Here’s To You Happiness

“I feel myself falling, I’m feeling happy now” ~ Take That

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness, fortunate or lucky

 

I feel happy; happy in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. So here’s to all of you who helped get me here.

 

Happiness is:

Peace of mind

Good music

People who make you laugh

People who know what to do when you cry

Learning new things; about the world, about others, about yourself

Appreciating the beauty in life

A good pair of boots

Words; writing them, reading them, saying them

Laughter

Dancing

Being lucky

Friends

Understanding, knowing, and never doubting your own quality

Hope you’ve all got happiness in your life. If not, borrow some of mine. I have plenty to go around.

 

Princess

Pondering Happiness

“I feel myself falling, I’m feeling happy now” ~ Take That

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness, fortunate or lucky

 

I haven’t done one of these recently. But as Summer slides into Autumn I am pondering over the things I want most in my life for continued happiness

 

Happiness is:

People who make me laugh

A decent fried egg and mushroom sandwich

A wide and varied social circle

Kindness

Tea. In a mug. Preferably one with a 70’s cartoon character on it

The satisfaction of a job well done

A good book

Friends; close, far, like-minded, utterly different, mad, bad, and wonderful to know

Banter

Appreciation

My family

The night sky

Always being able to find something to smile about

 

Count your blessings and let me know, there may be more out there than you think.

 

Princess

If It Makes you Happy

“If it makes you happy it can’t be that bad” ~ Sheryl Crow

Or, as defined by my dictionary

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness

 

I don’t believe we have an automatic right to be happy. But I think trying to be happy is a Good Thing. Misery can be very easy to wallow in but actually it isn’t all that comfortable.

I recently came across this quote by Voltaire “The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.” It really speaks to me. It’s an outlook of positivity, a way of facing the world and its myriad of challenges without despairing. Things may be awful but how we deal with them is up to us.

I started writing blogs on Happiness Is… because I was actually deeply unhappy and so writing lists of things that still made me smile in the depths of my unhappiness became a coping mechanism. I was raised to count my blessings and it’s a habit I continue to practice, most especially when times are bad. It’s not always easy to find things that make you smile, that spark a little bit of happy inside, but I think it’s important and I will always keep looking.

But to keep looking is not the same as pursuing happiness. The pursuit of happiness is stated within the US Declaration of Independence as part of peoples’ unalienable rights. Eddie Izzard does a very good bit of stand up on it, as though happiness is something to be pursued hunting-style with a gun. I think that looking for things that make you happy is a positive thing but if you can’t look around your immediate environment, emotionally and physically, and find things that make you happy then it doesn’t matter how hard you pursue, you won’t find happiness. It comes from within.

That’s not to say possessions don’t create happiness because they do. The laptop I am writing this piece on, the phone sitting next to me; they make me happy. But it is their usage, my usage, that creates the happiness. If I was writing a piece of hatred, if the messages coming through on my phone were nasty or unpleasant, then my happiness would be significantly diminished. I think it’s fine to be happy over material things but not to only be happy over material things. A piece of art can be possessed but is it the possessing that creates the happiness or the looking? A cool breeze, a gentle caress, the warm scent of baking bread; these things can’t be possessed but can create intense happiness.

Really, I just like to be happy. And I like other people to be happy. And so, even when I am unhappy and people I care about are happy, then I’m happy even though I’m sad.

What makes you happy? Always interested to know. Drop me a line on a comment box-shaped postcard.

 

Princess

Recent Happiness

“I feel myself falling, I’m feeling happy now” ~ Take That

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness, fortunate or lucky

 

I like to think on what makes me happy, whether a material item, a mood, a memory. These are a few things that have made me happy recently.

 

Happiness is:

Freckles

Making fresh pasta

Visitors

Chatting for hours

The sun coming out

Catching up with old friends

Striking art in unusual places

Courage in the face of adversity

Sharing secrets

Random incidents of unexpected smiling

A timely reminder of self-worth

 

Do feel free to share yours on a comment box-shaped postcard.

 

Princess

Knowing What Makes You Happy

“I feel myself falling, I’m feeling happy now” ~ Take That

Or, as defined by my dictionary:

Happy (adj): feeling or expressing joy, causing joy or gladness, fortunate or lucky

 

Sometimes it’s important to know what you need, know what makes you happy, so you can reach out for it.

 

Happiness is:

Comfort eating

Comfort drinking

The workout that follows the comfort eating and drinking, to remind yourself how strong you are

Supportive friends who reach out for you first

Laughter

Counting your blessings

Looking up at all the stars in the sky

Buying yourself flowers

Listening to Rufus Hound doing a rap about boxes in Season 8 of The Unbelievable Truth

Remembering your dreams

Having a good old sweary rant then crying then laughing some more

Looking at pictures of snow leopards

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about what makes you happy then you know what you need in the dark times.

 

Princess