This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Don’t you just love Pharrell Williams song? Every time I hear it I can’t help but smile… Is it because I’m happy? Or does hearing the song bring on feelings of happiness? Who knows!
I recently read a great book titled ‘Happiness – A guide to developing life’s most important skill‘ by Matthieu Ricard. He is a Buddhist monk and believes happiness is not just an emotion, but a skill that can be developed. And in this fascinating book, he provides exercises to train the mind to pursue lasting happiness.
So is happiness more about how you choose to look at the world?
Let’s face it, two people can look at the same situation and see very different things.
I look at life and even with all its challenges, I see it as a gift. Yet I speak to people who see life as a bind, a painful daily ‘have to do’. And it’s not just because we’ve experienced life differently. I’ve had my share of pain, of hardship, of disappointments and mistakes but I choose not to dwell on them or let them dictate the direction of the rest of my life. I am very much the ‘and this too shall pass‘ thinker, believing events are temporary. Good times inevitably follow bad times however my perception of good and bad are my own.
How can we get more happy in our lives?
1 Choice – as with most things, we can choose to be happy. That doesn’t mean being naively optimistic (feel what you feel but always be ready to move into a better state of being)
2. Deciding to remove hatred from our minds. As Matthieu puts it ‘the purging of mental toxins, such as hatred and obsession, that literally poison the mind’.
3. Gaining an understanding of how the mind works – and how some of our hard wiring stops us from seeing what is reality.
I choose to be happy because it feels good to be in that state and it also helps me to put difficult situations into perspective.
Grab a copy of the book; it’s a great read and who knows, it may lift your happiness to another level regardless of where it currently is. But for a quick fix just listen to Happy below, grab your dancing shoes & have some fun… and sing after me ‘Because I’m Happy‘!
Live Blissfully
YvonneB
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Published by YvonneB
A catalyst for change, Yvonne Bignall is a breath of fresh air in the extraordinary way she helps women 50+ to reconnect with life & their innate power through radical self-care, guilt-free!
She supports, encourages, and inspires women to prioritise their health, one bitesize action at a time. Her work is challenging as it navigates through difficult conversations, listening & observing how women’s health issues have been:
❊ Undermined
❊ Under-resourced &
❊ Swept under the carpet
She helps women to recognise & unpack old scripts that still (sadly enough) tell them that their value derives from their level of caregiving of others, their output. The truth is it is the input, the ability to resource self, which provides women with the energy required to realise their true potential.
Along with her team, she explores the thoughts, behaviour & habits, often born out of guilt, gender expectations, and reinforced narratives, with curiosity (not judgment), discarding the unhelpful, whilst reclaiming innate power through the creation of new patterns, restoring a sense of self, outside of societal expectations. In her opinion, this allows women to:
✔ Develop an elevated level of self-awareness
✔ Build / rebuild their confidence & self-belief
✔ Value all of who they are and invest time in who they want to be at their best
A self-care warrior, an encourager & inspirer, Yvonne is today an award-winning Women’s Health Advocate, Published Author, and an International Presenter. She is also a Radio Show Host and a Podcaster.
Yvonne is focused on building a community of women, www.PermissionToThrive.online, who are ready to reclaim their right to self-care, guilt-free, and who prioritise their health without apology, role-modeling behaviour & habits that inform generations to come of their true value.
She also advocates for self-care over burnout in the workplace, delivering practical webinars in the corporate space. In her own words, “It is time for employees to prioritise their wellbeing. How will they deliver their best work without it?”
One of her favourite quotes comes from Eleanor Brown, ‘Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel’
Connect with Yvonne and,
🌱 Become part of the self-care revolution at Permission to Thrive or
📞 Book a chat to find out about her coaching and corporate services: https://calendly.com/yvonne-b/20min
View all posts by YvonneB
Being Your Best You 