"You can't really have too much happiness".
That's what I thought to myself when I agreed to sign up for a Kikki-K workshop on 'happiness' my friend offered for me to take last month. I hadn't had any plans that week and who was I to say no to being in a room full of enviously beautiful Swedish stationery?
But to be very honest, I haven't been as happy as I wanted to be for quite a while. Maybe it's a lack of goals and aspirations, maybe it's just the frustration over circumstances I feel I can't change. But quite frankly, the only person that can be blamed for my lack of happiness is myself. Which is why I thought a 'happiness workshop' couldn't be any harm to attend.
If you've never been to a Kikki-K workshop before (I don't really know anyone who has) - it's not some place where you find a sappy circle singing or giving out each other compliments for momentary warm fuzzies. The Happiness Workshop was more about where we ourselves had control over our happiness, and what we can improve.
We got pretty workbooks each to help us look into the areas of the life where we felt happy, where we felt we lacked in happiness, and where we could set our goals that can make us feel happy. One of the best things you can do is write up a 'reverse bucket list' - where you can focus on what you are glad to have done, the moments that made you the happiest, and what you found success in. There's nothing wrong for feeling proud of something you've done.
But I think one of the best things about the Happiness Workshop is not just the pretty workbook where I can put all my written and visual thoughts into, but I can set focuses for each month to improve myself. I want to focus on learning new things, getting myself into an environment that makes me happy, and also be reminded about what I'm grateful for in this life.
Of course some of you may be thinking 'why did you need an entire workshop to know how to be happy?' Well, it's honestly nice to be reminded what you need in this life, and how the little things you do can improve your well-being. And I'm not doing this to be selfish about my own feelings. Have you noticed how negativity only breeds more negativity for the people around you? Imagine how different you would feel and the people around you feel if you were happier more often.
So each month I've set myself a focus - whether it's gratitude, organisation or well-being; and look into how I can improve those areas in my life with simple objectives. It's not stuff like 'my objective is to get more money', or 'get a promotion', or 'get to travel more' (though obviously those would be things that may help...) But I've set objectives which I feel I can achieve if I simply apply myself, and know I will feel happy to succeed. It's a bit like a year long life evaluation.
I'm no expert at achieving happiness, so I hope over the course of the next 12 months you can join me on this journey. And maybe you'll feel encouraged yourself to try things for your own happiness.
Let the happiness project begin...
Just an extra note: I just want to thank the people who supported my last blog post on friendship and letting friends go. I wasn't very sure on posting it, and it's been a while since I've allowed myself to be as personal as I was on this blog. But I appreciated all the kind words I received, and I have nothing but complete gratitude and happiness that I have such good people in my life :)
