The past 2 weeks have been a learning curve and had great reminders for me in store and I'd like to share some things with you that will most certainly be useful for you if you would like to create your own personal happiness toolkit.
We already know all those things and yet, how often do we ignore the obvious?
2 weeks ago I woke up and found a tiny freezing cat baby on my windowsill. She was sitting there for quite a while, so it became clear to me, she wasn't just having a walk and belongs to my neighborhood. She is lost and so I took her in to take care of her and went on a rescue mission. I was determined to find her parents.
Long story short, the mission was successful. I got her back home and everyone was happy.
Here is what I learned above all:
There are people out there, that want to and are willing to help. People without a personal or hidden agenda, people who expect nothing in return, people who are empathic and care. I was really impressed by one certain policeman in particular, who went the extra mile to get this kitten back home. It wasn't his job, he wasn't on duty. He only wanted to help. It warms my heart, that people like this do exist.
And here is one major point for you to add to your own personal happiness toolkit:
Helping others who are in need without expecting anything in return.
This is an invaluable thing everybody can do for their own happiness. It fills the heart with warmth and joy to witness someone's happy ending to an otherwise sad and miserable story.
It adds something meaningful to everyone's life and we all appreciate a sense of purpose, don't we?
The happiness you create is through giving and you receive an incredible internal reward. You are useful and you matter.
This is her.
A tiny bundle of joy, innocence, and curiosity. She is only 3 months old and she totally won me over. :)
Another thing that happened in the past 2 weeks and that had me remembering one of the most important things for one's own happiness is as I was dragging a pretty nasty cold around...
Now I am aware that it is this time of year and it happens to lots of us, but what I had the tendency to ignore is how important it is to take care of yourself.
I wasn't taking any time out, I didn't pamper myself, I just went on and on,
till I couldn't.
My body and my mind forced me to stop, and I completely shut down mentally, emotionally, and physically. It was 5 past twelve to pull the brakes and Self-care.
Self-care didn't only mean eating chicken soup, vitamins, keeping warm, and sleeping. Those things were of course mandatory.
It also meant staying off social or any other media, news, etc.
It meant rescheduling appointments.
It meant finding time to do nothing but rest, relax, and enjoy myself.
I admit it was challenging, but every time I found myself overdoing it, engaging, where I didn't want to engage, and saying "yes", where I wanted to say "no" my mental, emotional, and physical well-being went downhill.
The moment I made the decision to heal and to give myself permission to put myself first, I started to feel better.
Self-care is self-respect, self-awareness, self-love, and acceptance.
If you can't give to yourself first, you won't be able to give to others, very quickly.
Please, for your own mental, emotional, and physical well-being, listen to what your body tells you, listen to your mind. When you find yourself overly tense, frustrated, unbalanced, angry, "triggered", or negative, it might just be time for a time-out and recovery.
- Turn off the terror of notifications, and leave your phone on silent.
- Stay outside of pouring negativity like social media and news.
- Set boundaries. Say No, when you mean No, and Yes only when you mean Yes.
- Take a breather, now in autumn, the air can feel so refreshing.
- Move your body, but keep it sane :)
- Eat well.
- Sleep well.
- Do more of the things you love, even if it is just staying in bed and daydreaming.
- Postpone things that are really not urgent (goes hand in hand with the terror of notifications, emails, texts, you name it).
- Give yourself permission to feel bad, to feel vulnerable, to feel less than at your Best.
- Be mindful of yourself. Do not neglect, ignore or reject you, your best friend in life.
- Do the things you do mindfully, enjoy them, savor them.
- Notice what you have and be a bit more grateful for it. Stop focussing on what you lack.
What more can you think of? Do it!
So there we have already quite a package for creating our own happiness toolkit.
I am adding the importance of really good friends! This is probably self-explanatory.
And here I want to shout out to my gorgeous and beautiful friend K. She was there, when I needed it, and I didn't have to ask or demand. She just showed up, filled my fridge, and gave me big hugs, love, and encouragement.
This leads me seamlessly to the next tool in your toolkit for your personal happiness:
Ask for help when you are in need.
If no one knows, no one can be of help and as you know, most people love to help, when they can, because it makes them happy, too. A big one for me, personally.
Your happiness doesn't come as a result of things going well in life. It is and always stays an inside job.
Just for today, I can do something small to feel at least slightly better!
If you want to go deeper and create the life you get excited about, feeling happier, more at ease, and more confident, book a first call with me HERE, and let's find out how I can help you specifically.