I intentionally cultivate happiness in my life. Do you? In previous posts, I have referred to my daily happiness habits, and as promised, here they are:
- I start the day with 2-4 cups of water and 20-30 minutes self-connection time. This consists of a blend of yoga, prayer, scripture reading, affirmations, using essential oils, and meditation.
- I work in 30-60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, usually walking, biking, or a combination of the two. I go over my affirmations at the beginning of this time.
- I do what I can to stay self-connected by being aware of my thoughts, watching my stress levels, taking some time out to breathe deeply, eating well, and noticing how I feel as I go about the day.
- I frequently play gratitude games.
- I try to be present with the people around me, looking into their eyes, giving sincere expressions of gratitude, and connecting on an emotional level.
- At night I take five minutes to write in a little notebook I call my Love Log. I write briefly about what I did during the day and how I felt while I was doing each thing. Among other things, I write about how I managed my thoughts, what I’m grateful for, and what positive experiences I had that day.
- After I turn off the light, I usually take several slow, deep breaths and repeat my affirmations as I drift off to sleep.
One thing that helps me a lot is not expecting myself to feel happy all of the time. It’s normal to feel a range of emotions.
One thing that helps me a lot, too, is to accept when I’m not feeling very happy and just notice what is going on. I don’t expect myself to feel joyous all the time so I don’t get frustrated when I get upset or disappointed. I just notice and try to take good care of myself when I’m feeling low. Not judging myself negatively when I feel negative emotions allows me to care for myself more wisely, which helps me return to a positive state more quickly.
I hope these ideas support you in creating or continuing your own daily happiness habits!
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