This week, we have a contribution from the lovely Ruth, a member of the Happynesshub HQ team! She’s written a little bit about something that made her pause, think, and smile recently; enjoy!
‘Last week I picked up my 18 month old son, Will, from nursery. He saw my husband and I waiting at the gate and rushed towards us with a big goofy grin on his face, shouting ‘Mummy’, ‘Daddy’. After hugs and kisses, and goodbyes to his teachers, we held hands and started the walk home. Will, striding next to me and still full of energy after a day with his friends banged his chest with his hands and shouted loudly ‘’APPY!’ ‘APPY!’. ‘Are you happy Will?’ I asked. Without pause he replied ‘yessshh’.
At the weekend Will took my hand and demanded we go into the garden to get involved with his current favourite pastime, digging for worms. We each took a trowel and Will chanted ‘dig dig dig’. Mud was eaten and worms were discovered; a dream scenario for Will. He looked at me and said ‘’APPY’.
Yesterday, Will came over to me and asked for a cuddle. What a lovely cuddle it was. As I kissed and tickled him, he giggled and said it again. ‘’APPY! ‘APPY!’. It made me feel all squidgy and so happy myself.
And it made me think that maybe Will was on to something here. Perhaps we should all just ‘BE MORE WILL’. It’s so easy to find yourself in the pursuit of happiness… looking forward to the next great thing that will give us that endorphin rush. But maybe we’re already happy, but haven’t noticed. Maybe we need to be more tuned in to how we feel right now. And if we recognise that we do actually feel happy – maybe we should just say it. Out loud. Or even better, bang on your chest and SHOUT IT – Will style! Your proud declaration might make someone else feel happy too.
I looked for some wise words that might help with this message. I turned to scientists, spiritual gurus, and great leaders…
In the end I found this message from one of the great philosophical minds of our time. No-one could say it better than… Pharrell.
‘Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do’
Pharrell Williams: absolute ledge.’
