Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Bob McFerrin wrote a song about it, Bob Marley also sang about it, every smile expresses it and it can be found in the smallest of places – happiness 🙂

So what makes you happy and how often do you feel it? 

Theres an exercise that I get my clients to do at the start of the new insights programme, which is to write down a list of at least fifty things that make you happy. At first it appears easy to roll off the things that come straight to mind but then you really have to think hard about what truly makes you happy. Sometimes you have to look a bit deeper inside yourself and explore the simple things that give meaning to your life.

In our world today it is easy to get detached from what our soul seeks to what we believe we should acquire to make us feel happy. Such as a certain job, big house, fancy car or the next best gadget or beauty product.

We get sucked into the lives of the rich and famous and strive to be a certain way, look a certain way and live a certain way. The next big thing is always around the corner and commercial companies are pushing the biggest new products or services which we are told will improve our lives. But is it really what we need, will it genuinely bring us an abundance of joy and happiness to our life?

Of course it is nice to have nice things and strive for success but is it really what you are meant to be doing or are you always comparing yourself to others and what others have or relying on other people to make you happy. Im sure you can all relate to these following examples:

“I am happy when my partner shows me affection”

“I will be happy when I earn a 50k salary”

“My boss finally noticing my efforts and giving me a bonus”

“I love how my favourite actress dresses, I just bought the same designer handbag she is wearing”

“Being showered with gifts on valentines day”

“My friends approval of my new house and car”

All of these situations make you dependent on people, wealth or material possessions to make you feel happy.  This can often lead to frustration and difficulty in reaching happiness as the pleasure can be temporary, unrealistic or even when you get it there will always be someone who is better off than you.  The best way to measure your success and happiness is to look inside your heart and open your eyes to the real world around you and not to the material world  which is based on acquiring things that may lead to your happiness. By internal motivated happiness you can experience a true and long lasting happiness which is authentic and meaningful. This is far easier to achieve and may not require any money at all. Here are a list of some of my happy things:

“Booking myself a massage at the spa and having some self care time”

“I am happy when I walk along the beach at sunrise”

“The amazing feeling after running and challenging myself in a half marathon”

“Relaxing in a bubble bath with a glass of wine and a good book”

“Watching old movies and musicals”

“Making my nieces smile when we play and have fun”

“Christmas time and decorating my tree whilst listening to my favourite festive songs”

I encourage you to write down the fifty things that make you happy and let the list be your motivator to bring more happiness into your life today. You will find that you have a much greater awareness of what makes you happy and I want you to look at this list everyday and remind yourself  to do the things that make you happy more often. This will allow you to be in control of your own emotional state and happiness.

You have the choice, you can choose to be happy without relying on the pressures of modern society. It becomes much easier to be happy when we value ourselves rather than focusing on wealth and material possessions. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that gives us pure joy like the sound of a child’s laugh or a hot cup of coffee on a winters day. Whatever it may be

– find your authentic happiness 🙂