When was the last time you did something just because it made you happy?
Hmmm……anything coming to mind? Let me guess….You spend a lot of time coming up with ways to make others happy.
Ok… what makes you happy? Wait….you can’t say ….seeing your family happy (that’s a given). What makes you happy? Hard to answer isn’t it.
Robert Holden author of Happiness Now once said that he’d never met anyone who pursued too much happiness or suffered from being too kind to themselves. Hmmmm…So what’s up? Are we waiting for happiness to find us and land splat in our lap? A sign or a green light? Or maybe we’re waiting for permission? One thing is certain, as mothers our selfless sides are way out of balance. We’ve been in taking-care-of-others mode for so long that we need a little nudge to go happiness seeking for ourselves.
Nudge.
This will make it easier…..One of the benefits of happiness is that it allows us to be of extraordinary service to others. Bingo…full circle!
Robert Holden also says that happiness is about being willing to be innocent again.
That sounds like FUN!
To fearlessly (re)discover ourselves we have to get back to our natural essence that made its appearance when we were little.
reACTION [to change in the response to stimulus]: Day 14 – Happiness is…
The first step in being happy is knowing what makes us happy.
A great place to start is a 2 minute meditation from Christine Northrup author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and Mother Daughter Wisdom, it opens the heart and just ‘feels’ happy. Find a quiet place to sit. Close your eyes. Take long slow breaths, smile into your heart for 2 minutes. That’s all there is to it. I’ve never been able to sit still mind and body long enough to meditate but this feels GREAT! I’ve heard meditation described as ‘the practice of keeping the mind in the same place as the body’. There might be something to this.
Now—IMAGINE a time in your life when you were happiest…..What were you doing?
When were you most excited?
What did you love to do as a kid?
What brings a smile to your face when you think about it?
What makes you go WOW?
What are you doing when you lose track of time?
What do you wish you could do?
Happy people have more to give others. They have more energy and more life!
Great questions Cheryl. I know as a Mother of four, when asked about happiness, it’s very difficult to take them out of the equation. You’ve given me some work to do, thanks.