Life can be hard and the temptation to lunge half-heartedly from one exciting event to another can be draining. Life is about the big things, but it's also about embracing the every day, the mundane, the not-so-glamorous, to make each day special and to make sure you're not simply wishing your life away.





Here are four small things I like to do to bring a little happiness to my day.





1. Grab a coffee. Whilst not the most groundbreaking idea, my morning coffee genuinely feels like a treat to me and properly sets me up. It's not the caffeine boost that does it, although I'm sure that helps, but the anticipation of going in to pick it up, the small warmth and comfort it brings when I walk into work to face the day. My coffee of choice is an oat milk flat white, the perfect size to not fill me up with a milky sloshy feeling, but just enough to give me that morning pick-me-up.





2. Pick a tarot or angel card. This one is pretty niche I'll give you that, but just before I leave the house I love giving my tarot or angel cards a quick shuffle and picking one out to see what my focus and thoughts could hover around throughout the day. Don't get me wrong, by lunchtime I've usually forgotten which card I had, but I like that small minute of mindfulness before I step out of my cocoon into the real world. It makes me feel peaceful and gives me a sense of something bigger out there, something I'm connecting to even if just for a moment.





3. Send a text to a friend or family member. If I'm feeling down or just want to start my day off on a positive note, I will send a text to my mum or dad just saying morning or something mundane. I always get a lovely message back telling me to have a good day and it instantly makes me feel happy and less alone (if I'm having one of those days where I feel lonely). Even reaching out to someone that you've maybe not spoken to for a while, I always find that if I make the effort to send out messages, the joy of receiving them back and reconnecting gives me a massive uplift.





4. Do something creative. The feeling of being excited to get back to a project of some sort can be a great way to make each day feel more enjoyable and give you something to really look forward to. I believe that everyone has something that makes them excited, whether it's writing, videography, organising your photos into an album, painting, colouring - you name it I bet there's something out there that sparks a little twinge of excitement within. Nurture that and focus on it whenever you're feeling down. Make the space and the time to do the things that you enjoy, rather than just sitting in front of the TV each evening.Even if it's just one night a week you put aside to do something creative, I'll bet this will be the evening you start looking forward to most.





What small things make you happy?