The Pursuit of Happiness
Daffodils - happiness makers.
Happy International Day of Happiness Day y'all!
Yes March 20th 2020 is International Day of Happiness Day!
And although I'm in quarantine in Nashville Tennessee I’m happy.
I'm happy I’m not alone. I have my wonderful husband quarantined at home with me, which I’m happy about because today is our wedding anniversary. It’s nice to have someone at home to talk to and to eat meals with. We've been married a long time. I won’t tell you how many years - it's been decades. Our wedding anniversaries seem to be getting stranger each year.
A few years ago we decided to enjoy our wedding anniversary by hiking and having a picnic lunch beside a lovely waterfall in Tennessee. We packed a nice picnic lunch with some treats, we drove for miles, envisioning a lovely day out in the open air. We were so excited. But the weather had other plans. It rained, hailed and snowed on us. We ate our picnic lunch huddled under a tiny shelter in the freezing cold, determined to make a day to remember. That gave us a good laugh!
Last year we spent our wedding anniversary apart. I was in Nashville TN, he was in Gold Coast Australia due to delays with his immigration visa.
Yet this years anniversary feels like it’s the weirdest one yet.
My husband planned a very special wedding anniversary for us. He purchased tickets months in advance to enjoy dinner and concert to see Sinead O’Connor. That show sold out so fast and we were so happy we got our tickets when we did. And we were getting so excited because we knew it would be an amazing concert and we love Sinead’s beautiful voice. But four days before the event, the show got cancelled due to…
The Virus - COVID-19.
This viscous virus has been so successful infecting as many people as possible. It quickly escalated from epidemic to a pandemic. So we, along with just about everyone else in the world, are in quarantine.
‘Safer at Home’ is what he Governor of California called it when he announced just last night that his entire state is ordered to stay at home (apart from essential services) because that the spread of virus is now as fast in the USA as it is in Italy where thousands of deaths have already been recorded. And experts tell us it will get worse before it gets better.
That’s a grim outlook.
Everyone is worried. This virus is making everyone worried. The whole world is worried. And we think we’re all going to get it. Some of us will get it really bad, some will die, others will get sick. We’re all carriers of the virus.
But you know what? We’re all carriers of something else.
We are carriers of love and hope and joy.
So especially today - on International Day of Happiness Day!
Today is when we can pursue happiness, spread happiness, be happy. Virus or no virus. Today is a good time for reflecting on what happiness actually is. Like, what things make us truly happy? And how many things can we do each day that make us happy?
Here’s my personal list of daily happiness makers.
Waking up in a nice comfortable bed and hearing the songs of birds
Morning self-hypnosis
Love and companionship. I know I am happy being on my own, but I love having my husband around too.
Eating a bowl of fresh watermelon.
Drinking a cup of hot chai tea.
My daily walk where I can stretch my legs, and breathe in the air, hear the birds singing, and admire all the beautiful flowers and trees (right now it’s springtime and we’ve got daffodils and peach blossoms in bloom!)
My daily walking meditation where I count my blessings and be grateful
Praying and thanksgiving
Drinking a glass of fresh clean water whenever I want
Doing work which I’m passionate about
Eating lovely healthy lunch - usually a bowl of homemade soup or a salad.
Learning and discovering things about life
Shopping for food - I love my role ‘like the merchant ships, like a hunter gatherer’
Home cooking delicious healthy food
Eating that delicious, healthy, home cooked food with my husband
Washing the dishes together
Making the kitchen nice and clean
Playing music with my husband
Talking with friends online and texting.
Relaxing and watching a good program
Soaking my feet in a warm water with epsom salts
Keeping in touch with everyone I want around the world
Going to sleep safely in a lovely comfortable bed
And that goes on every day. My little happiness cycle.
My list shows me it's the little things in life that make me happy.
There are more things I could add things to this list - like going to a concert, or going out with friends, or going out for dinner at a fancy or un-fancy restaurant, or going to the cinema to watch a movie, or going on a vacation at our favorite beach.
But not right now. I’m happy, safer at home. Practicing safe social distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 virus, staying calm, meditating and counting my blessings, helping my immune system stay strong by increasing my happiness and joy, increasing my immunity to fear and worry.
Happy International Day of Happiness y'all.
PS: Here’s something I have created to help you be happier, calmer and less anxious each day. I’ve called it Immune System Upgrade - it’s one of my lovely Rapid Transformational Therapy self-hypnosis recordings that you can listen to each day. It contains a soundscape soundtrack too to make it even more relaxing and transforming. I’ve made it super affordable. Check it out here. The Immune System Upgrade