"Happy Habits" I Need to Pick Back Up

In this post a few weeks ago, I talked about losing my spunk…and how I’m working to get it back. An important part of this has been looking back on the little things I was doing before that contributed to my overall happiness. As simple or silly as these may seem, I know picking back up some of these “happy habits” of mine will help get me back to who I really am.

 Listening to Taylor Swift – Say what you want about her, but I will always enjoy her music. For everyone that can’t stand her, there are just as many people who love her and that’s just the way the world works. I don’t know why, but I haven’t found myself choosing my Taylor Swift playlist on Spotify lately and I think that needs to change.

Daily Gratitude Journal -  For about a year, I kept a notebook on my nightstand and each night before I crawled into bed, I made a short list of the things I was thankful for each day. Some days the list was long and other days not so much, but it helped me end the day on a peaceful and happy note, no matter what other things had happened that day. I need to start doing this again.

Running – I’ve never been much of a long distance runner, but for a while I was really into it and enjoyed the challenge, not to mention the physical benefits. I never ran more than 3-4 miles or so, but running was great for someone like me who tends to let my thoughts get the best of me. I always felt better after a run just to clear my head and focus only on the run.

Random Acts of Kindness – I went through a phase for a while where my daily focus was trying to find something kind to do for a stranger. Whether it was handing out balloons to strangers on my birthday or as simple as buying coffee for the car behind me at Starbucks, nothing compares to the satisfaction that brought me. It was kind of addicting doing things like this for other people and the more I did it, the more I wanted to keep it up. It’s a great habit to get into and I absolutely need to pick this one up again!

Working out in the morning – I have to admit, I have yet to be able to keep this up for more than a few weeks in a row, but when I have done it, I absolutely loved it. Getting up at 5 a.m. is obviously not the easiest, which is why I can’t seem to get back in the habit again, but it is so worth it. After a few days of it, it’s a piece of cake and I loved starting my day with a good workout. I also loved that I had the time after work to cook dinner, blog, read, take a bike ride, whatever I wanted to do since I had already gotten my workout out of the way. I know I just need one good week of this to get back in the habit. It’ll be so worth it!

What “happy habits” do you have?