Happy days are here again!

(Photo courtesy of Top 25 Happiness Quotes)

It’s been about a month since I last posted. Which means it’s been just over a month since I last taught a yoga class. If I’m to be honest, then I have to admit those first two weeks were TOUGH.

Knowing that I was going to go through a period of potential depression over giving up something that’s been such a defining part of who I am for the last 13 years, I took steps to mitigate. (For those of you who know me, you know that my full-time job requires me to do a lot of “project management” sorts of things, so me preparing for disaster ahead of time is just another part of who I am.)

About 2 or 3 weeks before my “retirement” from teaching, I joined a challenge I came across called 100 Happy Days. It intrigued me…all you have to do is post on some sort of social media one thing each day that made you happy…preferably a picture, but that wasn’t mandatory. You just add the hashtag #100HappyDays and voila! And it’s completely free. I noticed when reading about it that most people (over 70%, I believe) don’t complete the challenge.

Well, I love challenges and I’m not a quitter, so I signed up and chose Facebook as my social media outlet. I decided I will NOT be one of those who fall into that 70% category.

At the time of writing this post, I am on day 51. Over halfway through and still going strong. It’s actually become quite vital for me, because not only is it helping ME be happier, but it seems to be affecting others in more ways than I could have dreamed. What started off as being something I felt I needed to do for myself is encouraging others to do the same. It’s so humbling! So many people have told me that they look forward to my posts each day, that I’ve prompted them to look for things in their own lives that make them happy, that I am inspiring them to be happier. Me…INSPIRING others…wow!

As I look back over the past 51 days of my #100HappyDays Facebook posts, I picked up on something. There’s a definite pattern in the things that make me happy. It’s kind of cool to see that pattern because it lets me know there are definite REGULAR things in my life that make me happy. That tells me that I need to make sure I am doing those things as much as I possibly can. The things that I’m talking about are:

• My daughters. I don’t get nearly as much time with them as I’d like, as they are busy with their social lives and all that jazz. Especially my oldest, since she’s off at college. But any time I got to spend with them, it seems like it made it to one of my happiness posts. Here they are on the day we moved my oldest into her college apartment…this was day #10.

• My dogs. They always seem to lift me up when I’m feeling down, they love me unconditionally, and they are the best napping buddies. Here we are together on day #5.

• My husband. Many of my posts revolve around the alone time we get to spend with each other, and it seems like we are getting a little more of that kind of time together lately. Whether it be working out together, hanging out and chillaxin’, or hiking at the Riverwalk or lake. Here we are on day #17, enjoying a pre-season Panthers game.

• The water. I couldn’t believe, as I looked through my posts, how many of them revolved around my time at the Riverwalk or the lake. Water just seems to calm me down and bring me such happiness. Every time I’m around it, I notice the animals, the waves, the rocks, the trees. I love ocean time as well, but haven’t had a chance to get there during this challenge yet…but water is water, and I’ll take it! Here is a great shot of me and my hubby at Lake Lanier in Georgia on day #31.

• My family. I have had an opportunity over these past 51 days to spend some quality time with my parents, my in-laws, my brother-in-law and niece, and one of my cousins. Each time, it’s made it as my happiness post for whatever day it happened to be on. My family is my rock, and they support me in everything that I do. How could I be anything BUT happy, right? Here I am with my parents and my cousin, along with my hubby and daughters, on day #4.

Now don’t get me wrong. There have been many days during this journey so far where I’ve gotten almost to the end of the day and wondered what in the world I was going to post for the day that made me happy. In other words, I’ve had some bad days. We all do. We can’t have utopia 24/7, now can we? But each time I had one of those days, I was able to scan through my day and find at least one thing. Sometimes it was something small, like on day #7, where all I could think to post about was that the weather was good on that day.

But you know what? Making myself find that ONE thing made such a difference in my attitude. Every. Single. Time.

So I am looking forward to seeing what else I learn as I complete the last half of this journey. What new things will pop up that bring me happiness that I was not expecting? Will I be able to find more ways to include all the things above into my life more frequently, so that I am happier more often? Can I learn to find that one small thing more easily on the days when it seems like everything is hopeless?

Are you brave enough to do your own #100HappyDays challenge? If so, go to their site and sign up! I’d love to know if you decide to join in, so let me know which social media outlet you choose, so I can check in with you. I love seeing what others are posting, as it gives me all kinds of ideas for myself. And if you don’t already, follow me on Facebook so you can join me on my journey to happiness.

Namaste,

Melanie