What Makes Me Happy

This is my first post of the March Healthy Living/Fitness Blogger Blogging Challenge. This challenge comes from Janice, the FitnessCheerleader. I am going to try to follow along the best I can although I doubt my posts will be published on the same days as hers. I will try to stick to the three posts a week she has outlined. She shares the list of topics here in case you are interested in joining in. Today’s (well, yesterday’s actually) topic is ‘what brings happiness to your life?’ This is my response:

I am generally a pretty happy person.

Or at least from my viewpoint, I think I am.

I try to maintain a positive attitude and see the brightside of every situation, which of course is easier said than done- I am not perfect at this but I try.

Somewhere along this path I realized that I was the one holding the key to my happiness. I had spent far too long expecting (consciously and subconsciously) others to create my happiness. I also spent far too long equating possession of things with happiness. I know this last part was not instilled in me from my parents. It was a bad trait I picked up from a previous relationship. Luckily I broke that cycle and was able to manage to become someone more concerned with memories and experiences than materialistic goods.

For me, there are so so so many things which make me happy. So many that I doubt I would be able to list them all. But I can say there are the big ones; friends, family, someone to love, a place to call home and a sense of purpose (through work), a sense of responsibility (as a vegan) and a sense of pride for pursuing my dreams (both through grad school and through this journey). Those are all very big parts of my life which, almost always, bring me happiness daily.

But then there are also the smaller pieces which also bring me great happiness and joy. A hug from my Mom, hearing my Dad say he is proud of me, a good cup of tea, being able to do 25 crunches during my personal training session (woo hoo! Do you remember just a couple weeks ago I couldn’t even do one?), falling asleep in E’s arms, laughing with friends, watching hockey (or baseball), a co-worker asking me about my weekend, really good dark chocolate, vegan restaurants, being able to stay awake to watch Jimmy Fallon, a good night’s sleep, bubble baths, reading a book, riding my bike, being out on the water, listening to music (specifically alt rock), and many, many, others.

Cupcakes make me very happy!

These little things and big things all play a part in this amazing life I have carved out for myself. And I am beyond fortunate that the people in my life, my surroundings, my hobbies, my lifestyle, and my career all bring me so much happiness.

And they do so because I choose to allow them to.

I mean, I could just as easily choose to be miserable because my family lives over a thousand miles away (as do my closest friends) or because I live in a teeny tiny apartment or because I am still very limited activity-wise since the surgery or whatever. But I don’t.

Well, not all the time at least.

I mean yeah, I do get sad over some of the circumstances of my life. Especially when I miss out on big events (best friend’s son being born, weddings, holidays, etc.) which usually end up leaving me a bit sad and sometimes filled with longing. But that is usually just a temporary feeling because ultimately I know how happy I am here, in this life, and I wouldn’t change it.

Basically what I am trying to say is this.

There are a million and one things that bring me happiness.

But that is because I have made a million and one decisions to allow them to.

It’s a choice.

And I choose happiness!

So I guess if I needed to answer the question ‘what brings happiness to your life’ directly I would have to say ME!

Love and hugs and lots of happiness-

Dacia

xoxoxox