A life coach shares her thoughts on why achieving temporary happiness by travelling abroad may become a worrying trend

All of a sudden, Germany (and now several other countries on our list of vaccinated travel lanes) became one of the most desirable places in the world. If you live in Singapore, you know what I mean by that. 

Read more: Here Are All the Places Vaccinated Singaporeans Can Travel to

It is hard to keep up with the latest Covid-19 related news, yet the conversations are beginning to feel redundant, exhausting and are grating painfully on the spirit of every person in Singapore. It is certainly great news to travel out of Singapore without quarantine from certain countries, but this dependency on travelling as the ticket to happiness gives me hope and simultaneously worries me.

Tatler Asia

Happiness Is Within My Control           

As a happiness enthusiast and life coach, I advocate greatly that happiness is within ones’ own control. We cannot rely on external stimulants like a new car or landing a promotion to generate happiness within our soul. Sure, temporarily a shiny new car, or promotion with the perks feels great, but over time that positive effect is attenuated, and we become used to it. We need to work for these things to fill our lives, but if we constantly depend on them to fill our happiness cup, we can end up feeling let down when things don’t go our way.

Ticket to Happiness

Over the last few weeks, with Singapore’s announcement to remove quarantine at dedicated facilities from certain countries, there has been a surge in online bookings, so much so that the Singapore Airlines website was down. The queues to make the bookings in person at the Ion Orchard store were extensive and people were on hold for over an hour to speak to an operator.

The level of excitement is building as people begin to leave Singapore and plan their next holiday. For my family included, just speaking of leaving the country during Christmas has brought such excitement and joy. This is our ticket to something different, adventure, and creating memories. Yet inside my heart, I worry about what happens when we return. All our happy plans and dreams ride with us on that flight as we will leave Changi. And what happens when we return?

Read more: Singapore Vaccinated Travel Lane: What to Know About Travelling With Unvaccinated Children

Tatler Asia

Happiness Has To Be Here

A new study in an article by Forbes described that control over happiness changes as we age. Based on the U-shape curve of happiness by Professor Blanchflower at Dartmouth College, happiness decreases from the age of 18 and reaches its peak of unhappiness by age 47, and from there it steadily increases again.But we also need to realize that having a good education, a job and other strategies that make you believe you have control over your own happiness makes you infact; happier.

To me, I believe I have the ability to control my level of happiness. They could include the things in my home, how I sleep at night, the food I eat, time I carve out in my day to work, or to get fresh air. Those are all within my control. My flight to Europe is exciting to think about, but if it becomes my ticket to happiness and restrictions fall back into place, or Covid rates spikes again, the feeling of being let down again will be very hard to swallow. As a positive person, it is unlike me to think of what could go wrong, and I feel truly grateful to even book a flight out of Singapore, but I want to remind myself that happiness has to be here.

It is important to remember this, I feel anxiety putting all my eggs in one basket, especially when I am not in charge of holding that basket. We need to live here in Singapore like we used too and be able to enjoy this city. Unfortunately, It is hard now in groups of two, and we need things to change and open up. We can’t expect people to want to travel here and support our economy and dine at our fabulous restaurants if there are too many restrictions in place. If we lived here feeling fulfilled, content and satisfied we would not crave this missing puzzle piece to escape the island.  I hope you know what brings you joy, and that you are the master of your own happiness.

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