Everyone wants to be happy. Perhaps, this is the sole purpose of our fragile life on Earth. Whatever we do, our every action is aimed at becoming happier and more content in life.
Unfortunately, some of us invite negativity and unhappiness. Sorrow or sadness does not manifest itself. It requires a wanton, conscious effort.
Defining unhappiness
Firstly, let us define happiness. Dictionaries and psychology defines happiness as a state of the mind. It means a right blend of pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentment, delight, enjoyment and satisfaction.
Unhappiness means exactly the opposite.
Indeed, unhappiness means sorrow, pain, distress, discontent, worry, apathy, dissatisfaction and lack of cheer.
Understandably, we all have pressures and stress in our lives. Nobody can deny that. Thus, anyone who claims to be happy all the time would either be stark mad, totally inebriated or superhuman.
To rise above all causes of unhappiness requires supreme effort, intense consciousness and overwhelming faith in something divine.
However, all of us can find some comfort in our otherwise mundane, insipid lives and be happy.
In spite of our best efforts to be happy, we often end up being sad for no apparent reasons. Our behavior towards ourselves and others as well as attitude towards various issues of life decide our happiness or unhappiness.
Therefore, let us examine the 15 best ways to be unhappy.
1: Imagine non-existent problems
This is the surest and most guaranteed way to lead a great, unhappy life. All of us have problems. However, you can imagine more problems and amplify your existing ones.
This helps you remain as unhappy as you wish to be. You can expand your problems using the following methods:
- Brood over your problems round the clock.
- Speak to people about your problems and how they affect your life.
- Ask suggestions on how these problems can increase.
- Imagine other problems that might arise as a consequence.
- Think of all the bad things that can happen to you because of the problem.
2: Cry frequently over your problems
A problem over which you cannot shed volumes of tears is useless. Therefore, we suggest you always cry over your problems.
Further, the best way to cry is before spouse, children, relatives, parents, friends and colleagues.
Tell them precisely how miserable you feel because of your problems and worries.
Crying frequently before people you know has distinct advantages. It puts off people from approaching you and sends you into that wonderful loneliness.
Consequently, loneliness helps you to brood more over your problems and imagine a few more that are yet to raise their heads.
3: Find faults with everyone
Of course, nobody is perfect. Further, nobody should pretend to be perfect. Sadly, people pretend to be perfect.
You can help dispel these self-made myths in people by pointing out every single small and large defect in their character.
There is no limit to the number of faults you can find with spouse, kids, parents, relatives and friends or colleagues.
However, you need not stop here. Take every effort to point out faults to others. Further, you can broadcast the fault you find in an individual, to others as well.
Subsequently, your popularity nosedives, taking you to a new, higher level of unhappiness.
4: Set unrealistic goals
Goals are meant to be achieved. Normally, everyone would set personal goals based on existing skills, experience, resources available and needs.
However, you can go ahead and set unrealistic goals. We mean, goals that are extremely difficult to achieve, no matter what effort you exert.
Failed goals cause great levels of frustration. In fact, they help to take away the meaning of your very existence in this world.
Once you fail to attain your goals, you can experience that unparalleled sense of frustration, lack of self worth and unhappiness.
5: Complain about everything
This is something very simple to do. If it rains or snows or is too hot or cold, it is not your fault. If things do not work as you wish, you are above blame.
Thus, you have every right to complain about these things.
You can complain about everything that goes awry. Each day is richly loaded with situations and incidences where things did not pan out as we expect.
Keep complaining incessantly to everyone near you. Complaining amplifies your unhappiness.
6: Imagine illnesses and disease
This can take some time and effort. However, the unhappiness you derive makes it worthwhile. Google whatever symptoms you may have such as headache, body pain, stomach problems, allergies, fatigue and others.
Needless to say, you will find countless reasons for these symptoms.
As soon as you have zeroed on the best list of disease and ailments your symptoms indicate, believe firmly that you are suffering from these.
Tell your relatives and friends about your symptoms and afflictions. Alter your behavior to match these illnesses.
7: Get dishonest about everything
Honesty, they say, is the best policy. Sadly, honesty does not pay great dividends and can be rather boring. Instead, try being dishonest about everything. Surely, unhappiness is not far behind.
Some suggestions where you can be dishonest are
- Hiding money from spouse and relatives.
- Dishonesty at office by leaving work incomplete.
- Extra-marital affairs to cheat your spouse.
- Lying about everything or concealing the truth.
- Painting a false image about you to others.
8: Compare your lot with others
Furthermore, you can get jealous over everything the other has. Remember, the golden rule here is to compare yourself with people whom you believe are superior to you in various aspects.
Meaning, they are socially popular, financially richer, enjoy excellent physical health, have great family life, successful at career and so on.
Invariably, jealousy is the surest way to be unhappy. Simply compare yourself with what have and the stuff you lack.
Further, become aware of why you cannot achieve those things or qualities or fame and brood over them as much as possible.
9: Neglect personal hygiene
How best to repel people than to appear shabby and smell repugnant? The best way to do this is by neglecting personal hygiene.
After all, you have a problem or several problems. Grooming and paying attention to personal hygiene will not change your situation.
Hence, why waste time and money appearing pleasant when actually you are feeling distressed and unhappy?
Do not comb your hair for a few days. Males can stop shaving and let stubble grow unchecked. Wear the same, unwashed underwear for a few days.
Do not change your clothes. Instead, you can simply sleep in the same clothes and report for work sans change. The unique benefit is, you get shunned by all people.
Further, this helps you to isolate yourself for brooding over problems and imagining more. It adds to the sense of unhappiness.
10: Become a miser
Definitely, you cannot enjoy a meal or good things in life because you are unhappy. This provides you excellent opportunities to save your precious money.
Shut yourself away from TV and radio, music and movies. Neglect meals and eat only when absolutely hungry. Moreover, eat only basic, insipid, uninspiring and tasteless food.
It heightens your sense of unhappiness.
Additionally, you can consume leftovers and stale food. A great diet of stale, rancid food gives you that sense of being unhappy by stealing every pleasure from good food and nutrition.
You can also feel unhappy knowing that your health can suffer due to such food. Similarly, use old clothes, scrimp on every expense.
11: Listen to sad music
Funeral dirges, songs about heartbreaks, renditions blaming gods for evils and woes, haunting melodies from horror movies are excellent tools to heighten your sense of sadness.
The best time to listen to these is mornings, or when you awake. Start your day with a few songs that epitomize the drudgery of life, failed love and despair.
You can continue listening to such music while commuting and during breaks. Further, you can end the day listening to funeral dirges and songs or themes from horror movies.
Blame a divine power or nature for your woes by identifying yourself as the singer.
12: Skip parties and social events
Parties, social events, festivals are all meant to cheer up people. Indeed, countries or states that have the highest number of festivals record the lowest number of psychiatric disorders like depression.
Companies that host staff parties and picnics frequently have lower attrition rates. Therefore, to be unhappy in life, simply skip as many parties, social events and picnics as you can.
Furthermore, you can also stop celebrating festivals at home. If your family is celebrating, you can simply ignore the proceedings and attend with detached mood.
In fact, staying away from parties, picnics, social events and festival heightens the sense of unhappiness.
13: Run away from problems
Every problem has a solution. Nevertheless, you can run away from problems without seeking solutions. This is rather easy to do. Some examples of running away from problems include
- Change your spouse
- Take another job
- Run away from home
- Change your location
- Stop earning any money.
- Just do nothing
- Ignore the problem
A majority of people on this planet are unhappy because they cannot tackle a problem. They become oblivious to the fact that problems have solutions provided you search for them.
Instead, they focus on fleeing from a problem rather than fighting it. Thus, running away from problems ranks among the topmost contributors if you want an unhappy life.
14: Leave unpaid debts
Interestingly, unpaid debt is billed as one of the major reasons for unhappiness. Needless to say, you can also invite some legal trouble through unpaid debt.
It can involve innumerable visits to your lenders and courts.
However, unpaid debt does not imply utilities and other bills, unless you are willing to live without electricity and water. Not paying these providers will mean your power and water supply gets cut.
If you have a small debt, you can stop paying it and attract unhappiness daily.
15: Get hooked to alcohol or drugs
Now, enjoying a drink alone or with family and friends is enjoyable. However, you can reverse this trend and start drinking alone.
Better still, you can get hooked to narcotics, drugs and psychotropic substances. Of course, you need not guzzle a bottle of whisky at one go.
Instead, you could do this gradually by drinking small quantities throughout the day.
The major fallout of alcoholism is complete unmanageability over life. Contrary to popular belief, heavy drinkers and drug addicts do not enjoy the fix anymore.
They become increasingly depressed and lead unhappy lives.
Coming to brass tacks
As we mention earlier, nobody wants to be unhappy. This article is an effort to highlight some behavioral traits you may have inadvertently acquired that make your life unhappy.
We strongly recommend you do not practice any of these, unless you are off mental balance.
Instead, rid yourself of behavior since it is causing immense harm to your personal wellbeing as well as that of your friends and family.
Being unhappy requires conscious effort. However, circumstances in which we get placed sometimes, can dictate our behavior. Consequently, our behavior contributes to our sorrows.
Admittedly, some of these negative traits can prove rather difficult to eliminate. If you have already fallen victim to some of these characteristics of unhappy people, seek professional help from a counselor or psychiatrist.
The old adage
As the old adage states: “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.” Experiences of millions of people worldwide have proved this axiom time and again.
Furthermore, most people are not interested in listening to your sob story.
Often, those who lend a sympathetic ear, secretly gloat over your problems. They derive morbid pleasure knowing that you are in trouble.
Others are simply indifferent. Happiness, they say, is an inside job. It means, you alone are responsible for your happiness. The same holds true for unhappiness.
Only your thoughts, attitudes and perceptions can make you unhappy. External factors do not play any role.
Remember…
“Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anything or anyone outside ourselves will affect us.”- Stephen R. Covey
