Happiness is described as a state of well-being and contentment : JOY,  a pleasurable or satisfying experience. Therefore, not a feeling that is general to us all. What one might describe as happiness is not what another might as well. We all see it and live it differently.

I started thinking about this recently and just how we are all shaped in different ways, knowing joy, sometimes completely different to what others might describe it. If ten, twenty years ago, you would have asked me what makes me happy, my answer would most probably have been money, a designer bag, a house, a car and a job that would put me in charge of other people. I used to love bossing around and have stability.

Time passed and now, different things bring me joy. I am so happy having a clean house, a healthy child, fancy smelling wax melts, being able to run and exercise, reading a good book, having a coffee with a friend, knowing I am getting full support from my partner and am being loved the way I deserve to be loved. I am happy to still be able to video call my mum and dad, to see them from time to time and spend time with them. These are little things for some but they mean the world to me.

This is my life and even though things are not perfect, I have to admit that I am lucky and happy. I learned what I like and what I don’t. I learned not to be put down by others and slowly but surely I am learning how to say no when I am asked for things I don’t actually want to do

My definition of happiness might not be yours and I guess that makes things more interesting. One important thing to remember is that happiness isn’t a state of constant euphoria. Instead, happiness is an overall sense of experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones

We should learn to cultivate happiness by enjoying more the NOW moment rather than falling into that trap of accumulating more and more. We should learn how to practice gratitude for the things we already have.

Often we find ourselves stuck in a pessimistic outlook or experiencing negativity. One way to cultivate happiness is to look for ways to reframe our thoughts in a more positive way. I am not saying to ignore the bad things that might happen in our lives but just try and look at events in a more balanced way, try and not sink into the negative part

Exercising is another way of cultivating happiness and eliminating stress in our lives. But, like I said, we are not all the same. I am a person who will fall on the anxiety slope quite easily. What helps? RUNNING. I love the feeling I get after all that effort. It takes away all bad thoughts. It’s that time with myself when I plan and relax. But is this the same for everyone? NO! I have friends who never exercised in their life, can’t understand running under any circumstance and keep telling me they got no time for things like this. Then, I got friends who used to be very healthy and fit and also used to exercise regularly but now they got a family and that brings them joy and happiness and they don’t have time for “all that stuff”.

Things are different for us all. I love setting short term goals apart from the big ones for the future. Running a 10K in the next 2 months; learning how to edit pictures and add shades this year, changing my job, writing more often on my blog … achieving any of these goals brings me fulfillment and therefore joy and happiness. Some of you might think that this is not ambitious enough or that setting smaller goals doesn’t count as happiness,

I do not want to chase a dream for a lifetime and stress about how to get it, forgetting to live and enjoy my life. I learned that we only live once. I am determined to see the bright side of it. I want to develop and grow, I want to meditate, be more positive and express gratitude every day, I want to be able to offer a positive example to my child, teach her to be kind and loving, helpful and healthy.

In the past few years I forgot about music. It sounds crazy but I did. When I started running during the first lockdown, I got myself a pair of ear pieces and played some 80’s hits while out. I had thirty minutes of joy and then I would have stopped the sound and forget about it until next time. Then, one day I switched on my laptop and started writing a post on my blog. I went on YouTube and pressed play on one of the songs and the playlist just continued. The feeling I got was indescribable. My writing had rhythm, my face had a smile on it and my day got better. How did I forget about music for so log?

Do you listen to music? Does it bring you joy?

I feel like I am starting to ramble but I do hope that it all makes sense.