Uniquely Yours Craft Journal

Are you happy?

Dear Fellow Journalers,

The Pursuit of Happiness this month focuses on Happiness Habits. Please write the following questions/statements on a piece of paper or your journal, think about your answers, and then write them down. The multiple choice answers are the same for questions 1-3, 5-9. The multiple choices are:

Never    once/twice a day    once/twice month     once/twice week,  once a day

1. How often do you share your feelings with friends or relatives?
2. How often do you do kind things for others?
3. How often do you (at least 20 minutes) participate in physical exercise?
4. I know what my strengths and virtues are and I use them creatively to improve the quality of my life. ( The choice answers are:

• I don’t know what my strengths and virtues are.
• I know what they are, but I don’t know use them.
• I sometimes use them.
• I use them often

1. I find a deep sense of fulfilment by using my strengths and skills for a purpose greater than myself.

2. I engage in activities (sports, writing) that I find challenging.

3. I have feelings of gratitude towards persons and events from my past.

4. I am able to focus on the present moment and not get distracted by thoughts of the past or future.

5. I am optimistic about the future.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

How did your “Quiz” go? Do you feel more optimistic about your life? Are you a happy person?

There are 6 habits of happy people which may help you become happier. They are:

Express your heart. People who have one or more close friendships tend to be happier. I have 2 close friends who literally would “give me the blouse off their back”. They bolster me and lift me up. We’ve solved the world’s problems over lunch!

Relationships

Cultivate Kindness.  Caring for someone else lifts you out of depression. Charitable acts such as visiting the sick, collecting food items or just donating time lifts you and someone else to a higher level.  

Caring

Exercise Regularly.  Working out or playing sports not only improves your mood but your mental health as well. Taking a walk around your yard or working in your garden counts also.  

Exercising

Flow.   When you are writing in your journal or creating your next masterpiece have you ever been so focused that time got away from you? That’s what flow is. You loose self-consciousness when you are totally immersed in an activity that is challenging and uses your skills and talents.

Flow

Strengths and Virtues.  Using your strengths and virtues for the greater good helps you utilize those skills better!

Positive Mindfulness.  The glass is 1/2 full. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimistic sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” If you have ever read or heard his speeches during the Second World War this underlying theme “plays” out in them.  

1/2full glass

Be happy!

~Sallie