To ask what makes you happy

[tinklykitty]

Feeling a little down most days :( I want to try and do some things each day to make myself feel happy but I never know what I can do and before it's too late I'm back feeling demotivated and miserable again... I would really appreciate some ideas of quick things I can do each day that might make me happy. I'm thinking If I write them down then do one per day I might end up being the happiest fucker alive!

Absolutely in one Clownfish! I know exactly what the low after the high feels like.. Its a big come down and makes you question yourself even more "Why aren't I deliriously happy after this amazing event?".. Why do we torture ourselves so?!

Lots of great advice already - it might help to know more about a "usual day" for you OP and why you are so down?

I agree with PP that for me, doing less makes me happy, but that's because my life is sometimes overwhelmingly busy. If you feel lonely and bored, then doing more would probably help.

I hope things change for you soon

I always find having a bit of a sort out makes me happy. Clearing my desk or just making sure the sofa looks really nice so when you sit down it feels properly relaxing. And getting up before everyone else and having coffee in the garden now the mornings are a bit nicer. You feel like you've grabbed some bonus time that no one else got.

A walk (with a dog, if you have one/can borrow one), a run or a swim.

Painting/drawing.

Time with a pet.

A bubble bath with a book or magazine.

Learning a foreign language.

Playing or learning an instrument.

Baking/cooking.

Listening to/singing along to music.

Oh and when feeling depressed I find photography helpful too- sometimes when you feel empty and everything lacks substance, it can be helpful to take a picture of something beautiful (e.g. a pretty landscape).

Things that bring me joy...people surprising me with nice things.
Appreciation.
Someone telling me how much they love me.
Working towards my goals - this I think is the main one.
My twins learning new skills.
My twins giggling.
Chocolate.
Coffee
Comfort food

Having finished a project on my list (mainly crafts)
The satisfaction I get after teaching a class
Reading a good book
My husband coming home
Mostly my children and being home with them and playing and going fun places
A tidy house, rarely happens
A freshly hoovered carpet
Cats (not allowed one as DH allergic :()
Guinea pigs and rabbits (not ‘allowed’ as DH is anti but hopefully going to overwinter some hedgehogs next winter)
Hanging out in the garden. I have no idea what I’m doing but I like weeding.
I always feel better after a stroll outside.

The removal of toxic people from my life has made me happy beyond belief. It's changed my life.

It is not an every day thing but during terrible times I have found that having something to every week or fortnight that I genuinely like, keeps me going. I have that to look forward to. Where I used to live it was an Iyengar yoga class - its hard work as Iyengar is all about precision - I found concentrating on that meant all the crap I was carrying was pushed out for the class. And after the class I felt calmer and clearer.
The sense of quiet benevolence really helped too.

Now where I live I go to 5 rhythms once a fortnight. I love it - it is like therapy for me (but MUCH cheaper) I can dance out how I am feeling. Or get in a trance like state through repetitive movements, which again, clears out all the crap in my head for the duration of the dance.

it doesn't matter what it is - just doing something you like and that helps regularly - that can be your rock to cling to.

Sleeping in and waking naturally (no alarm clock)

Proper coffee and a nice breakfast

Fresh air (Just opening the house windows)

Clean and tidy house

Nothing making me rush

Friends

Laughter

Swimming and yoga

Time outdoors
Baking/making food

Oh and having something to look forward to, even if it's in a year's time

Watching movie trailers

Hiking in the mountains- love it. Clears my head. I don't always have the time or money to get there so little pleasures are:-
Quiet cup of tea in morning made with tea leaves in my fave mug
Read a chapter of book in bed before kids wake up
A tidy draw that no-one else will touch

Browsing recipes online and in books and dreaming up what to cook next.

Slowly, bit by bit, decluttering my home is bringing me so much peace and happiness as I find my environment increasingly enjoyable to be in!

Lovely hot bath and something nice to watch on the iPad.

Treating myself to fresh flowers and arranging them.

Making lists of places I would like to visit for days out, weekends away, holidays etc.

Practicing mindfulness through watching my toddler play.

Setting a timer and going at a task with my full focus for 20 mins and then revelling at how much more I achieved than expected.

Bop around to happy play list and discovering new music on Spotify.

Coffee on my own at the crack of dawn whilst everyone is still asleep (ideally outside).

Walking and being in nature is the best. Exercise when not heavily pregnant!

Chatting with friends and family (uplifting folk only!).

I’ve loved reading everyone’s lists thank you so much for this thread OP and I hope it brings you some list ticking happiness!

I could write a list of things that make me happy, but happy is an emotion that comes and goes; what I’m aiming for is contentment, which is a more stable state of being. Content for me is stability in my relationship, my job and my children also being content. I love it when we are happy too, but as an aim in life I’m going for contentment

Taking St John's wort daily certainly takes blues away for me. If your feeling a little low most days but don't yet feel ready to visit a gp, maybe give it a go? Obviously seeing the gp is advisable but I know how daunting that feels too.

A well fitting bra - simple as!

Being outside, in the sun, listening to the sounds of the birds and seeing trees and flowers. Walking through woods or fields. Fresh air, peace.

Happy dogs (I don't own one, but friends do) seeing them all excited over a stick or a tickle behind the ears, such innocent joy in small things is contagious.

My children being genuinely happy, laughing and smiling.

A tidy home. My mind feels freer, calmer and clearer if the space I am in is clean and tidy.

A good book, somewhere to escape to, to get lost in, and to look forward to going back to when you can.

Music that I find uplifting. Sometimes bright and chirpy classical, sometimes 90s Britpop classics, often alt / indie stuff from my late teens.

Being with good friends.

I spend a bit of time each afternoon with a box set or something on Prime / Netflix and my latest crochet project. I love the creative side and watching something grow that I’ve made with my own hands. Attic24 blog and Facebook page is a great place to start for beginners.
I always have a kindle book on the go, and reading in bed each night before I go to sleep is my downtime.
The best thing I’ve done for my mental health in recent years is regularly getting my hair done; cut and coloured and then a regular blow dry. I hated my hair all through my teens and twenties and now I love it, and it’s done so much for my self esteem.
Also, as others have said, my faith has seen me through a lot, and the friendships that I’ve made in my church community are really genuine authentic ones.
and hugs and prayers OP. x

Playing a board game with my kids.
Going for a hour long run early evening when the sun is going down.
A couple of hours walking with the dogs.
Dh cooking for me and a glass of wine.

This thread has filled me with so much happiness just reading what makes you all happy and it's all the little things in life! I can't believe how many great ideas are here!

The dunes on the norfolk coast.

The sense of achievement when I get myself to do something I need to or have been putting off etc. Small scale gardening when I manage to keep a pretty plant alive, like a succulent or something they seem to give me a lot of peace! A clear counter top. A very hot shower with no little people banging on the door. Playing music loudly in the car and singing along with my girls. Gifting and being gifted food (mainly between my DM and myself making eachother cakes, buying something nice we see at the shops etc). Listening to Harry Potter audiobooks on loop and on repeat for my entire life.

Apart from family and the dog:

Sewing (can be making a toy or fixing ripped jeans or replacing a button. Currently making a fidget quilt for a friend's mum with dementia).

Making a list of things we have got for camping, things we need, and things we'd love to have, then scouring 2nd hand places for them! Weirdly satisfying.

A coat hangars of freshly ironed clothes, i don't mind ironing! I know it makes me odd.

My homemade rosemary shortbread - just opening the tin makes me salivate.

Sweeping up dog fur as I read a meme somewhere 'written' by a dog that said, "I covered the house in love - but you hoovered it up!" I now see fur as love.

Picnics and walks in the woods, especially when it's windy and you get a mouthful of hair with your sandwich, or your salad blows away (last Sunday!), or one of you gets hit on the head by a conker, or a spider plops itself in your juice - eating outdoors is eventful and I think back and laugh (poor DS couldnt laugh at the spider juice incident at the time )

Mooching about town on my own or with the dog, stopping every now and hen to take a photo of something: interesting graffiti, sky through an archway, clouds reflected in windows, small plant growing through a pavement crack, ugly clothes in designer shop window - all kinds of random crap!

I live in a tourist town and love earwigging English-speaking tourists to see what they're saying. I was passing a male buddy statue and an elderly American woman shouted to her husband, "take a shotta that, Earl"

Random things, really.

Here are some random for you x

Harry Potter audiobooks on loop and on repeat for my entire life