Pause in your pursuit of happiness and be happy

Here are TWO things you can do right now to experience happiness:

1. Create a Happiness Jar

Find a Jar (A big one – that is clear)
Each day, on a small piece of paper, write down one thing that brought a smile to your face – it doesn’t have to be anything big. It could be as simple as watching your dog roll on the lawn. The point here is to notice what is right in front of you.
Fold up the paper
Put it in the jar
Close the lid
Repeat each day.
At the end of the year – or if you’re ever feeling a bit down, open the jar, and read a few of those notes you have made.

(This works so much better when you can see the jar on a shelf – it just is not the same if you write the list on your smart phone – because no one else will know it is there.)

2. Give up experiencing life through a lens

I was fascinated by a recent study into how taking photos can actually interfere with your memory of a moment.

The study, conducted by Dr Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University in Connecticut found that when we rely on technology – a camera, phone or recording device – to capture a moment for us, we are in fact not living that moment to the full, nor committing it to memory.

“When people rely on technology to remember for them – counting on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves – it can have a negative impact on how well they remember their experiences,” Dr Henkel said.

“Research has suggested that the sheer volume and lack of organisation of digital photos for personal memories discourages many people from accessing and reminiscing about them. In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just amass them.”

I am a strong advocate for living in the moment, and have written countless articles and blogs (http://naomisimson.com/the-fear-of-missing-out-epidemic/) about “switching off” from technology for this very reason. Technology, while wonderful at connecting us, can also disconnect us from the wonderful moments of the everyday.

I urge you, in 2014, to live in the moment just a little more. Download the 64 page book full of other great ways to simply ‘be’ happy. Feel free to share – after all happiness is best when shared.

Photo: Shutterstock – This first appeared as part of my LinkedIn Collection