As I sit and write today’s first official ‘Saturday email’ – a continuum of the recently completed Happynesshub at Home: Day by Day package, I am reflecting on the past 7 days and the prominence of it being Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK.

As I’m sure many of you might agree, this week of sharing stories, offering support and maintaining solidarity couldn’t have come at a better time, whilst many of us around the world continue with social distancing. So please do enjoy our below thoughts and please feel free to share, feedback and join in our weekly musings!

For me, these past weeks have consolidated the value of the Happynesshub and my newest not-for-profit, which officially launched just yesterday (yippeee!), Bow-Wowza – featuring comical talking dogs, who through YouTube and PopJam, support children’s mental health, and in turn enable them to flourish, and as we say – #unleashyourbestlife! More than ever, we must look to support children’s mental health, and I hope that Bow-Wowza can in some way do just that, making sure that all-important fun is had along the way! For parents with children at home, I’d love for you to check us out. Our free videos, PopJam content and soon to come printable activities to encourage children to get back into the real (non-tech) world might be something you’d like to take advantage of to keep the little ones occupied, entertained and above all, thriving.

Every Saturday, we have decided to include a musing from myself or the team. Here at Happynesshub HQ we are constantly stumbling across uplifting and inspiring content, including news articles, videos, poems, quotes and everything else in between – many of which I know you Hubbers like to dip into. So today I share with you this quote:

“Some days are better, some days are worse. Look for the blessing instead of the curse. Be positive, stay strong and get enough rest. You can’t do it all but you can do your best.”

Doe Zantamata

I think much of what I have learnt from the past weeks in self isolation has been ‘acceptance’. I recognised early on that I personally was in this for at least 3 months and that to a certain extent I had to ‘let go’ of any expectations, plans, assumptions – embrace the present moment and ‘accept’. I have practiced this with pretty good results these past weeks – alongside my daily gratitude lists and my ‘what went wells’ as we say in the world of Children’s!. As time has passed, uncertainty about our futures mounts, as well as what our ‘new normal’ may be, I have had to focus down harder and this has become more challenging. But for me that, ‘day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment’ approach has served me well.

If you followed the Happynesshub at Home: Day by Day package, you’ll know that the highlight of our week was often your ‘Super Saturday’ entries, where you, the Hubbers, sent in anything and everything that would make you smile. It was a great chance to connect with you all on a more personal level, and strengthen our growing global community. And so, a big thank you to Carly, a Hubber from Nuneaton, UK who, after a lockdown clear-out, has sent in this wonderfully endearing and heart-warming snippet from an article she found in a box at home of her late grandfather ‘Bernie’ who at the age of 76 signed up to a computer course!

Of this Carly’s mum Jan says:

“As a young boy he never got the opportunities he would have liked and his education was cut short. He was always keen, however, to better himself and had a hunger to learn.

When he retired he was determined not to just sit around and watch TV. He took up new hobbies such as crown green bowls and cookery classes. With technology developing, he didn’t want to be left behind, and so he started the computer course. He wanted to be able to interact with his grandchildren, and I think impress them with his new skill! Therefore, at the age of 76 he embarked on this new venture. It gave him a challenge and something to be proud of. It certainly did that.”

Building on the sentiments of her Mum, Jan, Carly says:

“I think my Grandad’s mindset and his little story will feel familiar to lots of people right now. In the current situation, many of us are wondering how we can fill our spare time. I hope that Bernie might be an inspiration to those of you looking to gain a new skill, or those who are grappling with new technology.”

Carly and Jan – Bernie has certainly motivated us to get out of our comfort zone and try something new, and we know that lots of Hubbers will resonate with his thoughts and experiences. We thank you deeply for sharing.

So that’s all for this week Hubbers, but I’ll be writing back next Saturday with more thoughts, musings and Super Saturdays. And here at Happynesshub HQ we would like to, for those celebrating, wish you all an Eid Mubarak. I hope that the next few days are filled with love and happiness during this special time of the year.

With love,

Sally x