{"id":51636,"date":"2024-09-08T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-08T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/?p=51636"},"modified":"2024-09-30T09:59:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T14:59:25","slug":"healthy-happiness-exists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strobeleducation.com\/blog\/healthy-happiness-exists\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Happiness Exists"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I would be totally lying if I told you that everything in life feels happy lately – even as a happiness coach. We are all a mixture of happy and unhappy, depending on the day.<\/p>\n

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The bottom line is that it\u2019s not easy being a teacher or school leader right now. We\u2019re supposed to please parents, answer to admin., show support for our school, collaborate with our fellow teachers, and care for students. We are expected to talk about the joy and magic of teaching without showing signs of stress or weakness, even though the reality of teaching is hard.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re expected to play the role of the encouraging and optimistic teacher or school leader who keeps it all together and inspires students, but that\u2019s an awfully high standard to hold yourself to.<\/p>\n

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We are human, and our jobs are stressful. If we don\u2019t start talking about the hard things in education, we can\u2019t get to the good stuff.<\/p>\n

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You are allowed to feel the entire spectrum of emotions.<\/p>\n

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It’s normal to feel hard feelings, and it\u2019s insanely healthy to talk about them, too.<\/p>\n

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As much as we should strive for happiness, it\u2019s important that we don\u2019t fall into the trap of toxic positivity.<\/p>\n

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Instead, we need to focus on healthy positivity and be able to distinguish between the two.<\/p>\n

\"-smile-\"Healthy positivity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2705 Elicits good emotions like joy, hope, gratitude, love, and happiness.<\/p>\n

\u2705 Feels light and true. Includes more subtle emotions, too, like curiosity, open-mindedness, generosity, harmony, and compassion.<\/p>\n

\u2705 Sometimes feels like curiosity, open-mindedness, generosity, harmony, and compassion.<\/p>\n

\u2705 Can lead to increased confidence, feeling like a great version of yourself, like you\u2019re flourishing.<\/p>\n

\u2705 Helps you remain true to the real you.<\/p>\n

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Toxic Positivity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c Feels like fighting through pain and pretending to be okay because that\u2019s what you\u2019re \u201csupposed\u201d to feel.<\/p>\n

\u274c Sounds like someone telling you to focus on the good when you share how stressed and overwhelmed you are.<\/p>\n

\u274c \u201cFake it \u2019til you make it\u201d vibes.<\/p>\n

\u274c Can lead to feeling hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and is incredibly heavy.<\/p>\n

\u274c Tells you that you are wrong for having hard and messy feelings.<\/p>\n

\u274c Elicits guilt and shame when sharing hard and messy feelings.<\/p>\n

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The truth is that toxic positivity is sometimes the norm and widely shared in schools, and we can all be guilty of it. But it\u2019s not helpful to others, including all who work in a school, and it certainly isn’t good for our students.<\/p>\n

To counteract toxic positivity, we need to learn how to inhabit our emotions fully and start building healthy positivity.<\/p>\n

I urge you this week to just notice.<\/span><\/p>\n