Project Happiness Articles — beauty

If happiness is available to us at any moment through the power of our minds, why does it sometimes seem so hard to do? When our thoughts run amok, how do we choose better ones? We’ve all had those experiences (moments, hours, even days!) when finding a happier thought seemed nearly impossible. When endless loops of worry, frustration, overwhelm, etc. not only challenged our ability to find our happy place, they caused us to forget we even had the choice.

Do your parents, significant others, friends, or even colleagues have tons of quotes and positive sayings around the house? Mine do. Everywhere I went in my childhood home, there was always some form of inspiration. From the guest bathroom to my mom's home office, there was never a moment where I didn’t see something positive. 

Eventually, things began to slip through the cracks. They were minor, at first. A missed meeting here, a late deadline there, but as things began to add up it cost me many of the things I had taken for granted in my life. I lost relationships, friends, even my job. Sadly, none of that was enough to convince me to stop. I believed it was all replaceable, and that there were other factors besides my drinking that was to blame. It wasn’t until I woke up in the hospital after a night downtown, with no recollection of what happened, that I was forced to take a good, long look at myself. It was hard, but for the first time, I was able...

"Make a list of things that make you happy.Make a list of thing you do every day.Compare the lists. Adjust accordingly."

I am a woman who has started over many times and a certain joy accompanies the task of unpacking, at rediscovering a teapot, a vase, pieces of my self I temporarily forgot in the span of mere days, of choosing where these belongings should be placed within the walls of the new home where I prepare to start my life yet again. But as I begin to unpack I’m struck with realization: these aren’t my boxes.

So do you believe in Atlantis? Or would you rather believe in Nartec? Either way, believe in your determination and ability to survive, above all. The world around us may drown us with troubles we think we wouldn’t be able to handle, but we are stronger than we think ourselves to be and sometimes require our friends to remind us of that.

Now, the countryside gets a bad rep sometimes. Isn’t it just full of old fogies that love saying “Hello there” to random strangers? Or is it the bees, wasps and stinging nettles that put people off? Even so, I’m here, on Mental Health Awareness Week, to stand up for Mr Countryside. Because he helped me battle depression.

Comparison is an insidious, unhelpful pattern of thinking that we can often resort to when we don't feel good about ourselves. When we feel down or unsuccessful or uncomfortable in our bodies, the world can quickly become a catalogue for comparison. When it comes down to it, all I or you can do is be who we are, so why not start to actually enjoy and appreciate that?

Deep inside we’re all lost, our souls hungry for places that still have some archetype of a wonder we’re eagerly searching. That’s why we’ve put together this short list of destinations where you can find your soul food and reconnect with your inner self again.

I’ve made the song You&Me for my daughter Eline with Down syndrome (Ds) to let her know how much I love her and to raise Ds awareness. I went from shock and disbelief at birth to acceptance and love…but most of all I gained the insight that the negative way society and medics look at Ds is not true.