Being Happy

This has been a huge life goal for me recently. A few weeks ago I was in pretty low spirits. I felt stressed, tired and bored. But when we were on holidays I knew that I needed to change, that this was not the person I wanted to be Basically, I took a long hard look at myself and realised how tedious and miserable I had become! Over the last 2 weeks I’ve really changed the way I approach life and it has made a massive difference. I’ve come to realise that happiness is a choice. It's not something that finds you; it’s something you have to search for. It sounds clichéd but it’s true; only you can make yourself happier. Personally, I have tried to make the following changes to help myself and would recommend them to anyone:

Changing diet: I was in a rut of sugar and starvation. I would eat nothing all day, then once I got home I would eat a pack of biscuits or a few bars of chocolate (yes, really). Obviously I was irritable all day and tired all evening. Now I make time to sit down and enjoy both breakfast and lunch. I’ve increased the amount of water I drink and cut down on alcohol and caffeine. The trick is not to go over the top. I’ve still eaten chocolate and cookies today but I’ve also drank three litres of water and am about to enjoy a tuna salad dinner. Yum!

Getting up earlier: I used to set my alarm for half six, but then press snooze for anywhere between thirty and ninety minutes. Consequently I spent all my mornings running late and feeling angry about the sleep I had just dragged myself out of. Now I press snooze once and get up around 6.40-6.45. I’m aiming to be one of those people who jump out of bed the moment their alarm goes off, but I’m not quite there yet. But getting up that bit earlier means that I eat a proper breakfast and get into work earlier. Getting up earlier and having the time to be that little bit more organised in the morning has cut back loads on my stress levels.

Taking exercise: I have recently started running. I’ve not been many times but because of all the other changes I’ve implemented, I’m taking this one quite slowly. I’ve been about three times round our local reservoir. It was the first exercise I had taken in two years (I’m not even ashamed to admit it). It’s the hardest thing to motivate myself to do but also has given me the greatest sense of achievement.

Taking quiet time: Quiet time before used to consist of snapping at the boyfriend ‘don’t talk to me’ because I felt too tired and stressed to have a conversation. I spent so much of my day making myself busy that once I got home I was mentally and physically exhausted So much so that all I could do was lie on the sofa, half my mind on the television, the other half on the next day’s tasks. Now I have cut down on what I do in day and make sure that I take regular breaks to just sit quietly. And if I do find myself becoming stressed or anxious I spend time counting breaths until I am calm. Works every time.

Doing Less: Everyday I used to get into work and write a to do list between eight and twelve items long. This was on top of my usual day to day tasks. And although most of them were just small tasks, I would inevitably fail to get them all done, go home stressed and start the cycle all over again the next day. Now I set myself three tasks per day, one of which is completely work unrelated. The trick is to be realistic about what you are able to achieve (not what you think you should!)
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I am not writing this post to say ‘look at me, look how well I’ve done’. But, if I can achieve this then anybody can. If you have been thinking about making any changes to your life to improve your sense of well-being, then the above steps have really helped me to change my outlook. The crucial thing is to make the choice and make the changes. It will amke your life better.