Jan
09
2014
Simple steps to a happy New Year
By Sally Pearman.
Well I for one am always shocked when the New Year rolls in. After all the lead-up to the Christmas holidays, the gift buying, the eating and socialising, we’re now in January – season of good intentions, living frugally and planning for the year ahead. But how often do we stick to our resolutions? How often do we wish everyone a happy New Year but give no time or consideration to how we ourselves are going to have a happy year? I have never pledged to feel happier. I think on the whole we create goals around improving our lives in terms of our physicality or quitting bad habits rather than taking the time to think about our own wellbeing and being happier on a daily basis.
So this year, this is my personal promise: I am going to make time in my daily routine to be happy.
As some of you may know the Centre already offers a number of wellbeing and personal effectiveness workshops and I myself have been attending Mindfulness coaching for the past nine months. One of the key components of mindfulness is to stay in the moment and fully engage with your current environment without thinking of the past or worrying about the future. This level of focus and taking pleasure in ‘the now’ is a wonderful way to feel happier and more present in your day-to-day life.
But I’m no fool; old habits die hard and even though I’ve been practising mindfulness for several months I still find myself jumping from task to task and not really ‘enjoying’ the moment. It’s incredibly difficult to change the way you’ve worked (often very successfully) for decades so below are two simple tasks that I plan to build into my daily routine. Both are quick and painless and as such you’re more likely to stick with them. And I’m not saying you all need to undertake this challenge, but it might be worth while thinking about doing something similar and considering building some ‘you time’ into your daily routine.
Having a mindful shower or bath each day
We all do it, whether that’s an hour long bubble bath with candles and scented oils or a quick shower after the gym. But the next time you’re doing either, notice where your mind wanders whilst you’re washing. I usually end up ruminating on the day’s events, planning my weekly food shop, deciding what I’m going to wear tomorrow, how to put off the ironing…
Instead, try to have a more mindful shower (or bath).
Notice the warmth of the water, the smell of the soap, the effect of the steam on your breathing. It’s actually a really wonderful experience and it’s one that we often take for granted. Enjoy the experience and try to remain focused on how you feel in that moment – even if you can only manage that for two minutes.
Although the change is subtle, you are creating some time for you, to focus on how you feel, in the present, and to be happy without distractions. A lot of us will consider having a relaxing bath as a treat; a luxury ritual reserved for special occasions. But by noticing how you feel in the moment, you can enjoy taking this time for yourself on a daily basis.
I’ve suggested washing as it’s a routine that works for me but you could quite easily apply this process to eating your cereal, brushing your teeth or walking to work. There’s no right or wrong way – it just needs to be something you do daily so it becomes a habit.
Practising gratitude
100 happy days is a website that asks you to photograph or record one thing every day which makes you happy for 100 days in a row. Whether that’s your favourite coffee in the morning, delivering a presentation at work or putting your children to bed at night. However small the event is, if it makes you happy then that can be recorded.
The big goal is to make practising gratitude part of your daily routine and as such rewire your thinking to focus on the daily positives that you might otherwise take for granted. The images can be shared via social media, or privately, depending on your preference. 100 happy days also can collate all of the images into a book for you to keep; which might become a really powerful resource when you’re having a bad day.
By noting down your daily joys in a diary or photograph you’re taking one minute out of your day to celebrate something that makes you happy. It also means that you’re more likely to schedule in something fun if you’re having a lack lustre day. Simply noticing what makes you happy will help you make more time for those activities, which in turn should help you feel happier day-by-day.
And remember, the challenge isn’t to fill your day with grand or expensive gestures; it’s about reframing your perspective and focussing on the small things.
There is no magic wand, you can’t simply decide to be happier and change the habits of a lifetime. But, by admitting you’d like to be happier shows an awareness that you want to change, which is the first battle won. You can start thinking about your daily routine, and you may come up with some changes of your own. As Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
Good luck and a happy New Year.
