“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from our own actions”
~ Dalai Lama
“How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun”
~ Vincent Van Gogh
January’s daily actions from ‘Action for Happiness Org’s’ calendars are all based on the 10 keys to happier living (G.R.E.A.T. D.R.E.A.M): The daily actions have been selected to help make yourself and others happier.
2021 proved to be another challenging year of rapid change for so many people who may have experienced anxiety, isolation, challenges with financial situations, health or relationships. Here in Melbourne we were labelled as the most locked down city in the world. A title, I think all Melbournians would be happy not to have been given.
As the year drew to a close, I was fortunate to be able to say goodbye to 2021 despite the sweltering/melting heat by being in the Docklands to COVID safely view the fireworks and celebrate ringing in the new year with a friend (unfortunately other friends couldn’t join us due to COVID impact – I wish them a speedy and safe recovery).
It was interesting that this year there seemed to be a positive buzz of hopefulness in the air that you could feel, despite the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. My friend and I discussed this, and we both agree that for both of us, it will be a year of growth and moving forward.
My mantra for 2022 is: “2022 – my year of getting comfortable being uncomfortable”
I’m not seeing things through rose tinted glasses, thinking come January 01, all will resolve itself, but I do believe that the actions from January’s calendar, can assist people to develop and sustain hope that is actionable, throughout January and beyond.
Some of the actions from this month’s calendar I’m looking forward to include:
* Do a kind act for someone else to help brighten their day.
* Take a different route today and see what you notice
* Get back in contact with an old friend
* Ask other people about things they have enjoyed recently
* Write down your hopes or plans for the future
* Find three things to look forward to this year – For me, this included a long looked forward trip to the Lume’s Van Gogh Experience today. I originally had hoped to see this in Paris back in December 2019 with someone who I hoped at the time to get to know better, when I had planned a trip to Germany for Christmas.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, that trip got cancelled – and then COVID-19 exploded onto the world stage. Life goes on, and today’s visit with two of my friends to the Lume, helped me to move forward from my delayed/cancelled 2019 plans.
“Great things are done be a series of small things brought together”
~ Vincent Van Gogh
Perhaps your three things to look forward to could be internal or external. They could be something such as having time to finish the book you’ve been meaning to read, or contact someone who you haven’t been in contact with for some time. Perhaps it is looking forward to when you can see friends and family again.
Where ever you are, I hope that the actions from this month’s calendar, will help support yours and others career management plans, selfcare and wellbeing throughout the coming month and beyond.
10 Keys of Happier Living
The first 5 keys (GREAT) relate to how we interact with the outside world – 5 ways to wellbeing developed by Nef as part of the Foresight Project.
G – Giving (Do things for others)
R – Relating (Connect with people)
E – Exercising (Take care of our body)
T – Trying Out (Keep learning new things)
The 2nd 5 keys (DREAM) relate to us internally, and depend on our attitude to life.
D – Direction (Have goals to look forward to)
R – Resilience (Find ways to bounce back)
E – Emotions (Look for what’s good)
M – Meaning (Be part of something bigger)
You can get further information on related actions from the website link below
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/calendars
Calendars are available in PDF & jpeg format in the following languages (what a great way to brush up or learn new language skills)
* Arabic
* Catalan
* Chinese
* Croatian
* Czech
* Danish
* Dutch
* Estonian
* Euskera
* Finnish
* French
* German
* Hebrew
* Hungarian
* Icelandic
* Italian
* Japanese
* Korean
* Kyrgyz
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Mongolian
* Polish
* Portuguese
* Romanian
* Russian
* Scottish Gaelic
* Serbian
* Slovenian
* Spanish
* Swedish
* Turkish
* Ukrainian
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