I think I’ve reached a point in the writing challenge where it’s starting to be harder to commit the time and trawl my poor dull brain for ideas. So as I only wrote about what makes me happy the other day, I’m going to aim to be brief now. If I can. I realise being brief is a novelty for me. Never use a single word when I can use several. Anyhow, here’s some thoughts.

Happiness is an emotional response like any other, so it amuses me that so many of us hope for it, for ourselves, our loved ones, our children. While joy and gratitude tend to be less dependent upon our circumstances, happiness is temporary. It is often fleeting. If you find it, grab it with both hands. Do whatever it takes to foster its longevity. Do everything in your power to spread it around and share it with others wherever possible.

However, if it passes from you, don’t allow that to destroy you. Keep your joy and gratitude tank topped up, and allow happiness to do its thing. It’s just an emotion. A feeling. They’re fickle and ridiculously untrustworthy.

As an added piece of advice (feel free to ignore); work on your emotional regulation. Excellent emotional literacy will set you in much better stead to face all kinds of feelings, not just the positive ones. Because let’s face it; life isn’t all roses.