Lifestyle - Being happy

I've had my share of ups and downs like I'm sure all/most of you have, certainly some 'downs' that feel more horrendous than others (like loosing my mum), but I'm a firm believer that trying to have a positive outlook and having things planned to look forward too, really help keep us focussed, and helps the not-so-good days go by a bit easier and maybe even make us happy.

I wanted to write a bit of a different post as I have a few nice things planned this year that have been keeping me happy, and I thought that maybe by sharing these, you might be inspired to plan some fun stuff too, and we can all have a happy year together :)  So here's my tips for being happy, it's what works for me anyway :)

Make Plans

(above image is from weheartit) I have some great things to look forward to this year, I might not be able to do all of them, but planning them, I think, is half the fun.  If everything works out, this year I will be;

• Visiting my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in Southern France for a long weekend
• Spending Christmas with my Dad in Ireland (and hopefully my nan too - she's 91 in April)
• Heading to Edinburgh to meet two lovely bloggers I've become good friends with <3
• Going to London for my birthday in April and to go to Tattooed Tea Lady's blogger event

That's quite a lot of things, and half of them may not happen, but planning for them and having things like that to look forward to really help, especially if you're having a blue day.

Eat/Drink well

(above image is from weheartit) By 'well' I mean healthily.  Yes, I'm overweight so you may not think I'm the best person to give this advice, but I do enjoy eating healthily.  For me, I find it really satisfying when I start the day out well by having a really healthy breakfast, like diced mango and melon and a cup of camomile tea, maybe a muller light to go with it.  It's little things like that, that make me feel happy on the inside too, knowing my body will thank me for it and I'm doing something right.  It's like a mini victory for that little voice on your shoulder telling you all the things you 'should' do, but don't :)

Spend time with your friends

This, for me, is probably one of the most important things to do.  Whenever I've spent an evening with my friends, I just feel awesome afterwards.  No amount of tweeting, gaming, blogging or any of the 'sit at my laptop and shut off the world, but I'm being social' stuff I do makes me feel quite as great as spending an evening with friends and a bottle of wine.  And yep, that's me on the right, after quite a few drinks :p  (hubby in the middle)

Get a pet

Being the crazy cat lady I am, this is probably a no-brainer.  But, for me, having a pet (cat) makes me super happy.  My cat (Matilda) is the most beautiful cat ever, she makes us laugh and makes me very happy.  I look forward to getting home every day so I can see her and give her a cuddle, my home with my husband and cat is my 'happy place' :)  And yes, that's my cat looking all crazy!

Treat others how you wish to be treated

(above image is from weheartit) This is a really important one for me.  My mum always told me that this is really important, if you're bitchy to people and nasty, people are going to be like it to you, and lets face it, who wants that?  It's something I've always tried to live by, not always achieved it!  But I think in life, if you treat people nicely, people will do the same to you - not always of course, but overall they will, and besides, it's much easier to be nice than it is to be nasty :)

Wear your heart on your sleeve

(above image is from weheartit) Again this is something my mother taught me.  I've taken real stick for this in the past, people judging me because I might be attached to something or 'overly' upset in their eyes over something that's happened, but that's who I have most respect for, you know where you are with people who are honest and if they're upset, they say so.  I know I'm making myself sound like an emotional wreck, but in all seriousness, I couldn't go through life hiding my emotions and putting up a 'wall' to hide behind.  Life is there to be felt :)

I know this wasn't a typical post you'd expect to see on here, but it was something I really wanted to write about :)

What's your top tip for being happy?




image credits - 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th pics were taken from weheartit - the other two are mine :)

This months bigest pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Laura from A Scottish Lass,
And be sure to check out my lovely middle-pixi3 advertisers who this month are Sarah from Life in a Breakdown, Angelica from One Little Vice, Fiona from La Belle Dame Sans Merci, and Sally from The Human Mannequin, and the lovely Luchessa from Beauty Expression by Luchessa - be sure to head over to check out their beautiful blogs <3