happiness

ˈhapɪnəs/

noun: the state of being happy."She struggled to find happiness in her life" synonyms: contentment, pleasure, contentedness, satisfaction, cheerfulness, cheeriness, merriment, merriness, gaiety, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, joviality, jollity, jolliness, glee, blitheness, carefreeness, gladness, delight, good spirits, high spirits, light-heartedness, good cheer, well-being, enjoyment, felicity;

Once upon a time mental illness was a taboo subject, very rarely discussed and surrounded by judgement. I'm pleased to say that this seems to be changing. In the last few weeks I have heard segments on the radio dedicated to mental illness and have also had clients confiding in me with stories regarding friends and family who are fighting mental illness. Listening to these stories has been a real eye opener. For people battling mental illness, the struggle is real. I'm so pleased that more is being done in relation to understanding and helping people with mental health issues. There are many factors which contribute to mental illness including trauma, grief, abuse, genetics and poor nutrition just to name a few. Another big one is stress. With everyday life so very busy, it's no wonder people are getting overwhelmed trying to stretch themselves to the limit to meet the demands of family, work and everyday life. Balance in life is so important, as is taking some time out for you to reflect on everything going in your life. Children 'pick-up' what they see and hear, so It's very likely that if you are stressed, they may feel it too. So how do we learn to slow down? A few years ago I didn't know the answer to this until a friend introduced me to meditation. Meditation is a great tool for taking time out for myself. This ensures that I can find stillness in my day, making me a better person in all aspects of my life - mother, friend, daughter, sister and trainer. I meditate for 5 minutes, 1-2 times per day using just calming music and the power of the breath. Now, back to happiness. I believe that happiness is defined differently for each individual. Ever THOUGHT that you were happy, only to have a change of circumstances and realise that you weren't THAT happy? Whilst pondering about what truly makes me happy, I sat alone in my room and wrote down a list of all the things that (I thought) made me happy. Looking back at the list gave me the realization that many things on the list were motivated by extrinsic goals/rewards (eg. buying shoes, going on holidays) and really only caused short lived happiness.

It was only after delving within my true self that I found the reasons that truly make me happy, a true, deeper level of happiness. This list contained all the activities that I do just 'because.' The things that make your heart fill up with contentment, love, joy and satisfaction - intrinsically motivated activities (eg. playing in the garden with my girls simply because we all laugh and have fun, enjoying the beauty of the flower featured in the picture I took above, sitting in the sun with a cup of tea because of how it makes you feel). This realization has played a huge part in finding my happiness and made me really grateful and appreciative of the simple things in life. As I stated before, everyones definition of happiness is different but I hope that everyone who reads this can find their own long lived true happiness.

I put my list on my bedside table and find instant happiness when i read my 'Happy List' every morning!

If you're feeling down and struggling to cope, Beyond Blue has a great website with tools for coping with mental illness. Here is a checklist taken from the website to check whether you're displaying symptoms of anxiety and depression.