Aside from extreme circumstances, the way your day goes is directly related to how you approach it. If you don’t make time to do the little things that make you happy every day, if you don’t wake up appreciative of an exciting new day to live, if you don’t decide to be in a good mood, you won’t have a good day. That’s just science (Remember, I am not a scientist. I am a blogger. Which is like a writer, except I don’t get paid. So you really shouldn’t take what I say seriously).
I believe that you attract the kind of energy that you put out in the world (no I haven’t downed some kind of Kool Aid). So if you aren’t taking care of yourself on a day-to-day basis and are instead looking forward to that event, that vacation, that weekend, you’re going to waste a whole lot of time looking for happiness. Because happiness is right in front of you, today.
So what do I do to make myself happy, genuinely happy, every day?
I spend the first hour of my day making breakfast + stovetop coffee
I don’t mess around with breakfast. It’s my time to wake up slowly and enjoy an hour or so alone before I head out for the day. I have a small moka pot that is my little treasure and I use it every single day. I bought it at a market in France when I lived there and now every time I hear the bubbles of coffee squealing from the stove I’m transported back to that adventure. I always take the extra time to make my coffee that way because it starts my day off on the right foot. My coffee is almost always followed by a pretty big breakfast production of eggs, veggies, cheese, and toast. The extra time it takes me to make my first meal is one of my favorite parts of the day so I never compromise on that unless I’m out the door for a run. And if I don’t cook my own breakfast, you can bet I’m on a patio eating someone else’s.
I never turn down an invitation to work out with my friends.
I work out a lot on my own, but lately I’ve been so focused on running that it would be easy to put group workouts on the back burner. Luckily I work with people who are always excited to get together and sweat so when I need a good yoga workout to stretch out my tree trunks, I know I have a crew right beside me.
I call my Mom!
In college I used to see my Mom was calling and would usually put it aside until I “had time.” Nowadays we talk almost every day and I can’t imagine that not being part of my routine. The cool thing about talking so much is that you don’t even have to have anything specific to talk about…you get to a level where you’re just talking about nonsense and randomness, and who doesn’t need more of that in your day. Plus look how cute she is!
When I’m home, I’m on the couch; remote in hand, reality TV blaring
Between running and working on my feet all day, when I’m home I am the definition of a sloth. I don’t hang out in my room because I like being around my roommates and socializing, so I’m always on the couch. While maintaining my horizontal position there is a 75% chance that either Chopped, Diners Drive Ins & Dives, or E! reality TV is on. WAGS is my current favorite. There’s just something about reality TV after a long day of, well, reality, that makes me so happy.
The Food Network Snapchat Story
I always end my night watching the Discover section of Snapchat, specifically Food Network. It always gives me so many ideas for cooking!
So there you have it: the key to my daily happiness is breakfast, socializing, reality TV, my mom, and food. This should come as a surprise to no one. And because I make time every day for these things, I’m almost always in a good mood. It’s like a weird math equation that many people have missed. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that people forget.
Have a great weekend!
Questions:
- How do you make yourself happy on a daily basis?
- Do you see the importance of every day or are you a “big picture” person?
i had a big lunch 
Abraham Lincoln once said, “A man is about as happy as he makes his mind up to be.”
Wise man!
Such a great post for a Friday! I am totally with ya! I always hear people talk about how much they hate their jobs and can’t wait to go home… But if they took the time to enjoy the little moments, maybe the people or some perks of the job I think it would not only make all the difference in their job but their life as well!
Or maybe they should realize they’re in the wrong job! Haha why is that such a hard concept for people to grasp?
I am adding Food Network to my Snapchat ASAP, first of all. Where have I been?! And I agree, the energy we put out into the world is returned back. Could also be known as karma.
Go to the Discover section — it should be right there! You’ll love it 🙂
Love this! I totally agree that happiness is a choice. Every time I start to get stressed or upset about something, I try to put it in perspective and it takes no time at all to snap out of it when I do. That and having pets makes everything better because even if you’ve had a bad day they are ALWAYS thrilled to see you.
Have a great weekend!
You’re making me want a pet! That would be so great 🙂
definitely subscribe to the idea of incorporating the things that you love into your life on a regular basis and choosing to spend your time doing what makes you happiest (when you can). i definitely try to fill up my days with as many little things that i love as possible — because that’s what makes up our life. moment by moment.
Exactly!
I’m with you on this! I used to LOVE my daily cup of coffee, but pregnancy has made that less enjoyable. I don’t ever do a huge breakfast by myself, but I always ALWAYS eat breakfast, whether it’s before or after the gym, or at 5:45am before I leave for work! It happens. It’s an important part of my day. And I’m so with you on reality TV. My husband hates it but I love that TV time! Anyway, good post! I like seeing what other people take the time to enjoy!
There’s just something about reality TV! It’s so great to watch at the end of the day haha
Definitely agree! It’s all about how we choose to view life and the things we use our energy on. Also, I love having extra time in the morning for breakfast. I hate rushing and getting out the door.
Extra time to wake up and enjoy the morning before rushing off is so important to me.
I am the same way when I’m home! I am on the go a lot so when I get to my bachelor pad, I am down either eating, watching Grey’s or both 🙂
Eating + tv is my favorite — even though I know that’s not the best habit 😉
LOVE this post! Bookmarking is happening. I love the idea that we can choose to be happy and take control of our lives in this way. Eating cereal every day makes me happy (there was a sad time in my life when I thought cereal was bad for you and shouldn’t be eaten 😳 ) and I also love to do yoga every day which definitely contributes to peace and happiness in my world. Have a beautiful happy day Lauren!
Thanks so much! I’m so glad you eat cereal to your heart’s content! I was a real “cereal killer” in college myself 😉
To make myself happy, I carve out some time for myself everyday to just be by myself and do whatever it is that I’m in the mood for that day. I need my alone time in order to recharge and re-center.
Same here! I love to have my alone time in the morning because I love being with other people for the rest of the day. But a bit of alone time is always necessary!
I am a big breakfast person too and definitely take the time to make coffee each morning. It just starts the day off for me already in a good mood. Never made it on the stove top though.
It’s easier since I only make it for one 🙂 I love it!
I love this post and can’t believe I missed reading it on Friday! I think it’s so true that happiness is a choice most of the time (obviously it’s easy to be happy when everything’s going well!) I love that you take time to do the things that make you happy 🙂
It’s important to take that time 🙂
This is an awesome post, and so true! We can be happy if we let ourselves be 🙂
I NEED quiet bfast time in the morning, along with coffee. Rushing around makes me stressed!
Rushing stresses me out too! I do too much of it already as it is that mornings are a rush-free zone 🙂
I’m such a reality tv junky – how have I never heard of WAGS? Heading to iTunes NOW to see if it’s on their. Do you watch Ladies of London? It’s on season 2 & so good!
I’ll have to check it out! Definitely watch Wags I’m addicted!
I love this Lauren! As you know I had a couple of very stressful weeks just gone and taking the opportunity to seek out things that make me happy and keep me strong made all of the difference. Breakfast has to be one for me, eating good food in general kept my health going strong this past month. Blogging and reading blogs also helped so much as even though I was alone (while David was away working) I felt like I had a community around me and the support I got was so lovely and it really does show that being on the other side of the world doesn’t matter.
Getting out in the sunshine is key too – I can never feel sad when I have the sun beaming down on me! 🙂
Isn’t it great that you’re still part of a community (blogging) even though you’re so far away? Such a great feeling of belonging.
K, this is all kinds of rad. I believe it’s all about the little things. I make the bed in the morning and put my funky pillows on it and it makes me happy. I grind fresh beans every morning for my French press and I drink it with cream and it makes me happy. I get in a run every single day and it makes me happy. I put on my favourite bright green sweater that’s getting worn through the elbows, I burn a candle, pour a glass of wine and I write, and that makes me happy.
Making the bed is a huge form of satisfaction haha definitely underrated. Also cream is necessary in my coffee. None of this skim milk nonsense.
Starting off the day right is so important. A big life lesson I continually learn is NO ONE ELSE is responsible for your happiness.
Absolutely. So well said
I relate to those “tricks” entirely. I extend my morning “me time” even more by working out and then enjoying a leisurely breakfast, but yep – you hit the nail on the head!
Sounds like a perfect morning to me 🙂