As I was walking home from the shops the other day I passed a bus stop. There was a female bus driver standing outside on the pavement waiting for a connecting ferry to arrive. As I walked past I noticed she had a big grin on her face and I was compelled to stop and exchange words with her. It’s not something I normally do BUT I just couldn’t ignore this smiling face.
We had a wonderful conversation and I found out that the captivating smile on her face was because she had finally been awarded day work on week days only after completing 15 years of shift work. This was her last shift before it kicked in and she had the entire weekend off. She was beaming with joy.
As I said goodbye and continued on my way home I took a moment to acknowledge how uplifting the conversation had been. A smile on the face of a complete stranger had provided me with a happiness touch point that stayed with me all the way home.
Happiness can touch you in many ways
I then reflected on the rest of my day and realised that happiness had touched me in many ways through out the day. Breakfast with a girl friend, the completion of a proposal, an afternoon nap on my cosy lounge and a beautiful walk along the river, topped off by a smiling bus driver.
It is so important to stop and acknowledge the happiness touch points that you receive each day. Biologically we are hardwired to focus on the negative, so sometimes it’s hard to remember the positive. How often have you got home from work and when you are asked how you day has been you automatically run through all the crappy things that happened.
Instead of doing this why not take a moment before you get home to reflect on some of the ways happiness has touched you during the day. Here are some of my happiness touch points that occurred in one of my rather ordinary days at work last week. An early morning walk along the river, listening to an inspiring interview with Danielle Laporte on my way into work, a visit to the Podiatrist with some good news about my orthotics, a day of healthy eating and some great personal conversations with the people in my team.
Scrap the crap
These are the things that, no matter how fleeting, made me feel inspired, uplifted, needed, relieved and satisfied. They were all positive feelings that nurtured my happiness and kept me connected to my soul. The more I focus on these happiness touch points and the less I focus on the stuff in between, the happier I will become. So instead of telling my husband how boring and tedious my day at work was (this seems to be my standard reply at the moment) I shared with him all my happiness touch points.
Your happiness touch points
Start looking out for YOUR happiness touch points before you head home from work each day. Compile a list in your head so when you get home you don’t go on autopilot and recount all the crappy stuff. Instead you will be ready to share the good stuff with the people you care about most. Not only will this make you feel happier it will have a flow on effect to others.
Be happy, colour the world.
Claire
Always love your perspective Claire. You always manage to put a smile on m dial. Thank you ?
Thanks so much Jac, I love helping people to smile.
Great blog Claire. We do have many Happy moments and bringing them into our awareness is so important.
Thanks Maureen, I hope your days are filled with lots of happiness touch points. Knowing you, I am sure they are!
I absolutely needed that perspective today. As I was readying your blog, I found myself searching out in my head all the good things that had happened this week, instead of , as you said, highlighting all the bad stuff – and there is plenty!! Thank you for bringing me back to the now and equipping me with a really value tool for my happiness xx