Recently I posted thirteen things that can steal our happiness. Posting them allowed several more to bubble up to the surface immediately. At the same time several readers contributed situations that crashed their golden years. Today I’m sharing this list of more to be wary of as we age:

  1.  Negative self-talk and hanging out with negative people.  Suffocating and spirit stealing, and always focusing on the negative can make for a boat load of unhappiness in our lives. For me, eliminating negative people (those individuals who consistently see the cup as half empty) helped me make room for the more positive and upbeat. I feel freer to acknowledge my positive contributions than lament my failures and mistakes.
  2. Resisting change. No escaping this one. If you aren’t able to go with the flow, you’ll be chasing the happiness you perceive by staying in one place. Time moves on whether you are willing to expand and grow or whether you stay stuck in the past.
  3. Drama.  I always prided myself on being an articulate drama queen. That was then, and this is now. Today I see it as exhausting and devoid of any kind of fellowship aspects. Living in drama steals your soul.
  4. Measure you wealth by finances alone.  The true representation of my wealth is shown in my friendships. Beyond money and other “stuff,” relationships are rich and diverse and sometimes challenging but always a comfort. I have worked hard over the years to make them the best they can be.
  5. Being unorganized. A huge waste of time and energy is not taking a moment to plan or to think ahead. I’ve come to view lack of organization as a subliminal way to avoid doing something, so when I lack coordination or framework, I look inside to see perhaps why I don’t want to proceed.
  6. Control.  This is an ongoing battle for me … letting go and trusting that whatever it is, it’ll get done just fine without my machinations. Control in all things is exhausting and unnecessary, and it’s my #1 challenge. Best of luck to you if you’re also somewhat of a control freak.
  7. Lack of patience.  And voila! My #2 challenge. Goes hand-in-hand with control. When it arrives (and it arrives for me daily!) I remind myself to breathe … breathe … and, again, just breathe.
  8. Not being able to detach. My fingers don’t need to be in the business of others. I can better appreciate the differences of others if I detach. Also, detaching from the angst, sadness or anger of others guarantees us a greater sense of sanity.
  9. Being judgmental. You know how horrible it feels to be judged by others. Keep that in mind when what you see doesn’t necessarily match your beliefs, ideas of resolution, or what you know to be  true for yourself. I always try to assume there’s more going on behind the scenes than I will ever see or understand. Judging is saying I know it all, and I don’t!

For these nine additional joy robbers, I’m sure there are a thousand more. But, I’ll focus on these for now. What about you?