Worst day ever! I just left the police station with my sixteen year old daughter who chose to runaway from home last night...and I still have to write a piece about being happy. Ain’t that just some stuff right there? Literally lol’ing at the irony, ridiculous and personal butt kicking it is taking just to put my nails on this keyboard...but, I have a choice...and I choose to be better than this situation. So, I put in my earbuds, set my Pandora to Muppet Love (the perfect mixture of Disney songs, Muppet soundtracks and happy princess movie anthems) and transport myself to a happy place...
If we have a goal we are reaching for, a dream we are chasing, or a quest we have committed to, crap is going to happen. In some way, shape or form, crap is probably already happening to you right now. Like everything else in our life, we have a choice - drown in crap...or use it to plant a flower bed. Though drowning is often the preferred choice due to the effort it takes to keep flowers alive, there are great benefits to intentionally choosing to be a happy person, no matter what we are facing.
Now, before I go donning a white dress and dancing through the sunflowers, I need more information. So, I did what any wise researcher would do...I googled it and the interweb agrees that there are six major health benefits to focusing on things that make us happy:
Protect your heart - Doing things that make us happy can actually lower a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. Did you know that happy people are 22% less likely to have a heart attack?! (As a child of two heart patients, that is enough to get me thinking happy right there)
Strengthens our immune system - Happy people are recorded to take HALF the amount of sick time as grumpy people. That is twice the vacation days, ummm yeah!
Combats stress - Happiness literally comes at your stress like a ninja monkey with a happy sword. Happy people are even said to bounce back from stressful situations quicker than the grumpy majority.
Less pain - You can literally block your pain receptors with happy-ness.
Fights disease - Makes sense after reading the first five.
Live longer - Happy people live an average of ten years longer than grumpy folks.
A happier you is a healthier you!
Easier said than done, I get it, hence today’s challenge. Consider it an offensive move against the daily battles that try to steal our joy. Today, we are going to start a list with at least five things that make us happy. What turns on that happy light inside of you? After much thought (and texting the question, “hey, so and so, what would you say is something that makes me happy?), here are a few things I came up with:
A good cup of coffee
Adventure - large, small and everything in between
Country music
Office supplies
Boots and a good pair of jeans
The Wizard of Oz
Baby farm animals
When the scale moves “the right way”
The smell of night blooming jasmine & eucalyptus
Just making the list improved my current mindset...although this music sure did not hurt...Hakuna Matata Baby! What made the top of your list? Comment below with some of your faves, let’s build a Happy Blog Basket of suggestions!
**Having trouble? Google laughing baby videos and just wait...it will come to you. You’re welcome :)