100 Happy Days

I read about this challenge long back. And have re-read it some 100 times since then. I always shut the website thinking, I'll start tomorrow and that never happens. So this time, I said I'll start TODAY! It's a simple concept, encouraging people to just be happy. You know what I mean, just simple happiness from simple pleasures of life. The challenge isn't a competition of any kind. It's for you, for you to identify the happy moments in the busy lives that we lead. And the aim is to slowly make being happy a habit, to make being positive a habit. To start looking at the good and not the bad. It's sounds too simple to bring about any kind of real change in your attitude and your life. But I now believe, especially after becoming relatively healthier after my yoga practice, that to make anything a success, you need to first make it a habit.

I've started waking up at 6 AM everyday (ok, Saturdays and Sundays don't count!), thus making it a habit. I'm healthier and happier for it. Truth be told, it was painful initially. I'm not a morning person. Or so I thought. At school/college, during exams I would stay up studying until 4 am, instead of waking up at 4 am to study. The "only 5 minutes more" getting-down-from-bed technique just doesn't work! After about 4 weeks of my new routine, I would wake up as soon as the alarm rang, jump out of bed literally. And now my body knows when it's nearing 6 AM and it'll slowly start preparing my mind to wake up. So when the alarm finally goes off, I am wide awake.

So basically, I made waking up early a habit and it works automatically now. 100 Happy Days works on a similar philosophy, do something for long enough for it to become a habit and then you do it unconsciously. According to the website, 71% have tried the challenge and haven't been able to complete it giving "lack of time" as a reason. That's just insane. If you really want to do something, you make time for it. I'm hoping, I don't cite "no time" as a reason to quit! I hope I don't quit at all.

So starting today, I am going to tweet & blog about the one thing, situation, person, instance, look, song etc that made me smile and happy.

My situation for today was a very unexpected hug from someone very unexpected. I was getting breakfast when I met a colleague of mine, we wished each other good morning and walked in opposite directions and he came running back and said "Hey Nayana, I heard you're going through a tough time, I just want to give you a hug, hang in there" and that's it. It left me shocked, because he isn't exactly close to me to know that I am going through a tough time [and I'm sure he doesn't read my blog ;)], nor have I discussed my life with anyone at work, maybe he heard from somewhere, maybe he saw something, and just decided to come give me a hug nevertheless. We spoke for about 10 minutes and it left me smiling, for a long time. And since it was early in the morning, it felt even better. It is so touching that someone took 5 minutes of their time to come comfort you.

So there, that was my happy moment for the day. Initially I thought I'll start a blog about it, like a separate one. But I am done with starting blogs, so I am just going to continue writing on this one and maybe I'll file it under a different category. The other lovely thing about completing this challenge is that at the end of it, you receive a book that records your journey, it's a lovely thing to sit and read. I'm a sucker for collecting things and sticking them in my 'diary of memories'. So this little book of happiness excites me, a LOT!

The other thought that crossed my mind, when I thought about doing this was whether I am "forcefully trying" to be happy. But then, I have two answers to that question. 1) If I am, then whats wrong with it, after all the goal is for you to be truly happy at the end of it, and if in the initial few days I did force myself, there is nothing wrong with it. Not like I loved waking up at 6 in the morning initially, but now I love it. Similarly. 2) I don't believe only people who are going through a low phase need to give this a try. In our daily lives,  think about how much we crib, complain, scowl, abuse. We often tend to focus on the things that didn't go well. At the end of the day, if someone asks you how your day was, you are more likely to remember the not-so-good parts of it, than the part where someone said a kind word, where someone thanked you for your kinds words or just simple things that made you smile even if just for a minute. Would everyone not be happier, if they remember the lovely things of their day when going to bed at night? So this is not a challenge only for people who are upset, but for everyone!

So, I'm off on my journey to happiness.