Welcome to my Making Happy blog, it is a simple idea that I will post each day a short story, technique, theory etc on happiness. I set my goal to make happiness in 2015 and I intend to share it with you. I hope you enjoy reading my blog and I welcome your feedback.
Today I took the simple step of stopping, I walked to my back door, I opened it, I looked around and started noticing what was outside and absorbing everything the world had to offer. As I looked across the grass I could see the tiny frost particles glistening in the sunlight, it looked like someone had come along overnight and peppered the garden with a ton of diamond dust. I just stood there noticing and absorbing, I could feel the smile grow on my face, and whilst the cold air chilled my checks I could feel that familiar warm sensation from within that comes when you get that little internal injection of happiness. I carried on looking, listening and noticing, within 5 minutes I watched birds feeding, planes making patterns across the amazing blue sky, I heard dogs barking in the distance, the low volume of traffic in the far distance, a seagull fly overhead, followed by a wood pigeon. I noticed how a gentle breeze can move so many branches on the trees, make the blades of grass dance and the temperature of the air change on my face. I noticed how the sun created many beautiful shadows across the garden and how the shades of blue changed from east to west as my eyes scanned across the sky. I had stopped, I was looking, listening and for a short 5 minutes I was really noticing. Those 5 minutes filled me with happy and that was over 5 hours ago and I am still feeling the benefits of that short time now, I can honestly say that I am going to be practicing a little more of this in the future.
Day 1 - Stop, Look, Listen & Notice
I am starting day 1 with the most basic of activities to create more happiness, a simple thing I call 'stopping'. I am a busy person, as I am sure many of you are, my days are full with work and my mind is occupied with the what next, the future plans, the what else do I need to do kind of noise that I am certain a number of you will experience. With all this going on in my brain I very often forget to stop, take a bit of time to notice my surroundings, to absorb my environment, see what sights are to be seen, hear what is to be heard and truly notice everything the world has to offer.
Today I took the simple step of stopping, I walked to my back door, I opened it, I looked around and started noticing what was outside and absorbing everything the world had to offer. As I looked across the grass I could see the tiny frost particles glistening in the sunlight, it looked like someone had come along overnight and peppered the garden with a ton of diamond dust. I just stood there noticing and absorbing, I could feel the smile grow on my face, and whilst the cold air chilled my checks I could feel that familiar warm sensation from within that comes when you get that little internal injection of happiness. I carried on looking, listening and noticing, within 5 minutes I watched birds feeding, planes making patterns across the amazing blue sky, I heard dogs barking in the distance, the low volume of traffic in the far distance, a seagull fly overhead, followed by a wood pigeon. I noticed how a gentle breeze can move so many branches on the trees, make the blades of grass dance and the temperature of the air change on my face. I noticed how the sun created many beautiful shadows across the garden and how the shades of blue changed from east to west as my eyes scanned across the sky. I had stopped, I was looking, listening and for a short 5 minutes I was really noticing. Those 5 minutes filled me with happy and that was over 5 hours ago and I am still feeling the benefits of that short time now, I can honestly say that I am going to be practicing a little more of this in the future.
In my day to day life I forget to stop, look, listen and notice but today I did and I experienced so much.
It is the simple things in life that often provide the greatest rewards, today this statement was very true.
Until next time, why don't you give stopping a try.
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