“Let’s Put A Smile On That Face” - #100HappyDays (Interlude #1)

I told myself I was going to primarily focus on just my writing on this blog, but I figured with the decent number of views it’s pulling in that I’d stray ever so slightly – after all, this is a blog I write, about me, so it stands to reason that I can divert from time to time, right?

Keeping on point re. the writing for the moment, I think that being in the right mind-frame can really impact my writing ability. I know that may seem like a foregone conclusion, and in a lot of ways it is, but as I was writing up yesterday’s blog entry, I couldn’t help but think back to previous projects. Where I’ve been mentally has impacted previous projects ten-fold, from their creation and themes, all the way to their completion or eventual demise.

I’ve seen many a project start off because I wasn’t in a great place, and as soon as my attitude changed for the better, that project was but dead in the water. By the same token, I’ve seen potentially interesting and fun projects completely ruined by some negative events taking place in my life that put a halt to everything. Even when trying to return these stories at a later, there has never been an occasion (barring maybe When Justice Comes Calling, and even then that’s arguable as it’s currently on hold) where I’ve managed to pick up where I’ve left off.

Recently, I’ve been trying to adopt a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) approach to everything; finding the good in the bad, and just trying to remain optimistic and happy. Not over-the-top, deliriously happy (because I think that in itself isn’t healthy either!) but just trying to keep a clear mind thinking that it’ll help leaps and bounds with my writing and output.

It got me thinking as to how such an attitude can help in other aspects of my life – work, personal, friendships, relationships and every in between. By luck, I stumbled across an idea called 100 Happy Days – a social media movement that challenges people to find something to be happy about for 100 days in a row, and share it with people using the hashtag #100HappyDays.

Maybe I need to get out more, maybe I’m just easily impressed, but I thought the idea was pretty awesome. It encourages people to have a far more positive and in some ways, inspired outlook and everything and anything that they do, and positivity breeds positivity in other people. So, I signed up to the challenge (you can do the same at www.100happydays.com) from today. It’s going to be really interesting how this will help with my writing, but also all the other aspects of my life that I mentioned above. I’ll share the progress from time to time on here, as well as my social media pages, so feel free to follow along:

Twitter – @ThisIsWP (www.twitter.com/ThisIsWP)
Instagram – WillJPowell (www.instagram.com/WillJPowell)

It’s a good way to also reflect and look yourself and ask the simple question: Are you happy? If not, why? And more importantly, if you aren’t, what can you do to change that? Nobody is unhappy “just because”, but in saying that, I don’t believe that people choose to be unhappy, not deep down anyways. Being unhappy is a feeling brought on by something, or sometimes, someone. The first step is taking the steps to realise and understand the reasons why. The second step, is fixing it. 

Day 1 -  Couldn't really start it any other way than with my Mum, could I? Everything I am today is because of her; she did a tremendous job raising me, was patient during my teens when things got rough, but now things couldn't be any better. Cheers Mum. 

100 days of happiness? Bring it on.

As always, thanks for reading.

- Will