Happiness
8 Things That Usually Help Me Stay Happy and Calm
Life isn’t perfect, but here’s how I maximise my chances of being happy.
What does happiness mean to me? That was one of the writing prompts posted here, so I decided to have a go at answering it.
Here are eight things that contribute to my happiness.
Health
This is really a prerequisite for happiness because being in bad health will usually block the path to a happy life. Being in good health, on the other hand, will leave the path wide open. But I need more than only good health to be truly happy.
Meditation
The form of meditation I do is called NSR. It’s basically a much cheaper version of Transcendental Meditation. It helps me deal with the stresses that accumulate each day. As a result, I feel that I’m calmer, more even-tempered and positive.
Purpose
If I feel that I have a purpose and that I’m doing something meaningful, that makes me happy. I used to run an outdoor mindfulness group, and it gave me a lot of satisfaction to know I was doing something that benefitted others.
These days, I feel like my writing has a purpose, so this is what drives me forwards.
Laughter
Laughter is the best medicine, and it’s also a necessary part of life. I love going to my improv group. It’s usually the most fun I have all week, and we laugh a LOT!
I also enjoy watching comedy videos before bed. It puts me in a good mood for sleep.
Freedom
I love having a nice day out somewhere on my own. It feels great to have the freedom to go wherever I want and enjoy some peaceful alone time. To me, this is more important than money. That’s why some of my happiest times were when I was unemployed.
Sunshine
Who doesn’t love sunny days, right? It doesn’t even have to be summer. A crisp, sunny winter’s day can be beautiful. If I go out on a sunny day, it usually puts me in a good mood. I return home at the end of the day feeling refreshed and happy.
Clouds
This might sound strange since I said how much I like sunny days, but I also like cloudy days. Not if it’s tipping down with rain, though — I’m talking about the dry, calm days with light clouds.
For some reason, this gives me a tranquil feeling of contentment. It might be because I grew up in England, where so many of my childhood days were cloudy. But my childhood was fun, with a lot of running around outside playing silly games with my friends, so I probably associate cloudy days with enjoyment and normality.
I also like the fact that I don’t get sun in my eyes. That’s a bonus.
Routine
Routine makes me feel settled. It doesn’t mean that every minute of my life needs to be on a predictable repeating pattern, it just means that having routines makes many aspects of life easier.
But it’s possible to have fun routines! An example is my improv group. It’s the same time on the same day every week, and I usually attend. Even though I go to the same place every week, it’s always a tremendous amount of fun. Having that to look forward to each week makes me happy.
