Harvesting Happiness: Planet Drama

By Lisa Cypers Kamen.

When it comes to rooting out environmental disasters on Planet Earth, cartoon superhero Captain Planet has got the formula down. In the TV show, the green-haired, blue-skinned environmental wonder boy joins forces with the Planeteers — five pollution-fighting kids that represent earth, wind, fire, water, and heart — to stop environmental disasters throughout the world.

Whether it was poor sanitation or deforestation, Captain Planet and the Planeteers had all the elements needed to keep the world beautiful.

Captain Planet’s message on environmental stewardship was way before its time, and is undoubtedly still crucial today. But lately, another crisis has been popping up throughout the world: Drama.

Constant conflict and wild emotional responses are no longer just for teens. These aspects of drama have filtered into politics, community events, schooling, reality TV and even our family lives. It sometimes feels as though the world revolves around drama, the evil nemesis of happiness. And if we don’t find a way to control the takeover soon, drama will start to become more prominent in our lives than our goals, dreams and values.

Here on Planet Drama, we’re in major need of a superhero. But what would that superhero look like? For starters, that hero is centered in his or her true self, which is a powerful tool that allows us to shape our own lives without relying on others for approval or comparisons. With that grounding, our hero can show drama that a person’s life is defined by identity, not dramatic events that threaten to divert our attention.

Our hero can keep drama in perspective simply by mind conditioning such as living in the moment. He or she pays no mind to drama’s threats against our future, because happiness lives in the present, and the present is the only thing in our control. Drama thrives when people react with emotional outbursts and knee-jerk responses. Our true-self hero is armed with the otherworldly ability to stay composed amid chaos and view life without drama; those powers can banish our happiness nemesis to another galaxy.

When drama takes over our lives, we lose perspective of our priorities and feel ourselves absorbed more in the lives of others than our own day-to-day situations. By distracting us from our goals and desires, drama threatens to shatter our moments of happiness. Luckily, there is a drama-fighting superhero is in every one of us. All it takes to conquer the negativity of Planet Drama is a strong grounding in your true self, a firm grasp of your priorities and a view of life that keeps you rooted in the present moment. Once you’re armed with those weapons, drama won’t stand a chance.

Happiness is an inside job®.

Harvesting Strategy:

Sometimes, we need a physical representation to remind us of our values. For some, wearing a cross connects them to Christianity, for others, a star of David connects them to Judaism. But what is the symbol for the true self?

Find something you can wear on a daily basis, whether it be a pin on your label, a ribbon around your wrist, or even a little action figurine that you can keep on your desk at work, to remind you to let your true self superhero take charge of your day.