Living with Style and Spirit: An Everyday Thing

Some time ago, someone sent me an email about “How to Find Balance in Your Life”.

I’m not sure who the original author was, but I really liked it, and I thought it would be fantastic to share with everyone.

I also found a report on Times Online, about how scientists in the UK did a study and found the “5 Steps to Happiness and Wellbeing” or something like that.

I combined them and added a few ideas to share below.

So this is my list of 5 Things To Do Everyday:

1. Do something enjoyable.

Enjoyable things can be simple acts that are easy to do, don’t cost very much, and don’t take much planning.

Just sitting quietly in my garden and enjoying a cup of tea is very enjoyable for me! I love baking. I like to paint my toenails. Read a chapter of my book. Chat to a girlfriend. I like to plan to visit a new place, and discovering something new and cool. I really enjoy journaling and writing.

Of course, a girly pamper is always nice – facials, haircuts, manicures, pedicures, massages.
Take time to really enjoy them. Allow yourself to glow with happiness each day.

2. Do something active.

Spend 30 minutes of your day working up a sweat! Get your heart rate up! Skip. Swim. Run up and down steps. Go for a jog. Ride a bike. Find a step, turn on some music, and do a step workout. Do squats and leg lunges. Go to the beach and have a run. Take a stroll. Do some gardening. Kick a ball in the park with your pet.

Try playing a sport like squash, tennis, soccer, badminton, netball. Sign up to an exercise class, yoga or pilates. Try body jams, or kickboxing just for fun.

3. Do something brainy, challenging or intellectual.

Spend at least 30 minutes a day exercising your brain! Read a book. Read a newspaper. Watch the news. Write a letter. Memorise a song. Do a puzzle. Go to the library and pick up a book in a subject that has always fascinated you. Learn something new each day.

Learn a new skill. Try sewing. Try fixing something. Try making something. Try cooking something. Try organising a lunch for friends on the weekend.

4. Do something good for someone else.

Call up a friend. Offer to help in some way. Bake some cupcakes for a girlfriend and bring it around.

Smile or say hello to a stranger. Let someone with less shopping into the queue in front of you. Do a good deed. A small kind act. Spread some happiness.

You’ll find that if you go about your day thinking, “How can I be nice to someone?” you’ll often find many unexpected opportunities to do so.

5. Take one moment to savour life and your surroundings.

This is my favourite. Whether you are in the car, or walking along, or at home – take a moment to think about something good in your life, or in your surroundings.

Take notice of something beautiful. Look at the details of a building you walk past everyday. Look at the shape of the clouds, remember them, and compare them with the clouds the next day.