You Could Be Happy

I am writing this from behind the curtains, cornered off from the rest of the house, watching people outside pass by.

Today’s post is about happiness. I find it a strange topic because so many people go in search of happiness but when they find happiness it is short lived. People in the UK are better off than many people in other countries and in the last fifty years average incomes have almost doubled and yet the happiness has decreased. Although a resident of the UK I am not over fifty years old and could not tell you how I personally have witnessed this change- if indeed, it is possible to witness it. If I was over the age of fifty I would suspect the past would seem happier, tainted with nostalgia it always seems somewhat more favourable. A friend and I recently discussed our vain attempts of trying to recapture our teenage years- her by resorting to listening to some of the cheesy music of the time- namely the Backstreet Boys while I tried to connect with the modern tween by developing a fondness for listing to Taylor Swift.

So where has all the happiness gone? Why are people less happy than they used to be?

My suggestion would be that we spend so much time looking forward to what we want for the future and searching for the next piece of happiness that it is easy to take for granted what we have.

Recently I was given the phone call. The one I had hoped and begged for since I started applying for jobs- that someone wanted me for a full-time adult worthy job. I spent the day jumping about, singing and shouting my glee from the rooftops. A week later and the joy was forgotten.

A few years back my mum suggested we all had ‘up me’ books and other than the inappropriate title it was quite a good idea. The basic idea being that you keep a scrap book of all the good things you have achieved and little reminders of things that make you happy so if you are going through a rough time you can look back over the book and remind yourself of all the good things that you have. Sadly I did not take up her advice and am still without an ‘up me’ book but the idea is a good one- to spend a while each day thinking about the good things- recognising what makes you happy. So often I can get fixated on the bad things and forget that someone believes in me enough to offer me a job or that there are people who love me or the way I feel when I hug my cat and she purrs so loudly I can no longer hear my music. Happiness is not in the big things it is on focusing on the little, wonderful things that make all the difference.

Perhaps if all of us did have an ‘up me’ book instead of being the miserable, complaining, pessimistic Brits we have comes to be then perhaps we would be happier. Personally I am not quite ready to stop the complaining yet- it is a hobby of mine- but I think I will try to stop and consider the good things more and, who knows, maybe I will become happier as a result.

This post was brought to you by Snow Patrol and You Could Be Happy