Make A Commitment To Cultivating Happiness

Happiness and habits!

What does it mean to be totally committed to something? It often means that you set a goal and then dedicate yourself to do what it takes to reach that goal. We commit to a relationship when we get married, we commit to a job or a career, and we may be committed to a hobby. But today I want to focus on committing to cultivating happiness.

I shared how at least part of how happy we are is related to a choice we make. I also shared my goal of running this Challenge to help us make a conscious decision to be happier and create a new habit of having a more positive outlook. The first step to make that happen is to make a commitment to this challenge and to happiness. This holds true for any new habit you want to engrain in yourself. The first step is always to commit to it. From there, it is a matter of daily practice until the new behaviour or action has become a true habit. A habit is something you do without any conscious thought or effort.

Our journey toward a happier version of ourselves is no different. We must commit to happiness. Of course it is not as easy as saying to yourself that you will be happier from here on out. While that is certainly helpful, it is not as simple as that. Before we can commit to happiness we have to define what makes us happy.

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Spend some time today to reflect on what makes you happy and what does not make you happy. Dig deep. For example, if curling up on the couch with a good book makes you happy, think about why that is. Is it because it gives you a chance to escape and forget about your own life for a while? If so, try to pin-point what you are hiding from when you dive into a book and what you can do about that. If getting up at 6am to go to work makes you unhappy, and changing to a later schedule is not an option, think about the positive things about getting up early. You get to see the sun rise, you get to come home at a decent hour and have time to relax before bedtime. Something as simple as implementing a relaxing bed-time routine and going to bed a little earlier may make it much easier to get up at 6am and improve your whole outlook on workday mornings.

We will dig a little deeper into what makes us happy and how we can go about cultivating more happiness in future posts. For now, find your own personal definition of happiness and produce at least ten different things or people that make you happy. Then commit to using the coming days to work on becoming happier. You will not regret it.

Same theme…

I just got this from Daily Motivation

“You are capable of overcoming the challenges you face in life.

No matter what happens, do not let yourself get bogged down by fear, and negativity.

Be patient with yourself as you work through whatever life throws your way.

Give yourself some time to process your negative feelings and then allow yourself to move on. Things can change for the better.

You are attracting the greatest moments of your life. Be open to miracles. You deserve positive experiences.

You deserve happiness. You deserve a beautiful life. Keep going.“

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Why Happiness Is A Choice You Make Every Day

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I’ve been feeling a bit down recently – probably because I just had a BIG birthday. I don’t like feeling down, so I went back to look through some of the articles I have collected and decided to share them.

Enjoy!

Are you a glass half full or half empty person? This is a great example to illustrate that there are often two sides to any story and that you have a choice in how you view things. And that choice in turn determines how happy you feel. Happiness then becomes a choice you make every single day.

You can choose to see the glass as half empty, focus on the fact that you are almost done drinking that nice glass of iced tea. With that attitude, you are more likely to feel a little depressed about your tea. If on the other hand you focus on the fact that the glass is still half full and you have plenty of ice-cold tea to sip on, your mood improves and you are increasing your happiness.

When you look at it that way, happiness really is a conscious choice you make, at least to a point. From what I have been reading 40% off your happiness is directly affected by how you think and how you choose to feel. And that is what the next 30 days is all about. Over the coming days I will post here on the blog daily with tips, advice, and strategies to help you make a conscious decision to be happier. Ready to join me?

Be Happy!

 Since happiness is a choice, and a choice we make every single day, I want to challenge you to make it a habit. Over the coming days, I want to inspire and encourage you to make a choice each morning to be happier.

It takes time and daily conscious decisions to change habits and how we approach life. That is where the challenge comes into play. The idea is that you have reminders here on the blog to help you remember to make that choice. Of course there will also be plenty of helpful content on the topic of happiness in the form of upcoming blog posts. At the end of the challenge, I hope you have formed new habits, new ways of thinking, and new ways to look at each situation as it arises. With a little shift in thinking and perception, you can craft a happier, more fulfilling life for yourself. I hope this challenge will help you get there.

Helping

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I have a close friend who is going through a hard time at the moment. She was working hard to look after her mother and son. While she was out at work her Mum looked after the young boy. Sadly, Mum has now gone blind. So my friend had to quit work to care for her Mum and son.

She is depressed and can’t see a way forward. I am doing my best to help her emotionally and to some extent financially, though my contract just finished too, and my next one is a few weeks away…

However, I found this lovely quote from Daily Motivation.

Maybe it will resonate with some of you.

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“In life, we have to let go of many things.

Life offers us everything – joy, excitement and also sadness, and anger. We must experience all these aspects fully and learn from them.

The experiences you go through open you up to your strengths and aspects that can be improved. Allow things to come and go.

Let the moment be what it is. Life is continuously moving. We have to do our best to roll with it all.

Free yourself from your limiting beliefs. As you work with what you have, you will gather the strength to overcome obstacles and transform yourself.”

Focus

Since I came back to the UK last summer I have been looking for a focus. At first I thought I would become a Property Investor, so I enrolled on an online course. I really couldn’t get into it; I worked in Property in the past and lost a lot of money.

Then an old friend came back on the scene and we were going to live in Morocco. It didn’t work out; too many clashes.

I published my second book featuring Fairy Hanny. Then it got my focus. I have always wanted to write and to teach.

That is my focus.

I am building courses to sell online, and writing.

Creative writing and also Motivational books. I have my third book featuring Fairy Hanny on the way. I also have a set of crime novels featuring the black humour of Inspector Hunter Flaange. I have a plan for a book on Time Management, based on a course I completed a while ago. Then there are plenty of Maths books I can put together from the various worksheets and powerpoints I have developed over the years.

I have a focus.

Then I came across this from Daily Motivation.

Don’t be afraid to be confused. Think of it as a sign that you’re learning something new and that your perspective is expanding.

Confusion pushes you to look beyond your perspective in order to make room for diverse opportunities in life.

Opening yourself to a new possibility improves your ability to feel confident in who you are in the face of adversity.

While you may not have full control over how your journey unfolds, you can control your priorities and what you believe in.

Just focus on what kind of person you want to be, and the rest will automatically fall into place.

Feeling tired?

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I am! I think it is the travelling and the long term effects of Covid.

Though there is so much more I want to achieve!

I was fortunate enough to find this quote from Daily Motivation.

Be happy!!!

“Don’t ever let yourself believe that you’re running out of strength. 

Whenever you feel your life is spiralling out of control, take a step back and breathe.

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Be aware of what you do have and what’s going well in your life. Take some time off to let the negative emotions run their course.

Then slowly incorporate positive thinking activities into your daily life, such as practicing affirmations, reframing a situation, and gratitude journaling.

If you release self-defeating thoughts and let the dark clouds of negativity dissipate, you will realize that you can find hope and strength within.”

Writing and thinking

I love writing!

I am working on the third Fairy Hanny story and my first detective novel featuring Inspector Flaange. I also have some Maths and English books that I am editing, and an outline of a book on Motivation.

I get an email every day with a Daily Motivation. So I will share this one;

You are blessed in so many ways. Live your life with gratitude. Notice the little wins every day. There are so many good things you have already received.

So many things go right in a day.

Savour the good. 

Don’t let the good moments pass without celebration.

Spend some time cherishing them and hold on to positive emotions a little longer. Appreciate the hard work you have put into the things you have achieved until now.

Savour the sensation of being grateful. Learning to notice and enjoy what’s around you makes it easier to snap yourself out of negative thoughts.