How to Create Your Own Happiness

OK, 2020, we’re done. I’m breaking up with you. I don’t know anyone who isn’t wishing that December flies by, so we can welcome in 2021.  Does this mean things will magically improve on Jan. 1?  No, but a new year offers hope for something different; something better – even during a pandemic.

As I ate my Thanksgiving meal and thought about everything I have to be grateful for, I realized that I wasn’t feeling grateful at all. In fact, I was feeling tired and sad.  So, I watched Chevy Chase’s movie Christmas Vacation. And while a company giving an employee a subscription to the ‘Jelly of the Month Club’ made me laugh, it didn’t cure my woes.

The next day, it dawned on me that if I start doing more activities that bring me immense joy, I’d probably have more joy in my life. So, I made a list. I wrote down every activity that lights me up inside. Notice I didn’t say every activity that I like. The list has to contain activities that you absolutely love.

I thought I’d be able to list a few items, but I actually wound up with 29 activities that bring me a lot of joy. From listening to my iPod playlists, to finding a new recipe and making it for dinner on Shellfish Saturdays, to seeing my cats light up when I feed them treats, to attending Barrett-Jackson car auctions, to watching Joel Osteen on Sunday morning, to buying a fresh bunch of flowers for my kitchen, I realized that lots of things make me giddy. I had just never taken the time to reflect.

JILL, WHAT CAN I DO? Happiness is an inside job. It’s my responsibility to be aware of the activities that I love to do and then see to it that I do a handful of them every day. If you need more joy in your life, make your ‘Activities That I Love” list and then do the things that bring you joy. And a bonus? Studies show that a happy manager is a more effective manager. Gotta go now… I’m off to walk in a Denver park, and then sit outside in the sun at Rocky Fin Poke and relish in a raw tuna poke bowl. Yes, it’s a Monday, but I’ve learned this year that sometimes it’s more important to care for one’s mental health than to work. The work will be there tomorrow.