Happiness is a journey not a destination

I recently completed the 100 happy days challenge on my Instagram account and have been reflecting since on what I learnt through the process.

The principle is that you make an effort to pick on particular aspect of your day that makes you happy, each and every day for 100 days and then share the moment on social media, although not compulsory, you could keep a diary instead. The happy moments can be as big or as small as you like from celebrating a new job, to enjoying a 5 minute relax with a really good cup of tea.

You can find more information about the challenge here.

I had attempted the challenge a few years ago and on day 8 I had a bad day, was in a grump and gave up. According to the website I was joining the 71% of people who start but don’t complete the challenge. This time around I was determined to start again and complete the challenge. As the days went on I found it easier to identify moments, although there were a very few occasions when I genuinely forgot to post something, I’d then pick up where I left the next day and carried on.

Does this mean that I was ecstatically happy every day for 100 days? Absolutely not, like everybody, I had good days and bad days along the journey, but on those bad days I was able to come out of the low feelings quicker than I had before, and tried really hard to still find a positive thing that had happened that day.

my first ever post

playing scrabble on honeymoon

5 mins to relax with a cuppa and a magazine

cooking with Mini

beautiful Peonies

enjoying date night

Looking back on the happy moments that I’ve shared I’m pleasantly surprised to discover how few of them are related to material things and the vast majority of posts are about sharing good times and experiences with family and loved ones. Throughout the journey I believe that it has helped me to appreciate the little things more easily and to be a little more chilled and laid back about things.

One of the motivations for me starting the challenge was to help as a distraction whilst I was dealing with some difficult issues in my personal life, and whilst there were still some wobbles during this time, I genuinely believe that doing the challenge and ensuring that I do focus on the positives has really helped me get through this time.

a walk in the woods

special Mummy & Mini time

yummy ice cream treat

watching our Sunflowers grow

a cheeky G&T

family BBQ

I don’t feel the need to continue posting happy moments specifically now the 100 days are over and I am trying to carry on with the lessons I have learnt and continue to appreciate the good things that are around us, in even the most challenging of times. I’ve also recently started going to yoga classes which has helped me to continue with the opportunity to have time to collect my thoughts and reflect.

Sam at Mouse, Moo & Me Too  talked to me about her experiences of doing the challenge and that she tries to do it starting January each year. This is something I can definitely relate to, after the glitter and excitement of the festive period, January can definitely feel dreary and I think doing the 100 happy days challenge would be a great idea to focus on positives at this time of the year.

I’ve included a few of my favourite posts from the challenge and I hope they will give you some inspiration for you to start your own challenge, I really enjoyed seeing other people’s journeys using the 100happydays hashtag and seeing the vast variety of experiences and moments that others have enjoyed experiencing.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve taken part in the challenge and how you have found it or if you have undertaken similar journeys towards happiness.

Love Lucy xx