Hi Happyness Hubbers, I hope everybody else is enjoying the 21 day programme as much as me. As I’m right in the middle of a run of 12 hour dayshift duties (07:30 to 19:30), I’m finding it difficult to Blog / Vlog so apologies as this is 3 days in one!! The past several days however, when looked at collectively and not individually have reminded me of FISH! I’m not talking about some stinky old trout in the fishmongers on the high street but more of the FISH philosophy.

If you’ve never heard of the FISH philosophy, allow me to explain. Quite a few years ago in a fish market in Seattle, a company came up with an idea, a company culture, a philosophy. It was how they did business and was made up of 4 simple principles not too dissimilar to the past few days of Happynesshub activities. The four principles were as follows;

1) PLAY – At work, have fun and enjoy yourself. Behave like a child and take great enjoyment in making other people feel young and happy too. Bear with me…

2) MAKE THEIR DAY – This involves going out of your way to be kind and make people feel special and appreciated. It reminds me of yesterday (Day 9) to make people feel happy by continually being kind and giving, be that a smile, a compliment or an extra prawn in the bag!! I’ve often been known to send an unexpected gift through the post, usually my favourite book (ask Victoria James!), however I derive great happiness and pleasure by doing my job. I’m lucky in that I get to help people every day who are at their most vulnerable, and I know that acts like this not only improve the lives of my patients but also enrich my life and add to my own happiness levels.

3) BE THERE – This involves not letting your mind wander but instead being present and mindful that when you are talking with somebody, actively listen, be present and be in the present. It’s easy to become distracted and start thinking about next week’s mortgage payment or reminiscing about last year’s holiday. But being present and being there for your customers, family and friends is about focusing and being grateful for having the opportunity to be in that moment with them in the present. It’s not too hard to see how this ties in with Day 5’s activity of doing something today and being in the present moment.

4) CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE – You choose to get out of bed and you choose to go to work albeit if we don’t then bills don’t get paid, however it’s still a choice. Now that you’ve chosen to go to work, you can also choose to be happy or frustrated to be there. This is very much like Day 8’s activity to choose your happiness level. We can’t always choose to shrug off our emotions, especially if there are underlying mental health issues but we can choose what we are going to do to try to improve our mood, after all we chose to engage in the 21 day Happynesshub programme right?

So if you ever need a reminder of a few of the Happynesshub activities, just remember when you’re tucking into your cod and chips to think of our Sally and associate her with FISH… She’s so going to kill me for this one!!!