Step One - Celebrate Everything


Let's start by making life a bit more fun. See, I told you this wasn't going to be too hard or boring. 

This step is aimed at breaking you out of the cycle of negative thinking. You may feel that life is hard, life is boring, life is repetitive and tiring. 

Yes, all of that could be true, but life is also miraculous and awesome and wonderful, and we don't spend enough time celebrating all the good things. Why not?

Picture from MorgueFile free photos

Find something to celebrate this week. Doesn't matter what it is. Going for a new job? Don't wait to celebrate, enjoy the fact that you've got an interview, that's a great achievement. Look back in your diary to find anniversaries - celebrate the day you bought a house, the day you met your husband/wife/dog, the fact that you've finally found a pair of shoes that look nice and are comfortable enough to walk in all day (answers on a postcard please, as I still haven't cracked that one). 

Now, when I say "celebrate", I'm not suggesting that you should be drunk all the time, as that would be very irresponsible of me. What I'm trying to do is suggest you count your blessings without going into that whole "I'm so grateful" American-style shtick.

Take a few moments to think about the friends that you like, the good food you enjoyed at your last meal, a nice view, sunshine, breathing in and out - anything and everything.
Every year, my husband and I celebrate on the day we met, the day we got engaged, the day we first viewed our house, the day we completed the sale, and that's not even to mention the day we married. It means we spend time thinking about how lucky we are to have met, and how happy we are living in our lovely house. It helps to counterbalance the fact that we have a crippling mortgage, occasionally fight about things like whether carrots have feelings, and have to go to work all the time to earn money when we'd rather stay in bed and read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy out loud to each other (try it, it's a sure-fire step to happiness).

What you're doing by celebrating is noticing the good things in life. The things that you'd notice if they were taken away, but fail to notice on a daily basis because you're so used to them.

In case you're so sad you really can't think of any, here are some things to celebrate:

- if you have all your limbs - celebrate!
According to NHS Choices, 5-6,000 people have a limb amputated every year.
This is not to say that people without limbs can't lead full and happy lives, but imagine how hard your life would be if this happened to you. Think of all the work you'd have to do to adapt and go about your normal life. Just take a few minutes to think it through. Wow, that would be a lot of hard work and probably pain as well. You might have to learn to write again, or walk.
Then remember that, hurrah, I have all my arms and legs. Do a happy dance. Use your fingers and thumbs to do a complex task like open a tin of beans. Isn't life marvellous?

- if you have a roof over your head - celebrate!
According to Crisis, there are more than 2,000 people sleeping rough on the streets on any given night in the UK. Your home may be damp, it may be overcrowded, it may be expensive, it may not be in the best part of town, but it keeps the rain off, and you probably have access to a toilet and shower. Having somewhere to live is awesome! This is one particularly close to my heart, as I will explain later. I don't currently live in my home, and, let me tell you, when I go back, I am going to appreciate every last little corner of it.

- if you exist - celebrate!
This is my favourite example. Take a look at this website and find out how statistically improbable your existence is. 

Top tip: Watch this video (inspired by a blogpost from Ali Binazir, see link above), to find out why you are a miracle.

I’m too lazy to read this blog – can you sum it up in a nutshell?

It would be a shame if you found this blog and then didn’t bother to read all the nice words in it that I made up out of my brain. But, if you insist, this is essentially what it’s all about:

Figure out what makes you happy – do more of that

I admit it’s not rocket science, but in that case, why aren’t we all walking around with big annoying grins on our faces? In this blog, I shall attempt to help you work out why you’re not as happy as you could be (and I assume you’re not, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this) and how to make yourself happier without having to do anything too drastic like taking up a sport or adopting a macrobiotic diet (I’m assuming you’re a lazy person like me, more on that later)

Before we start, you probably need to know a bit more about me. Why do I feel qualified to tell other people how to be happy? Good question. And the answer is threefold: 1 – I’m a journalist. As a rule, we journalists think we know everything. In fact, we actually know a little bit about a lot of things. But happiness is something I’ve worked at, both personally and professionally, so I probably know a bit more than most people. And, as a journalist, I feel that entitles me to bang on about it at length.

2 – I used to be a pessimistic glass-half-empty type. I had a life-changing year in 1999, which I’m sure I will bore you with at some point, and managed to figure it all out. And since then, despite quite a lot of bad things happening in my life, I consider myself to be a quite annoyingly happy person, and my husband agrees, especially about the annoying part.

3 – Being happy is something I’ve studied hard to achieve, and I really feel I’ve come up with some useful methods of being cheerful even when life is hard and tedious. I’m also making happiness a core part of my business, particularly in the workplace – did you know you could be happy at work by the way? That was a new one on me, and it’s amazing, read on for that alone if nothing else – so I’ve decided the time is right for me to put all my thoughts on this blog, to see if there’s anything useful that might help.

So, let’s start with a quote, that’s always a good way to break the ice:

Some cause happiness wherever they go, some whenever they go

Oscar Wilde

Top tip: Read some Oscar Wilde. And some Douglas Adams. Or read this blog, as I will be quoting widely from both. Just think, you’re going to get culture as well as good advice, what an excellent discovery you’ve made, well done!