Day 2 - Remembering what I control
Day two of my Making Happy goal has been slightly more challenging than I had anticipated with a few curve balls thrown in for good measure, but I'm pleased to say that with a bit of focus I have managed to stay on top of my game.
This morning started well, I woke up with plenty of time to get ready for a day at work, I knew it was going to be a busy one as I have just taken 3 weeks out for the Christmas break. Normally I would feel that sinking feeling of the holidays over and reality is here again, today however I thought about the difference I could make in my job and that I am in a fortunate position to be in employment. I decided not to focus on the abundance of emails and the endless list of tasks that would await me and instead to focus on achieving one thing at a time and acknowledging my progress. This approach worked well and I felt on my way to a happy 1st day back at work.
After a few hours at work and catching up with people, hearing about the various ways people spent their Christmas, I received some less than positive information in the post, without going in to too much detail the news was of a financial basis and advised that my future investments were likely to pay several thousand pounds less than I had anticipated. My initial response was of concern, followed by worry, anger and frustration. After a few minutes my thoughts shifted to what can I do about this now? What control do I have? & Is there anything I can do to make things better? I quickly realised that at that moment in time there was nothing I could do, the loss would have no immediate impact and the horrid feeling I was feeling was not going to change a thing. I decided therefore to put things on hold in relation to my financial news and to think about my day again. Now don't get me wrong, I certainly was not feeling anywhere near as happy as I did first thing this morning, however I was very pleased that I did not feel anywhere near as bad as I could have, if I had not controlled my thoughts and added a spot of logic to what I could do right now.
The day continued and I focused more and more on what I could do and eventually I stopped thinking about the bad news and was feeling good again about what I was achieving.
On my journey home, which takes around 45 minutes, I decided to think about the holiday I took to the Italian lakes in September 2014, I relived the views, the friendly people, the wines, the sunshine and the laughter I had whilst I was there. By the time I walked through the door I was feeling pretty happy, I was feeling in control and I was in a clear mind to reread the letter I received earlier and understand the full implications. I am as I write this sitting here with a smile on my face as I know that with another 20+ years of work in me, there is plenty I can do to invest my money and grow my finances, but the key to my smile is I remembered that at the end of my hopefully long life I won't care how much money I have in the bank, or how my investments turned out, I will look back and smile because I have an abundance of memories like the trip to Italy.
Today I made happy by staying in control, remembering what I can do and choosing to focus on something that made me feel good.
Tomorrow is another day and I will continue to make happy... 2015 is going to be a good year.
Day two of my Making Happy goal has been slightly more challenging than I had anticipated with a few curve balls thrown in for good measure, but I'm pleased to say that with a bit of focus I have managed to stay on top of my game.
This morning started well, I woke up with plenty of time to get ready for a day at work, I knew it was going to be a busy one as I have just taken 3 weeks out for the Christmas break. Normally I would feel that sinking feeling of the holidays over and reality is here again, today however I thought about the difference I could make in my job and that I am in a fortunate position to be in employment. I decided not to focus on the abundance of emails and the endless list of tasks that would await me and instead to focus on achieving one thing at a time and acknowledging my progress. This approach worked well and I felt on my way to a happy 1st day back at work.
After a few hours at work and catching up with people, hearing about the various ways people spent their Christmas, I received some less than positive information in the post, without going in to too much detail the news was of a financial basis and advised that my future investments were likely to pay several thousand pounds less than I had anticipated. My initial response was of concern, followed by worry, anger and frustration. After a few minutes my thoughts shifted to what can I do about this now? What control do I have? & Is there anything I can do to make things better? I quickly realised that at that moment in time there was nothing I could do, the loss would have no immediate impact and the horrid feeling I was feeling was not going to change a thing. I decided therefore to put things on hold in relation to my financial news and to think about my day again. Now don't get me wrong, I certainly was not feeling anywhere near as happy as I did first thing this morning, however I was very pleased that I did not feel anywhere near as bad as I could have, if I had not controlled my thoughts and added a spot of logic to what I could do right now.
The day continued and I focused more and more on what I could do and eventually I stopped thinking about the bad news and was feeling good again about what I was achieving.
On my journey home, which takes around 45 minutes, I decided to think about the holiday I took to the Italian lakes in September 2014, I relived the views, the friendly people, the wines, the sunshine and the laughter I had whilst I was there. By the time I walked through the door I was feeling pretty happy, I was feeling in control and I was in a clear mind to reread the letter I received earlier and understand the full implications. I am as I write this sitting here with a smile on my face as I know that with another 20+ years of work in me, there is plenty I can do to invest my money and grow my finances, but the key to my smile is I remembered that at the end of my hopefully long life I won't care how much money I have in the bank, or how my investments turned out, I will look back and smile because I have an abundance of memories like the trip to Italy.
Today I made happy by staying in control, remembering what I can do and choosing to focus on something that made me feel good.
Tomorrow is another day and I will continue to make happy... 2015 is going to be a good year.
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| A photo of Lazise on Lake Garda taken on my trip to Italy in September 14 |
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