" by Pharrell Williams? (affiliate link) Articles on how to be or get happy in health magazines. I even saw a lady ask a TV doc "how do I actually be happy and not fake being happy?" That made me sad because a lot of people agreed and wanted to know the answer. It seems we all need a little more happy in our lives. I saw that one of my friends was doing this 100 Happy Days project, so I decided to take a peek at the website to see what it's all about.
The thing that really stuck out to me was this paragraph on people who tried the experiment and then dropped out because they didn't have time to be happy. I know, it sounds insane, right? Here's what they said:
We live in times when super-busy schedules have become something to boast about. While the speed of life increases, there is less and less time to enjoy the moment that you are in. The ability to appreciate the moment, the environment and yourself in it, is the base for the bridge towards long term happiness of any human being.This got me thinking, that even though I wouldn't likely take pics of, hashtag and have people stalk my happy moments, I could at least pick one happy moment out of each day and write it down so I could reflect back and see that yes, there is one thing each day that can make your heart smile every day...even the mundane ones.
71% of people tried to complete this challenge, but failed quoting lack of time as the main reason.These people simply did not have time to be happy. Do you?
I started keeping track on Saturday and have things ranging from our picnic in the city on Sunday to looking through Wishbook Web's pages of wish books from our childhood that we would circle the toys we wanted for Santa to bring us.
They say that people who did this challenge claimed to
Those are some pretty great things to take from it! So I'm committing to myself that I will record each daily happiness.
Will you do the 100 Happy Days Challenge? Why or why not?
(This post contains an affiliate link. Should you choose to buy through it, I'll get a few cents toward blog expenses and you'll get a workout song to shake your rump to)
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Sounds like a good challenge to do. If it results in making us more tuned to what makes us happy each day then I am all for it and it is worth doing for sure. Just about every day I can submit a pic of your wonderful meals as something that makes me happy :-)
ReplyDeleteI won't submit pictures either, but I think I could use a reason to look for the "happy" so I give it a shot too. At the end of each day I will look back at the day and find something that made me happy. That means I'll have to do stuff in the day to make me happy so I have something to note at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteI'm more of an "inner joy' type of person. the kind that comes from hope, my faith, and the fact that the things I love most in life money can't buy like my kid and art and nature. Feel that breeze? That was my hippie spirit caressing your cheek. LOL!!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, any project that's going to help people become more grateful for the smaller things in life is definitely the first step towards inner joy so yay go for it!
Also: "even though I wouldn't likely take pics of, hashtag and have people stalk my happy moments"<--this right here says it all. (uh oh, danger! hippie on a soapbox!) If more people would put down their iphones and stop instagramming, fb'ng, tweeting every single moment and just LIVE in it, it might be the first step back towards happy....and also if people would stop scrolling through and comparing their lives to other people's well staged snapshots on instagram we'd be more happy with what's going on in our lives.
ok that's it
Tigalilee, out.
My sister has been doing this and posts the occasional pic. I think by publicly recognizing it, like you just did in this post, happiness can be shared. I know seeing my sisters updates makes me happy. And based on comments, others feel the same.
ReplyDeletehm that's another perspective on the "posting the happy moments" than I shared above. Right on. Social media like everything else has its positives and negatives so thanks for a different way to look at it! Bottom line--it's a great project.
DeleteYES! What a great challenge. I accept gladly. I am retired now, so can't use the "no time" excuse, and in my situation, I have to make sure to remember that I have much to be happy about right NOW! This might not always be the case, but as my Du says, "Everyday that I am above ground, I am happy!"
ReplyDeleteDon't have time to be happy. That's just foolish!!!
ReplyDeleteWhile on vacation, I noticed how many people were unhappy or disgruntled. A smile or a kind word can change someone's day and it's so easy to do. Life is for living, so be grateful and giving. I wish more people would do this.
Great challenge. We all need to, as in worldwide, quit letting the world dictate what makes us happy. We are constantly bombarded with images of success, money, weight, material goods, and none of them matter without the time to enjoy them and the hand the reaches out to those less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that happiness is fleeting, but true joy can not be taken away, because Joy comes from the Lord. You may be happy one moment and lose a loved one the next and be terribly sad. But God lives and his love is true and forever and that puts a burning joy in my heart and soul that no circumstance can take away. Life will try to take away your happiness. We all have people in our lives that suck the smile off our face. It can be a struggle. I think if we change our focus from happiness which is dependent on our circumstances to joy which comes from being loved and forgiven beyond words your happiness quota changes. Just my two cents.
I saw someone else was going this but wasn't sure what it was all about. Interesting to think about. It is something we should all take a moment from our day to think about. I don't think I'll do the challenge but I'm working towards recognizing the positive parts of the day anyway. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete100 minutes of happiness would be a good start for me--ha! I've really been struggling with this one and have been actively thinking about it. I fully agree with that first sentence in the paragraph about being super-busy has been something to boast about. My theory is I'd rather be happy than busy, because most of the people I know who are uber-busy, complain about it and are miserable. Since I took off my people-pleasing cap a couple of years ago, the "busyness" I have is by choice and that makes a world of difference. I haven't fully gotten out of the pit that started two years ago and happiness is a struggle for me. I do appreciate things around me (in particular nature and my dogs as they definitely live in the moment), but my mind is never at rest. I think my greater focus has been on finding peace of mind (which is different than the absence of conflict). On the very rare occasions that I have "felt" peace, I find I am at my happiest. so I'm very much a work in progress on this one. I definitely believe in counting my blessings and there are days that I'll thank God for the use of my hands and feet and eyes to see and ears to hear with. Silly as that may sound, there are times I'm in awe of how lucky I am to have a body fully functioning, despite all I've put it through.
ReplyDelete