Why Happiness Matters

I've just come across Action for Happiness - a wonderful new charity which is officially launching in Spring 2011. If you would like to be part of the movement, visit their website and join up now - www.actionforhappiness.org

Joy is wherever you choose to find it

So apparently this is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. I'm not terribly sure who decided that was the case, but I am a firm believer that joy is wherever you choose to find it. Where do you choose to put your focus today?

Gratitude as a cure for insomnia

It's interesting how often several clients can contact me with the same presenting problem within a short space of time. Last Autumn the theme seemed to be a desire for weight loss; this winter it seems that insomnia is a popular issue, and in case any of my blog readers are suffering with this problem (or know somebody who is!) I thought I would share a useful technique with you.

One of the keys for falling asleep is to relax your mind as well as your body, and often this is easier said than done - many people cannot sleep because of the things going round in their head. Recognising this pattern is the first important step - interrupting it and replacing it with something else is the second. And the replacement has to be something that your conscious mind will find just a little bit boring, but not too boring or your mind won't want to do it... some people find that counting sheep, for example, can be just a bit too dull - and their mind just returns to the original worry.

Next time you can't sleep, try one of these ideas instead; they all use the alphabet as a base. Try thinking of items in your bedroom beginning with each letter of the alphabet - it's not as easy as it sounds ("i" used to be a challenge until Apple came along!). Alternatively, animals are quite fun. Here's one, though, that my clients really like - think of things you are grateful for, beginning with each letter of the alphabet - and really focus on each one in turn and understand what it is about it that makes you grateful. It doesn't matter how big or small each of these things are - gratitude is a very powerful emotion!

Let me know how you get on - and if there are other techniques that you have found useful and which you would like to share then I am always interested to hear about them!

Do you see challenges or opportunities?

"Life isn't the way it's meant to be - it is the way it is. The way we cope with it makes the difference." - Virginia Satir

If we expect life to be different from how it is, then we are going to be disappointed! As Virginia Satir says, it is the way it is. What we can change, however, is the way we think and feel about it. If we expect life to be exactly as it is then our expectations will be fulfilled and we can focus, instead, on the challenges and opportunities that life brings us - and perhaps even recognise that sometimes the challenges are also opportunities.

Allow your dreams to set sail

I heard a lovely quote yesterday, from my niece, who came across it on Twitter (I don't know from where or whom this originated - if you do, please let me know!):

"The boat is safer anchored at the port; but that's not the aim of boats."

Very often we will stay anchored to something because it seems like the safest option, but we forget that fear can keep us from achieving our dreams. As you set your goals for the New Year, notice what fears and old beliefs may be holding you back - maybe it is time to set yourself free.

The Ghosts of Christmas

For the past few weeks we have been living in an extraordinary winter world of quite astonishing and remarkable beauty. The extreme winter temperatures created havoc for many, but it seemed that the Ghost of Christmas Present was on our side...

We were profoundly grateful to W Eves for our oil delivery last Tuesday, just in the nick of time before we ran out completely, and we were also very grateful for a window in the weather on Thursday which allowed us to collect various family members for their Christmas visit. In the midst of total travel chaos at Gatwick Airport and agaist all the odds, my niece received her own particular Christmas travel miracle thanks to Flybe.

Our Christmas was spent with friends and family (and dogs!) in warmth, with good food and wine, surrounded by the fragile beauty of a true winter wonderland, thanks to the people and events which brought everything together and made it happen.

Gratitude is a natural emotion at Christmas, and as Christmas 2010 fades into memory along with the Ghosts of other Christmases past, gratitude will remain a very strong part of that memory to carry forward into the Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come.

Setting your sights on 2011

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau

What dreams and goals do you have for 2011? December is always a good month for undertaking a "personal audit" and deciding what you would like to focus on for the coming year. What areas of your life are working well? What areas of your life could do with some improvement? Where do you want to be this time next year in your career, your relationships, your health? Where do you not want to be?

If you would like some help creating your own personal set of goals for the coming year and discovering what foundations you need to put in place, you are welcome to e-mail me at joanna@joanna-taylor.co.uk for a free goal setting exercise.

The best way to predict your future is to create it!