...something I try very hard to do.
New Years Eve, 2014: I spent the evening with friends and, as we chatted about the previous twelve months and our hopes for the next twelve, we found that happiness was the one thing we all wanted to have more of, whether it was in work, relationships, personal achievements- whatever our priorities were.
This got me thinking. I make a point of practising positive thoughts and counting my blessings and, the previous year, I'd taken part in the #100happydays challenge (which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite being very ill at one point). But what if I could have 365 happy days? Could I find something to be happy about every single day?
It was interesting. Like most people, I have good days and bad days; days so wonderful I want to remember them forever and days so awful I want to stay under the duvet and never leave the house again. Sometimes it felt like the world was filled with happy; other times, happy was pushed aside by busy, or tired, or stressed. If I didn't keep on top of the happy, it went away. Being happy, I reasoned, was like being an athlete or a musician. I needed to train for it. Every. Single. Day.
The next day, I went out and bought three diaries: one for each of my friends, and one for myself. I set them the challenge- could they find joy in every day? It didn't need to be anything huge- although sometimes it is- but they had to find one thing every day that made them feel happy.
Six months on, my diary has an entry for every single day but one- the day Terry Pratchett died. (I tried, but the hole he left sucked all the happiness that day.) I pushed myself to continue, though, and I haven't missed a day since. I like reading back over them and remembering.
My entries are in a sort of code- phrases that probably only make sense to me and the people I shared the moment with. It's a way of keeping these special moments private but I want to share them anyway. I wonder if anyone reading them will recognise the reference, and if it made them happy too? I hope so.
Here are some of the things that have made me happy:
a near-miss with karaoke
Roo getting stuck in the car
snoozing on a warm bus on the way back from football
my first band t-shirt in too many years
the Cask
"Good"
starlings
the kindness of strangers
playing in the snow
Mo Chickens
doing something kind for someone who didn't deserve it
climbing a fence in heels
Mary cakes
Bill's toy car
doggy dancing to Uptown Funk with Alfie
epic walkies
The Hat
"special" bowling
Ali breaking a fence
pizza with Bill
a Roman banquet
the last few miles to Fontygary
Pirate Bay
the scent of jasmine
a game of horseshoes
mucho ale and touchy-feeley good vibes
arm wrestling John for the last pint
dancing to Paul Weller
butterflies in my tummy
poker night
buttered crumpets
manly jobs
Ryan the parrot
having my hair stroked
a broomstick
"Oh"
"my woman"
Spanish penguins
If I asked you to tell me one thing that made you happy today, could you?
Why don't you share in the comments- or maybe you'll decide to keep a happy diary too.
Why don't you share in the comments- or maybe you'll decide to keep a happy diary too.
