July 4, 2017
Is it the sun?
Is it more daylight?
Listening to the birds singing their dawn chorus? (maybe not this one at 4.45am perhaps!!)
Is it looking up at the sky and noticing the passing clouds?
Is it your job or your family?
Is it just being there for another human being?
Is it looking around, smelling and seeing or maybe even touching the plants and trees – the early morning honeysuckle or freshly cut grass maybe?
Is it a special person in your life, or is it an animal – your dog, cat, fish, horse, hamster – whatever animal you live with or have contact with daily?
Or maybe it’s just waking up in the morning to a new day…..
Whatever it is that defines happiness in your world is different from what defines happiness in anyone else’s… because every single persons idea of happiness is singular to them, their culture, background and frame of reference.
And we can’t all go around being happy all the time can we, because that’s not “real” life? Or maybe we can if we think of happiness as a form of contentment… something to work towards at least!
So my suggestion to you is to look and think of happiness and contentment as daily choices that I believe we sometimes forget we even have a say in!! I know I do, until I catch myself.
We can actually choose to be happy as much as we can choose to be unhappy. We can choose to be content as much as we can choose to be discontent. Hard to believe isn’t it when you think of what life brings daily and the emotional ebb and flow that comes with it.
Situations might come at us and we could become angry, upset or even joyous… but this is where the spin comes in.
It is a psychological fact that our thinking hijacks us into believing something in a certain way, subsequently affecting how our bodies respond. That’s why two people may react in very different ways to the same or a similar situation.
What happens is that we have become so unconsciously conditioned, adapted and used to thinking and behaving one way that it has become a habit…. so our automatic reactions become habits… however, we do know that habits can be broken.
I can “happily” and honestly tell you that we do all have a choice, even if as you read this article you don’t think you do… We can choose how to respond, behave or think in a completely different way, but it takes effort. Noticing the small things around us at first helps.
If we take a moment to think before we react and then behave, this can calm our thinking (and nervous system) and give us breathing space to make different choices. From this space we can choose to be happy and content!!
My invitation to you is to find something simple around you that might evoke a feeling of contentment. Take a moment to absorb what happens, allow and see if whatever it is you have chosen puts a smile on your face.
Notice how this feels, then allow that process to become part of your daily routine towards even a little more happiness and contentment.