Thursday 29 October 2015

How to happy.

Daft punk were staying up all night to get it. Pharrell was it! Bobby McFerrin told us not to worry and to just be it. And the, surprisingly still not late, great Ken Dodd told us, it was the greatest gift that we can possess. But just how easy is it to find our fair share of happiness?

It's such a simple little word, but it means SO much to the way we view our lives. We actually measure our well being by how much time we spend just being happy. And it's not always easy to achieve in the general humdrum of our daily grind. So what is the secret?

Well the truth is, there isn't one. There's no magic formula we can all do to find our happy because everyone's view of being happy is triggered by different things. To some it's just spending time with loved ones. To others it might mean getting the latest gadget or a must have pair of shoes. Or it might just mean getting the chance to do nothing at all.

I recently watched 'Hector and his Search for Happiness', a Simon Pegg film based on a book by Francois Lelord. It's about a psychiatrist who goes in search for the meaning of happiness initially so he can help his patients find it it. During the course of the film he jots down little facts taken from the people he meets along his journey, about their views of happiness. Here's just a few of them, mixed in with a few of my own:

1. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness.
2. Happiness often comes when least expected.
3. Many people only seem to see happiness in their future.
4. Many people think happiness comes from having more power or more money – they are generally not happy people.
5. Sometimes happiness is not knowing the whole story.
6. It’s a mistake to think that happiness is the goal.
7. Happiness is being with the people you love; unhappiness is being separated from the people you love.
8. Happiness is doing a job you love with people you love doing it with.
9. Happiness is having a home and a garden to sit in.
10. Happiness is feeling useful to others.
11. Happiness is to be loved for exactly who you are.
12. Happiness comes when you feel truly alive.
13. Happiness is knowing how to celebrate properly.
14. Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love.
15. Happiness is not attaching too much importance to what other people think of you.
16. The sun and the sea make everybody happy.
17. Women care more than men about making others happy.
18. Happiness means making sure that those around you are happy.
19. Happiness is highly contagious.
20. Happiness is spending more time with happy people.

Have an awesome day people – now go chase your happy!