Happiness is a marvellous but strange emotion. Its complexity means that we don’t always understand what really makes us happy – or sad, and curiously, we often make choices that we know won’t make us happy – like eating too much Sunday lunch. However there is lots of research being done on happiness and some people are doing a great job at piecing it all together1.
Happiness isn’t the only complicated thing we have to deal with, we also have our health. Our state of happiness and health are often interrelated, and doing things which are healthy can also make us happy.
Everybody is different and I’m afraid we can’t offer the magic formula for health and happiness here, but we can send you off to some inspiring, creative and fun places to help you on your way. One top tip which takes 5 minutes is to make a list of all the things you are grateful for in your life and then make a list of all the things that you enjoy. From here you might discover some interesting things you didn’t realise you loved and appreciated, like the smell of freshly cut grass.
In Sutton, there are plenty of lovely people, places and exciting activities available for all. We could never list them all here, but we will put down some of the best ones we can think of.
Useful resources
- Meet Up. MeetUp is a service that makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. MeetUp groups get together people that want to learn languages, share interests, go hiking, read books, dance and even bake cakes. Visit www.meetup.com to find out what is happening near you.
- Ramble. The most enjoyable way to walk is to ramble: it means a walk for pleasure. There is a Sutton & Wandle Valley Rambling Group who love to do this, find out more here: www.ramblers.co.uk
- Eat well. Learn about how you can improve your diet and why it’s important. Visit: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/5aday/
- We Are What We Do. A global movement that inspires people to use their everyday behaviour to affect big environmental and social issues. On their site you find lots of actions you can do to make you feel better, as well as others around you. Visit: www.wearewhatwedo.org
- Sport in Sutton. Sport England have an Active Places search engine to help you find local sport facilities – and you can also use Google Maps to find what’s available.
- Movement for Happiness. An exciting movement is happening and you can be involved: www.movementforhappiness.org
- The Forgiveness Engine. Things don’t always go great and we all make mistakes. We need a place online for our bad relationships, as well as our good. The Forgiveness Engine is a creative idea that can help you make amends. Visit: www.theforgivenessengine.com
- Give Blood. 96% of us rely on the other 4% to give blood. Every year the lives of thousands of people are saved or transformed through organ transplantation. Find out more here: www.blood.co.uk
- Learn a new skill. Not satisfied with the skills you have? There’s no harm in developing a new skill. Visit: www.learndirect-skills.co.uk or www.hotcourses.com
1. Richard Layard has written a good book called Happiness which explores the links between happiness and income, employment. There are also many other books such as The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.
