Something has switched in me recently. I am beginning to crave true and lasting change. Too long have I remained attached to my past and the feelings of unworthiness that beset me too regularly from my negative experiences. I thought I had dealt with them all but in the end I feel I may have got stuck in rumination. Have you ever experienced this? Where you feel that you won’t have moved on from something unless you have fully analysed the situation and yourself? It is possible to get stuck in this phase and then it blocks you from truly moving on – rehashing the old wounds and keeping you stuck in a cycle of sadness and grief.

Once the lessons have been learned it is time to move on and actively engage in life again – in the things that bring you joy. As some of you may know, I am an avid reader, and my passion lies in what makes us tick. Why are we here? How are we here? How to make the most of our sojourn on Earth? I have come to realise through my reading sessions that we are here to be happy. We are built to be happy. Happiness isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity and the key to our well being.

In William Bloom’s book – The Endorphin Effect (2011) – he describes how our bodies are built to receive hormones that induce inherent feel – good. Feelings of wellness and joy. indeed, not just us, but even single celled organisms contain these receptors. He goes on to say:

“That tiny single – celled creatures posses endorphins is a profoundly optimistic piece of information. It means that every cell of our multi – celled body is capable of experiencing endorphins and that the propensity to experience happiness and euphoria is biologically built in to each of us. This allows us to put forward an unexpected but exact scientific statement: Happiness and pleasure are built in to the biological foundation of the human body.” (p24, Bloom, 2011).

This, to me, is good news indeed. I have always believed in a higher power, and knowing that there is the built in capacity for joy and happiness leads me to believe that happiness is a natural part of our make up. We are supposed to be happy.

So why is it harder for some of us than for others? Well, many of us are waiting for outside circumstances to change before we allow ourselves to be happy. Many feel we are born with a tendency to low mood and depression. many of us that we have no right to do things that induce happiness until we have completed the many goals and tasks in our life plan, that never seem to get completed. Some of us feel guilty when we feel happy.

Did you know that there is now scientific evidence that proves how our happiness levels are affected? In her book, The How of Happiness (2010), Sonja Lyubomirsky explains how our levels of happiness are made up. 50% of our happiness is controlled by our genetic make up – we each have a built in happiness set point which is controlled by our genes. So if our parents suffered low mood and depression there is an increased likelihood that we will as well. From her research, it was discovered that only 10% of our happiness levels are affected by outside circumstances, such as bereavement, promotion, an increase in wealth etc. This leaves us with 40% being affected by our day to day choices and behaviours. This means we have a whole 40% of control in which happiness is an inside job. In which it is our responsibility and choice to determine how happy we are.

This, to me, is extremely good news and I am currently experimenting with myself as to which behaviours, changes and attitudes I can adopt because I now believe that is it inherently my right to be happy most of the time!
I will be sharing my adventures in happiness, so please stay tuned, and feel free to share with me your views and opinions and any interesting experiences on this topic.

If you feel stuck and could do with a gentle nudge in the right direction from your angels, please feel free to get in touch with me and book a session for an angel card reading. It might just give you the next steps you need to take to find your happiness.
Much love and many blessings,

Lucy Loizou

William Bloom, 2011; The Endorphin Effect; Piatkus; London.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2010; The How Of Happiness; Piatkus; London