Happy Moments

I just started a twitter and facebook fan page a couple of weeks and I am far from a savvy tweeter, but I am leaning. If you follow me on twitter @nakeiachomer or if you are a fan on facebook, then you know that at the end of each day, I ask the question:

What was your happiest moment of the day?

That question started with me about 3 years ago when I found myself complaining more than usual. I don’t think it’s healthy to complain at all, but at that particular time in my life, every time I opened my mouth it was to complain.

That complaining went from constant lip service to an actual physical feeling of constant unhappiness. Because complaining is an outward expression of unhappiness or discontent, what I was verbalizing outwardly was just a manifestation of what I was feeling internally. I found myself frowning all of the time and literally waking up and looking for something to complain about.

I remember receiving a text message from a client asking for some emotional support during a moment of struggle, and ignoring her text. In that moment I said to myself I am not the right person for her to talk to today. Really? If- I- was not- the right-person- for her- to talk to- then- who- was?

At that moment I sat down and began a list of just 5 things that I was happy about. That list of 5 turned into a list of 25 and before I went to bed that night I asked myself the question:

What was your happiest moment of the day?

I have asked myself and my family that question every night since then. In order to come up with an answer every night, I had to search for happy moments sometimes. If I smiled or laughed, if I felt content or satisfied, I would wonder if one of those times would be my moment of complete happiness for the day. Because I wouldn’t allow myself to go to bed without defining a happy moment, I would create one by thinking of a joke so I could laugh out loud or I would go and have a conversation with my 6 year old because she always makes me happy.

All of the wasted energy I used to complain, I now use to find reasons to be happy. In the midst of a bad day, I make a choice to be happy.

Here’s your approach:

If you find yourself complaining about the things you are unhappy about, challenge yourself to find just one thing that made you feel happy that day. Make a commitment to yourself not to go to bed without defining a happy moment. It will be hard to find things to complain about when you are looking for reasons to be happy.

To Blog…Nakeia