Five Ways to Achieve a Happier You

They say that: "happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life".  But to achieve this state of happiness may well require a little effort by way of setting the tone for each day ahead with a good dose of positivity.  Starting the day well and making small changes to our outlook on life can make a big difference to our overall happiness.

Count Your Blessings

It's so easy to take things for granted, but when you stop and think about the good things in your life, you feel truly blessed.  For me, I have a family who are everything to me.  I have a husband who I am still totally in love with, even after two decades together!  My children are my world.  Motherhood defines me and my children's love validates me.  Being surrounded by the love and laughter of my family is a wonderful place to be.  

Be Mindful

 If you are constantly complaining about the weather, your lack of money or the fact that you're a few pounds overweight, then you are wasting precious time, giving yourself over to pessimism and missing out on the everyday wonders that surround us.  Being mindful of the positive things that are present in the here and now, however small they may seem, helps combat stress and anxiety, opening us up to a happier more content outlook. Just taking a moment to be still and to reflect on these things can be life changing.

Silver Linings

Making a conscious effort to find silver linings in anything that may initially be thought of as a negative is a great way of finding the good in situations.  We can't change the world, but we can change the way we perceive it and respond to it. There are lessons to be learned if we open ourselves up to them.  As Doctor Seuss so beautifully said, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Stop and Smell the Coffee

Thinking of the things that make us happy is an antidote to the stresses and strains of modern living.  But this doesn't mean we should be focusing purely on the big and possibly unachievable things.  Yes. we'd all love to win the lottery or land our dream job, but these things don't happen very often to ordinary folk. Instead, we should take the time to recognise the little sources of happiness that happen around us everyday and appreciate them when they arise.  For me, it's the smell of coffee, the feel of sunshine on my skin, seeing a rainbow, hearing my kids laughter, eating the perfect strawberry, baking a cake, a lunchtime phone call with my husband or reading a good book.  Recognising these little things that make us happy and bring us pleasure, is a great start to achieving a greater happiness.

Spread a Little Happiness

A shared smile with a stranger.  The warm feeling of knowing you have helped someone in need.  Feeling a part of a greater joy. Making others happy can amplify your own feelings of happiness.  It's often the little things like making small talk to the old lady in the supermarket or buying lunch for an old friend that makes us feel good about ourselves and the role we are playing in the lives of others. Random acts of kindness are seldom forgotten, and knowing that we have made someone's day a little brighter is an empowering thought.

How do you go about achieving happiness in your life??

I was challenged by Dorset Cereal to write this post about what makes me happy and how I try to inject happiness into my life .  They sent me some cereals so I could enjoy a good breakfast while reflecting upon the good things that surround me. Even the packaging of the cereals put me in a happy mood, giving me a cheery disposition in the morning. After all, as Dorset Cereals say life begins at breakfast!

Choosing Happiness

Being Yourself - Brilliantly

A highlight of my day at the Tots 100 Blog Summit was listening to the inspirational, motivational speaker and author of The Art of Being Brilliant  Andy Cope who gave a talk about happiness and positivity in everyday life.  His words spoke directly to the part of me that hides under a dark cloud somewhere deep inside, which sometimes surfaces and threatens to douse my life with irrational, negative thoughts.  Hearing Andy Cope actually felt life changing.

Much of what he said was incredibly simple.  We cannot change what is going on in the world, but we can change how we respond to it.  We can wait for some allusive pot of gold coloured happiness at the end of a neverending rainbow, or we can see the joy in the here and now.  We can train ourselves, with a subtle switch in our perception to choose to be happy.  This may be commonsense, but it certainly is not common practice.

Much of what was said was similar to the way I speak to be children.  If they are down about something that is happening in their lives I remind them that they are in control of how they see their problems.  Approaching those problems with a positive approach is empowering and gives them back the control that feeling down takes away.  Dwelling on negative thoughts will only ever create a spiral of despair.  Wishing away the days until after they have finished their exams or until they break up from school, causes them to miss out of the simple pleasures that surrounds them everyday.  Although these are words I say to my kids with conviction, I have never said them to myself.

Only 2% of the population of the UK according to Andy Cope's research are really happy.  Many of us fall into the category of 'mood hoovers' who dwell in the bottom of the happiness spectrum, sucking the positive energy out of everything and never experiencing true contentment in life.  But this negative outlook is learned behaviour.  Material possessions, career, wealth and success are things we strive for in life to make us happy.  We live fast but we don't live well.  The more we rely on these factors for our happiness, the more disillusioned we can become in our never ending search for the next thing that will complete us.  We need to strip this back and be grateful for what we have.  We need to unlearn this behaviour.  We literally need to stop and smell the roses.

Andy Cope starts each day being thankful that he hasn't got toothache.  A simple trick to start the day happy.  Instead of focusing on the fact that it is silly o'clock, it's raining and you've got loads of work to do, just focus on something positive as your first thought of the day.  For him it's the fact that his teeth don't hurt!  Choosing to find the positive in a situation is the basis of changing your entire outlook on life.  It's so simple, it's genius!  Applying this process to all aspects of your life can definitely change things for the better.

Driving home from Blog Summit there was an accident closing the M6 slip road and causing a tail back.  The weather took a turn for the worse and the heavens opened as we sat there in the traffic jam in the torrential rain.  This incident suddenly became a metaphor for life and a way to begin to change my perceptions for the better.  I didn't stress myself out by being held up at all.  I enjoyed being in the car with my family who had picked me up from the venue, chatting and laughing together about the day we had had.  Then suddenly the sun broke through the rain clouds and  a beautiful rainbow appeared up ahead.  A symbolic rainbow full of the promise of happiness right there at that  very moment.  A sign that we all have the potential to simply be ourselves, but brilliantly!