Another birthday is fast-approaching and with each passing year, I understand more and more the things that truly matter in my life. In the last two years, I finally figured out that happiness and freedom to do what I want are what matter the most to me. Not a career or a job and not the material things.

Happiness to me means both me and hubby being healthy, knowing that the people I care about are well, traveling and doing work that fulfills me.

I have been paying more and more attention to how I feel "on the inside" and ever since I've been working on changing my inner and outer world. Here are some of the things I've changed/implemented:

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1. Watch less news. We used to have the news on constantly. Now, we all know that the news is filled with negative reports. All these reports were leaving us feeling angry, miserable and hopeless. After watching, often we would have long, heated conversations about the topics heard, and that, my friends, was no way to live. So about six months ago, me and hubby decided to stop watching not only the news but TV in general (yes, we stopped watching TV shows as well). I had a "FOMO" moment for a while but that quickly dissipated once we found ourselves calmer and actually happier without the negativity. Now we only turn the TV on to keep up with the weather and traffic in the morning for our commute. This change really made a difference in how we feel.

2. Listen to something that makes you happy. We stopped watching TV and instead, we started listening to audiobooks, podcasts or whatever we're in the mood for. I recommend you do the same - you can control what you want to hear/listen to and who knows, you might discover a new interest or idea.

3. Do at least one thing per day just for yourself. I believe a bit of selfishness is needed in order for us to be happier. I have made the decision to give myself a break when I feel/know I need one. What is one thing that you look forward to doing and brings joy to your day? Maybe go for a walk, have a long, hot shower, pamper yourself, read a book; whatever it is, make room for it in your daily routine and watch it lead you to a happier self.

4. Meditate. I wrote about meditation here and I can't say enough how important it is for us to stay connected with our minds and thoughts. Remove any distractions and let your mind relax, or on the contrary - connect with your thoughts, find what is on your mind, how did it get there and how does it make you feel? Try to incorporate this ritual in your every day, even if only for two minutes, it will make a difference in time.

5. Surround yourself with positive people you care about and get rid of "vampires". Does it ever happen to you that you are in a good mood and full of energy, only to meet certain people and have it all disappear? It happened to me and for whatever reason, I would still make an effort to meet with the people, to the point it started hurting. Don't make the same mistake! For your own sanity, remove yourself from negative people that suck all the good energy from you. We all have good and bad days and I'm not saying that you need to run away as soon as someone you know is having a bad day, but if that is their constant "state", make sure there isn't something more serious going on. If it turns out that they complain just "for the sake of complaining", distance yourself from the person and situation and remember the selfishness I was talking about earlier. ​

6. Find something you are passionate about and work at making it your "career", if possible. Go by what Oprah says: "Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do". I created this blog - what did you do?

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Until next time.
XOXO,
Em