Happy Monday #embracehappy

I’ve been taking part with #EmbraceHappy for the last few weeks. It’s all about finding happiness in he things around you, embracing the smaller moments and being thankful for what you have. It couldn’t have come at a better time. January can be a low month for many, what with lower than normal bank accounts, winter blues and failed New Year’s resolutions. Add a break up, house move and new routine to the mix and it could be a cause for disaster.

Don’t get me wrong, the last few months have tested me to my limits, but being able to reflect at the end of the day at what made me smile, what went right and also what made other people happy, well it’s been an amazing experience. I’ve also been taking part in Share The Joy, a linky all about sharing posts which made you smile, feel joyous or otherwise happy. So yes, there’s been a lot of love going around.

Last week, I spoke to Petal and Cycle. Richa follows me on Instagram and we got to talking. The day we spoke, I was at home with a sick Princess, she’d managed a whole two days of school before being hit with a chest infection which had her convulsing from a high temperature and vomiting all over my bed. Yup, MY bed. I slept on the floor of her bedroom that night, with a bowl propped up next to my head, waiting for the next assault.

Richa offered to send me a bouquet of flowers to cheer up my day but since Petal and Cycle only deliver within London at the moment, I had to miss out. The first negative of moving north of London!
So this Monday was my first day back at work, having spent days mopping up sick and nose bleeds. It was brilliant to be back around my colleagues and I was chuffed to get a card from them all, welcoming me to my new home. Then, I received a bunch of flowers from Petal and Cycle which basically tipped my happiness over the edge. I loved my flowers and didn’t even mind having to carry them oh so carefully to the train station with one hand whilst power walking for the train. They are just so pretty and so beautifully presented. I took tonnes of photos. I mean it, there are so many. On my phone and on my camera!

I kill flowers. I kill flowers and I kill plants, it’s just what happens when I’m left alone with them for any amount of time. So as not to see these ones die a dishonourable, untimely death, I gave them to one of my new neighbours. I decided that the best thing I could do was to share the joy and give someone else the same happy Monday feeling I’d been lucky enough to experience. I think it worked. They seemed genuinely happy to receive an unexpected colourful gift and it made me even happier to know I’d been the one giving the gift. Richa’s gift to me had brought sunshine and happiness into my day and allowed me to do the same. It’s nice to do something nice, just because.

When’s the last time you partook in a random act of kindness? What did you do? I hope you had a happy Monday, if not, why not make someone else’s start to the week begin with a smile by doing something unexpected…