Happiness is....

Achieving the impossible.  Challenging those concrete concepts we have of ourselves and realising that, with a little bit of effort, they are moveable with quite astonishing consequences.  The sense of satisfaction and, for me, giddy glee that can be had from learning something that involved a lot of nervous energy at times.  All these things can bring happiness.

For me, this bundle of emotions is captured within my swimming costume.  Yes really!  I'll keep this brief as I've referred to it in a previous post, but a few months ago I decided that the time had come to tackle a phobia that has featured largely in my life for 30 years - water.  It has been a long and nervous journey, but nine weeks ago I started a course of individual lessons with tiny baby-steps achieved each week.  I am still somewhat in shock, however this evening I managed my first ever swim - from entry to exit.  It may sound pedestrian but, for me, it is a huge breakthrough and one which gives me a sparkling sense of achievement but also of the possibilities of what I am yet to achieve.

Happiness can be found in the most surprising of places - I, for one, would never have dreamt that it would be found in a swimming pool and from challenging a long-held belief that I would never be able to confront a fear and achieve the seemingly impossible.

What would you like to tackle to see if it brings a sense of satisfaction and happiness?  Go for it, you never know where it may take you.