How to be happier: finding joy in your ordinary life

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Do you ever get that feeling of discontentment with your life? That itchy, scratchy feeling of wanting to GET OUT NOW. Wanting something bigger and better than what you have at the moment. 

 

It’s a wonderful thing to be filled with ambition and to chase after your big dreams. We shouldn’t limit ourselves or be satisfied with living a small, mediocre life. 

 

There is a whole wide world out there of possibilities to explore and places to experience. 

 

A dream for the future isn’t a bad thing.

 

But if your dream leaves you constantly feeling a little lacklustre then perhaps you need to be reminded of the good in your everyday life. 

 

Hopefully, one day you’ll be able to travel the world, or start your own designer shoe label or own your own home but your life doesn’t start THEN, it starts right NOW

 

I’m terrible at living in the now, I spend most of my time longing for the not yet. Waiting for all those hopes and dreams to be fulfilled before I start living fully. 

 

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking everything will work out once you have x, y or z. We think this way so often. We believe we’ll be happy once we’ve lost weight or moved houses or had a kid.

 

The thing is, that may or may not be true. And it would be an awful shame to get that thing only to realise that you still aren’t happy.

 

That’s why we need to learn how to be happier and content with our life right now, exactly as it is.

 

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I know it can be hard to be satisfied with your everyday life because it can feel terribly ordinary and unbelievably dull.

 

It isn’t glamorous to be sitting behind a desk all day or scrubbing coffee stains off your white shirt that you just washed. But the thing is, for most of us that is what our everyday life looks like. 

 

I think part of the problem is that we get this skewed view of what normal life looks because of what we see on social media. People are always posting glamour shots of their most recent holiday or the party they went to on the weekend and we translate that as their everyday life. 

 

But in reality, nobody is on holiday or partying all the time. Real life is full of boring, mundane moments. 

 

So the trick is finding the good in those moments. Making the most of our everyday. Choosing to live right now instead of waiting for the next big thing.  

 

 

How to be happier with your life right now

 

Make every day special

 

Do you have those things that you store away in cupboards and only bring out on “special occasions?

 

I mostly do this with clothes. I have this pair of sparkly, silver shoes which I absolutely adore. My mum calls them my ‘Wizard of Oz’ shoes because they make me look like Dorothy.

 

But I often stop myself from wearing these shoes because I feel like they might be a little too jazzy for everyday wear.

 

Isn’t that stupid? I think we need to make every day a special occasion. Every day is a perfect day to wear your favourite sparkly shoes or drink from your best teacups.

 

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Indulge your passions

 

We all have those things that we are obsessed with (maybe even to an embarrassing extent.) I think it is a shame that we spend so much time trying to fit in and avoid being weird or quirky or interesting.

 

If you want to know how to be happier with your life, try simply allowing yourself to indulge in your passions. To be as weird or geeky or girly as we please.

 

To be proud of exactly who we are and to just love what we love without shame.

 

Let go of ‘shoulds’. 

 

Life can be especially draining if you are stuck doing something you hate just because it is what you believe you “should” be doing.

 

I think life is too short to live in submission to ‘shoulds’. 

 

I spent three years at university studying science because I thought it was what I should be doing and I was completely miserable.

The sooner you realise you are in charge of your life and can do whatever it is you please, the better!

 

The only things we should be filling our days with are the things we love.

We shouldn’t go to a concert with our friend just because we feel obliged to. We shouldn’t take the job just because it’s what our parents wanted us to do. We shouldn’t join that yoga class we hate just because we need to exercise more.

 

Saying NO is okay. Having an opinion is okay. Doing what you think is best for YOU is okay.

 

Practice gratitude

 

The greatest way you can learn how to be happier with your life right now is just to start noticing all the good that is already in your life.

 

When you actually take the time to note down all the little things that make you smile each day you’ll find there is a great deal to be thankful for in your ordinary life.

 

I’m a big fan of writing my happy-thank-you-more-please notes down in a journal so I can remember them now and look back on them later.

 

 

There are always going to be dull moments in our lives. We are always going to have to do boring, maintenance jobs because that is part of being an adult.

 

But that doesn’t mean our lives have to be ordinary. Your life is what you choose to make it.

 

Are you going to live a drab, dreary, humdrum life or are you going to choose to be happy today?

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7 Comments

  • Lauren Natalia

    This was such a great post Megan and just the reminder I needed! I’ve always been pretty mindful about noticing the little everyday moments but sometimes we get so caught up in our worries our plans and it’s easy to forget! Thank you for this! 🙂

    Lauren xx
    Laurennatalia.co

    March 15, 2019 at 12:20 pm Reply
    • Megan Hallier

      Thank you Lauren! I’m glad you enjoyed this post 🙂

      March 19, 2019 at 10:29 am Reply
  • Caitlin

    Finding ways to make everyday special is something I think we should all do more of. In fact, this post is basically putting words to some thoughts I’ve had in that we always seem to climb for one specific life accomplishment to another without stopping in the middle to enjoy the view. Such a good reminder!

    March 19, 2019 at 3:59 pm Reply
    • Megan Hallier

      Yeah so true. I’m the worst for doing that! But I’m really working on slowing down and enjoying the moment I am in.

      March 21, 2019 at 3:41 pm Reply
  • Claire

    This is lovely! I’m definitely focusing on letting go of the “shoulds” lately, specifically feeling like certain things should make me happy whilst I actually enjoy others more. Most of the time I’d much rather be at home reading a book or cooking than out to eat, at a concert, etc!

    March 20, 2019 at 4:52 am Reply
    • Megan Hallier

      Good for you! It feels so nice to be in control of those decisions and do as you please. The perks of being an adult!

      March 21, 2019 at 3:42 pm Reply
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