Because I'm Happy!

I've been told that, no matter how I change my hair and whether I am wearing glasses or not, I am always recognisable as soon as I smile, and I do smile most of the time.  

It's not so hard to smile and I've certainly noticed a lot of 'happiness' meme's e.g. 100 Happy Days. Dorset Cereals have asked me to come up with my five top happiness actions, the things I do that make me happy, the things that make me smile, so here goes:

1. Connecting with people - this has to be my top happiness action, whether it is with my family or close friends or my 'virtual' friends in the land of social media, I love to write, talk, listen, share and laugh with all sorts of people. 

2. Cooking and Baking - not so much the everyday type of 'getting the meal on the table' cooking,  more the weekend, take your time, create and have fun type of kitchen activity.

3. Travelling and Exploring - It doesn't matter if it's only a short distance, I love to visit places I haven't been to before, find out about the history and the stories and if there is food involved then it's even better!  I really  rediscovered my appetite for travel when I recently visited Canada.

4. Back, Neck and Shoulder Massage -  I do love to go for a massage, we are both spa junkies and love being pampered. 

5. My home - I've always been happy in my home, but I realised just how important it was for me this year when we discovered dry rot, had our home invaded by builders for three months and ceilings, floors and walls were demolished and rebuilt.

What is your top happiness action?

Here are a few ideas from Dorset Cereals to help you to find ways to be happy, they do tend to feature breakfast which is, of course, when you can sample the delights of a bowl of Dorset Cereal Muesli or Honey Porridge to set you up for the day:

THINK: As Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So focus on the good stuff. What happened yesterday, what’s good about today? And feel the benefits of a little reflection and observation. Miss this at breakfast and you won’t have time to catch up during the day.

TALK: The work/life balance can classically kill off family time, but as you wake up this is the time you are most likely to be together as a family group. Don’t leave it for ‘later’ when ‘later’ inevitably changes shape during the day.

MOVE:  Dorset residents might benefit from acres of coastline and countryside all around, but planning something active shouldn’t rest on this alone. Think as you chew about whether you’re pacing up and down the office when on a call, or actually walking up an escalator. If you plan it before you leave home, you will do it, rather than fall into the fug of routine. And feel good about it.

ENJOY: Quality of life needs some…quality. From a particular coffee smell that beats all others, to ingredients in your food that you can actually savour above the functional, to little moments of pleasure that you can plan into each day. The link again is the planning, the enjoyment factor and the few minutes to work into the day that make everything a little more enjoyable.

I was provided with Dorset Cereals muesli and porridge, I was not paid to write this and all views are my own.