100 days of happiness with my happiness planner.

100 days complete!

Hiya!

Some you will remember I started using the 100 days happiness planner earlier in the year and I have just finished it and was reflecting on the last 100 days. 

If you want to read my first post on the happiness planner just click here.

100 days in and what have I learnt?

Happiness is most definitely a journey and something I need to keep working on, during the course of the 100 days I had great days, bad days, days were I struggled to fill in the planner, days where lots of great things happened and days were not so great things happened. 

The big thing for me the last 100 days was taking control of what happened in my life and I stopped plodding along. 

I hopped on flights, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, I went to new places and on little adventures, I started to feel more positive about the future by realising that I can change and have the reigns over what I do in life and I can build the life I want to live. 

Pushing out of my comfort zone.

This was terrifying but something I certainly don’t regret doing, in the last 100 days I boarded three flights on my own!! big deal for me as it is something I am so anxious over, I had jelly legs the whole time, sweaty palms and was exhausted from all of the anxiety but I am so glad I pushed myself! why? Because of the amazing opportunities and people I met by doing it. 

I learnt that the positives outweigh the negatives and I gained so much from getting out of that comfort zone. 

Don’t get me wrong only on Wednesday I was so nervous I wanted to back out of going to London because my anxiety was so bad but I still went and I am so happy I did. 

I also pushed myself to go to events on my own, signed up for a Christmas craft fair and I even joined youtube

Positive thinking is powerful.

Each page of the diary has a quote, these quotes are amazing and get me thinking each morning. 

Now towards the end of my 100 days I struggled with positive thinking and kinda slipped back into a negative pattern but what that thought me was that its okay,  I reflected, I had a look at what was upsetting me and what I could do to change it.

We should never stop learning about ourselves and growing, if something isn’t making you happy or causing you discomfort then sit down and have a think, change how you think about it and better still think about ways you can change it. 

Adventure!

My inner child loves an adventure and to explore, after buying my house I kinda slipped into the all work and no holiday/adventures as I spent my money on the house. 

One of the things I wrote at the start of the 100 days was to go exploring, so wether its a local tea shop, a museum or even better hopping on a plane, I managed to get in some little adventures the past 100 days. 

So on payday I booked flights to Paris for February, I always wanted to go but kept making excuses so I hit the book button! What was I waiting for?

If there is something you really want to do then honestly do it! Stop making excuses and do it.

You can check some of my adventures out below if you’d like.

London adventure. 

Peggy Porschen. 

Skerries Mills.

Powerscourt estate. 

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it, it just blooms”

Comparison steals contentment. 

This was a big one for me to learn and something I will need to remind myself of from time to time. 

This year I entered into two blog award competitions, I got to the finals in both and that is when the urge to compare myself came alive. 

Reading other blogs, wishing I had their fancy websites, not feeling good enough, all negative and nothing productive about it. 

So what did I do? Instead of comparing myself to others I started to admire their hard work instead. 

I started to feel Inspired not envious. 

I also learnt that its okay to lose and that in actual fact I learnt more about myself from losing than I would have from winning. 

I also stopped comparing myself to others in general, so wether it was the hot Instagram chick ( fair play to her) or the business person with the fancy web page I just said stop! changed my thinking, accepted me for me and started to be more kinder to myself. 

A funny example of this is people and their poached eggs! or whatever avocado smoothie with chia seeds thingy they are drinking? 

I used to feel like there was something wrong with me because I love white bread sandwiches, I couldn’t give a shit about gluten free food and sometimes I have a Tayto sandwhich for lunch!

Why should this make me feel shit about myself? the noise of society and social media. So now I laugh it off, I also unfollowed the people sharing their avocado poached egg selfies on Instagram too lol. 

What I am trying to say though is don’t let those things let you feel like you are less or their is something wrong with you. 

High five my fellow bread lover who couldn’t give a shit about what macros they are eating. 

Embrace the bad times, this is where you learn loads about yourself. 

During the 100 days I had a few weeks were I was feeling those icky feelings, so like when you feel a bit grumpy and frustrated and don’t know why? so I done some extra reflection, I now know that its okay to feel shit and have down times, I reflected and picked out all of the things that caused me the most frustration and looked at how I could change them. 

There could be small things in life that annoy you? There could be people over stepping boundaries? or People who just plain annoy you.  It could be something small or big to cause you upset but honestly listen to your gut. 

That is something I am gonna do a lot more from now on. 

Appreciate the small things and be grateful. 

Big one! Wether it is a 10 minute cuddle with Blondie or appreciating a sunny day, honestly, being grateful is something that will make you happier. 

Instead of saying things like “I will be happy when ……..” Change your thinking and start being grateful for what you have now. 

Yep I would love a kitchen extension with an island and a welsh dresser but I am so grateful to be able to have a kitchen of my own that I don’t let the things I want for cause me to feel poop. 

Simple things each day I am grateful for, even to the birds eating from my bird feeder makes me smile. Stop and appreciate all these small things daily and they will make you smile. Don’t get caught up in the daily rat race and forget to smell the roses. 

Keep setting goals. 

I am honestly excited for 2017, I have been buzzing with creative ideas for the blog, excited for adventures, for learning new things about myself. 

There is new skills that I want to learn, new tea shops I want to explore and new destinations I want to see and people I want to see more of.

For 2017 I have the new 52 week happiness planner that was kindly gifted to me by farfetchedaccessories.ie this is also where I got my 100 day planner from. 

The pictures in this post are of the new 2017 planner. 

So let me know if you too are on the happiness journey and how you are finding it?

I would love to hear from you and hear your tips that you find helpful for times when you are not feeling great or stuck in a rut?

Leave your links in the comments section below or tag me on Instagram.

Thanks for reading. 

Catherine. 

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6 Comments

  1. Tara Faulkner
    November 6, 2016 / 7:32 pm

    Such an honest and lovely blog. Here's to crisp sandwich lovers everywhere 😂😂

  2. Catherine Carton
    November 6, 2016 / 7:47 pm

    Ah thanks for reading Tara, I want more white bread addicts to come forward! lets start a revolution.

  3. Catherine Carton
    November 6, 2016 / 8:20 pm

    Glad ya liked it lovely xxx

  4. Milseog (Debbie)
    November 7, 2016 / 8:05 pm

    Fab post Catherine, bring on the adventures and I'm sure 2017 is going to be a great year for you xxx

  5. Catherine Carton
    November 7, 2016 / 9:03 pm

    ah thanks for reading Debbie x I'm getting excited for the new year already x

  6. Coco Chatter
    January 21, 2017 / 8:31 pm

    Yes !!!! Crisp sandwiches for the win!!!

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