unable to understand and do what he wants me to do. I was so slow in my responses; he would yell more or was more sarcastic and I would freeze even more!
I think I am anxious when called to meet an authority figure, especially when I believe I have erred in some way and am in trouble. I cannot believe I experience the same type of anxiety I experienced in school 4 decades ago! I also feel anxious when I am going to be late.
In some situations, I get angry and yell and scream at times and I strongly believe that I am angry and not anxious; however my sister argues that I am experiencing anxiety and so I am yelling; I am not sure if this is unrecognized anxiety or is it really anger and nothing to do with anxiety.
I know I am anxious when my husband is angry; sometimes I am merely angry but at times I am anxious too. I am often anxious about my relatives in India. I worry about my nieces and nephews, my parents and sisters. I worry about their not doing well in studies; I worry about my folks spending money unwisely; about their health; about the way my siblings are bringing up their kids. I worry about so many things... none of which are my business! I am not worried about my husband or his job, money, health, future or my job. So, five-six major sources of worry are eliminated. But I still spend so much time worrying!
Jealousy: I sometimes feel jealous. I don't think I feel jealous of people I like or strangers. But I do feel jealous of people I dislike. I know this is a disgusting emotion but this emotion seems so biological and out of my control!
I think the biggest source of unhappiness for me is the struggles and problems faced by my loved ones i.e.my family, friends and sometimes, people I haven't met but know of from the news.
anxiety
anger
jealousy
worry
Revengefulness
Egoism:
sense of inferiority
shame
I think I am anxious when called to meet an authority figure, especially when I believe I have erred in some way and am in trouble. I cannot believe I experience the same type of anxiety I experienced in school 4 decades ago! I also feel anxious when I am going to be late.
In some situations, I get angry and yell and scream at times and I strongly believe that I am angry and not anxious; however my sister argues that I am experiencing anxiety and so I am yelling; I am not sure if this is unrecognized anxiety or is it really anger and nothing to do with anxiety.
I know I am anxious when my husband is angry; sometimes I am merely angry but at times I am anxious too. I am often anxious about my relatives in India. I worry about my nieces and nephews, my parents and sisters. I worry about their not doing well in studies; I worry about my folks spending money unwisely; about their health; about the way my siblings are bringing up their kids. I worry about so many things... none of which are my business! I am not worried about my husband or his job, money, health, future or my job. So, five-six major sources of worry are eliminated. But I still spend so much time worrying!
- I am admitting I experience jealousy sometimes. That is the first step.
- I know it is disgusting and I have to stop feeling jealous. That is the second step.
- Now the third step is overcoming it. I have to work on this. I am doing it. At times I succeed. That is I am able to distract myself and replace my jealous thoughts by engaging my mind with other thoughts and activities; or I count my blessings and tell myself I am doing better than the person I am jealous of in other ways.
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