Happiness Enhancing Activities

I just read an interesting article this morning about thekey to happiness. Part of the article had the following 12 happiness enhancing activitiesn - I have included an exert from the article. Very interesting!!

12 happiness-enhancing activities - things happy people do naturally. They may sound corny but they're scientifically proven. You don't have to do them all - decide which fit you best.

1. express gratitude.
   
2. cultivate optimism: visualise a future in which everything has turned out the way you want it, then write it down.
   
3. avoid obsessing over things or paying too much attention to what others are doing.
   
4. practise acts of kindness - more than you're used to.
   
5. make time for friends; be supportive and loyal.
   
6. develop coping strategies: write down your feelings when you're feeling upset and try to see that traumatic events often make us stronger.
   
7. learn to forgive.
   
8. immerse yourself in activities and be open to new ones.
   
9. savour life's joys - linger over a pastry rather than mindlessly consuming it.
   
10. work towards meaningful goals.
    
11. practise religion and spirituality.
    
12. exercise.
    

You won't see the results from these activities right away: like anything important, you have to work at it

If you want to read more then you can find the article here: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/key-to-happiness-be-kind-exercise-20090909-fhnc.html

I like the sound of this. One of the things I have been trying to work on this year is positivity - I think that I will be a much happier person if I stop being so negative all the time and try to be positive. And that's what another part of the article talks about - so I'm not so silly afterall aye ;-)

Be Positive: Positivity makes you more attractive and resilient, with lower blood pressure, less pain, fewer colds, better sleep. Increase the number of positive emotions in your day, however fleeting. One can lead to another and so on, until we're in an upward spiral of positivity. Take a moment to find the good in a situation. Don't over-generalise ('I can never hold down a relationship'), jump to conclusions ('I'll never finish this job') or ruminate endlessly. Any healthy distraction - a run, a swim - that lifts your mood is good

Acupuncture

Well after talking to Marea and thinking about it for a while I finally decided to try having acupuncture. I've actually had acupuncture before to help with OOS stuff when I was at uni and I really liked it :-) If anyone in Wellington is thinking about getting acupuncture then let me know and I'll pass on the guys details. It was at a place in the city end of Karori and he used traditional Chinese acupuncture which is much better than the sort you get at the local physio :-)

[edited because grumpy husband doesn't like me putting personal info on the internet]

Right... back to Brisbane and not random ranting! So I went along yesterday in my lunch break, had a big long chat to the chick there - ticked way too many boxes on her sheet of symptoms, and lay down on the table. Her theory is that a lot of my problems stem from liver and spleen issues, so that is what she is treating. I had needles put in the top of my right foot, side of the right ankle, my right albow area (the squissy bit when you fold your arms), my right wrist, in my frown lines (between the eyes ;-) ), and one in either side of my neck :-) I don't know if last night is anything to go by but Paul reckons that I barely moved all night - so I'm taking that as a good sign :-) Fingers crossed aye :-)

Righto - back to work now :-)