Today I would like to gift you The Happy List. A list of things you can do to feel happier.

I’m not saying that you’re not happy. I really hope you are but it can be difficult to be happy all the time. In fact, we are not supposed to be always happy so please don’t take this list as a challenge to up your happy levels when you really don’t want to.

I’m simply sending it through so that you can keep it somewhere and call upon it when you need to. I would love you to always know that things will get better, happy times are always ahead and how you feel on sad days isn’t reflective of the beautiful life you have ahead of you.

Your saddest days are agony to recall and I don’t for one moment under-estimate what you have been thought to get here. I am so sorry you went through these things. I don’t want you to ever forget but I would love you to forgive whoever you need to forgive – including yourself. We get one chance this time around.

This list is sent to you with much love:

• Write a gratitude list. It’s difficult to feel down when you spend a moment appreciating all that you do have at this moment.
• Journal. Get clarity when you see your jumbled thoughts take shape on paper so you can take positive action.
• Go for a walk, fresh air cleanses your body.
• Go for a cup of tea and people watch. Don’t feel isolated or alone.
• Live a life with less. Focus on what’s important and let the rest go.
• Work out the biggest stress in your life and find ways to deal with it head on. Don’t let that stress weigh you down any longer.
• Tackle the one thing on your to-do list that’s been bugging you. Eat your frog, get it done and out of the way.
• Listen to an inspirational podcast to fill your brain with positive motivation. Chris Evans has a good one.
• Do something different. A change is as good as a break.
• Do something unplanned.
• Be proud of yourself. Write down your five biggest achievements in life.
• Pay someone a compliment. Make someone else feel good and you’ll often feel better yourself.
• Evaluate your life. Take three steps to improve three areas which you’ve marked out as the most important to you right now.
• Practise acceptance. Accept where you are and appreciate what you have right now. Stop chasing dreams. Live in the moment instead.
• Seek support, realise that you don’t have to do this on your own. If feeling happy constantly evades you, find support to help you get there.
• Acknowledge we all have down days. No one can be up all of the time.
• Learning what we don’t like as much as what we do is just as valuable.
• Getting out of bed is enough, if that’s all you can do today.
• Listen to what your mind and your body need.
• Plan for change. Plan for any changes that you’d like to make and take little steps to get started. Chunk everything down into baby steps.
• Check out what’s happening in the big wide world, but also avoid bad news.
• Phone a friend. Chatting with with someone you can trust lifts your heart and your spirit.
• Read a magazine, a positive magazine, full of uplifting stories.
• Watch your favourite film. Sitting back, relaxing and watching something that makes you laugh and cry is a release.
• Cook your favourite meal and share that with someone who’s special with you, such as your family.
• Take the afternoon off. If you can, book in an afternoon with yourself to do exactly what you want, including doing nothing.
• Remind yourself how far you have come, what you’ve been through and how loved you are. If it helps, I think you are pretty special.
• Happy thoughts re-focus your mind into a happier space. The thing I want most for you is for you to be happy.

How about picking three things from the list and committing to doing them every day this week? How does that feel?