The Eternal Battle with Dissatisfaction

I know I know it's the Holidays, I should keep writing about related things but most people fail to realize dissatisfaction can be a big part of this season. This is the time of year where we see our friends having amazing vacations on Facebook, Instagram is filled with perfect baking and cookies,  and Pinterest with home made ornaments, decorations, "traditions" to do... and we start comparing our lives with what we see in social media.
This article applies to every day life but I thought it would be appropriate for this time of year... enjoy!

Many of us struggle with dissatisfaction, whether it’s a constant battle or it shows up every once in a while, we can all relate. Dissatisfaction can be sneaky and if we let it, it can get a hold of us making us feel discouraged, frustrated, annoyed, and unhappy with the life we have. This usually tends to happen when we focus mostly on the idea of how things are or were supposed to be and we don’t realize that what we have our heads and the reality of life is different- life is filled with curve balls, mess, and chaos- it’s not what we imagine or how it looks like in the pictures we see online.

Sometimes it’s hard to feel happy and motivated with what we have and what we have accomplished because we keep thinking of what we are missing, the goals we haven’t reached, and comparing ourselves with what others have, this is especially true thanks to social media where we can browse Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc and end up feeling like total failures compared to others who seem to have it all together, living their dreams, succeeding, and perfect. Most of the time this happens because we are following a made up idea or we are setting goals that are just too big and too high to accomplish within the circumstances that we are living at the moment, or we are constantly experimenting with new paths, or having a hard time establishing healthy limits, and making it hard to accept that we can’t have everything we wish for all at the same time. 

Why is it that some people are perfectly happy and satisfied with that they have and others still feel like they haven’t reached their full potential or have accomplished what they really need or want and sets them off in a crazy race to reach new, higher, harder goals losing the ability to stop and enjoy what they have achieved? Maybe it is a sense of insecurity that is constantly pushing them to seek new goals, effort, excitement, and to feel alive. Maybe this is why some people. But then again it is important to want to better ourselves, to stay motivated, to have new dreams, reach new goals, in other words- to live. I am not saying it’s either one or the other; both are good, both are necessary, and we should strive to find a balance where we can keep our motivation to better our lives without it taking over and becoming a source of bitterness and dissatisfaction, instead of jumping right into a new thing we should stop to enjoy, celebrate, and share the success we worked so hard and by God’s grace we achieved. 

There are a few ways we can reach this balance and keep dissatisfaction from coming into our lives and stealing our joy. We just need to make some changes in our attitude, behavior, the way we think, and how we see things. Some of my best tips are

·         Keeping a grateful heart- this will attract more positive situations and joy to our lives. Keeping a gratitude journal can help us switch gears and focus on all the good we have and all the goals we have already reached. 

·         Saying no to perfectionism- sometimes the habit of wanting everything to be perfect can keep us from enjoying the moment, our life, finishing  projects, and/or reaching our goals. This one is an incredibly challenging one for most people especially with social media.

·          Establish small, healthy, reachable goals- not only material but also emotional- this will give us direction and keep us motivated in our everyday.

·         Limit social media- it is fun to see where all those “friends” you had are now in their lives or what people are doing in Pinterest and Instagram but it can sometimes cause us to compare and see our lives in a negative way, we should limit to checking it once a day or if you are strong enough to cancel your accounts so you can live in your present and fully focus on enjoying the moment and your life.

·         Practice minimalism- I am not saying get rid of everything you own and live in a white depressing hospital like room, but get rid of some things you don’t really need and someone will cherish and use and surround yourself only with what brings you joy, those things that make you smile.

Share with us in the comments some of the things you do to battle dissatisfaction!