It is no secret that a lot of what people do is motivated by their need for being happier. There are those who indulge in excessive eating, drinking, using drugs, shopping, exercising, or ranting and raving at every other person around them, to name just some examples. All in the service of making good feelings stay longer and/or bad feelings to go away.
They overindulge in a 'pet-activity' not for the activity's sake, but in a vain attempt to regulate their emotions, to feel better - often to the detriment of one's health, financial situation, or relationships.
For some people this could be a big problem and they might benefit from exploring with a therapist the origins of their particular 'overindulgence' and to understand the dynamics that allows them to continue. Once that happens it's usually much easier to not go down the overindulgence-track.
Others might benefit from a research that found that people overindulge because they are trying to improve their mood. There are those who indulge when they are happy and they want the good feeling to continue, while others feel miserable and fear they will not be able to shake that feeling off unless they do something to improve their mood.
It appeared - according to the research - that it does not take much to change the habit of overindulging and gain some control over the impulse to act out. The simple advise is:
"If you are feeling happy, focus on reasons why those feelings will last, and if you are feeling unhappy, focus on reasons why those feelings will pass."
Go here to read the original article about this research and have a go at trying out this simple technique.
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