Instead of waiting for massive life events to trigger happiness, why not focus on smaller positive moments – and grab yourself a joy ‘snack’
Exercise snacking is having a moment right now – the concept of breaking up physical activity into short bursts throughout the day – but can the same principles be applied to capturing joy, if only fleetingly?
In workout terms, finding a few minutes for a quick circuit, a 15-minute brisk walk, or a window to lift some weights, is known as exercise snacking. Essentially, it’s about fitting gentle movement into your day and routine in a more manageable way.
Health experts have suggested that this bits-and-pieces attitude to working out, with quick bursts here and there, is actually more beneficial than going hell-for-leather on a hardcore, punishing workout once a week. So, if it works for our physical health, can this concept also be applied to our mental outlook, too? The answer is yes.
What exactly is a joy ‘snack’?
The beauty of finding tiny moments of joy is that they can be discovered almost anywhere, they don’t require a plan and, often, they aren’t the most exhilarating things, but something simple.
Think about a cup of coffee in peace; a freshly baked cake; laughing at a funny joke; the sight of your favourite flowers; a couple of chapters of a really good book; a perfect crisp morning. None of these things would be described as necessarily ‘life-altering’; they are all accessible and fairly ordinary, but that doesn’t mean that they should be overlooked.
Hypnotherapist Sally Potter believes our modern lives are filled with stories from social media telling us about life-defining experiences, which just cannot be accessed every day. This can give the impression that they are the only ones that matter, or are worth noting. But big romantic moments, pleasant surprises, and milestones simply do not pop up daily, weekly, or even annually, despite what social media may tell us. So perhaps we need to shift our thoughts on where else we can source happiness.
Sally explains: “I think there’s a lot of pressure to be seen having a perfect, joyful life, full of Instagrammable images. The reality is that, most of the time, our lives are fairly mundane. Finding joy in small, everyday things takes the pressure off, and creates the environment within ourselves that allows us to look back and say: ‘That was good.’”
Learning to recognise happy moments in an otherwise uneventful day is key. Sally says: “Everyday joy snacks can be the smallest things: the smell of coffee or bread; the sight of bright berries in the hedge; a smile returned. Appreciating these small moments means we can feel satisfied, even on a day which was otherwise ordinary.”
Reframing happiness
Consider times you’ve gone hunting for happiness. Have you found it? The chances are you haven’t, or you felt pressure to experience intense joy, and the reality simply didn’t live up to expectations.
Instead, maybe you’ve found something unexpectedly pleasing as you go about your daily life, and that unplanned moment of joy stuck with you. If we learn to realise that happiness shouldn’t always be viewed in huge, overarching moments or with grand gestures, we will get closer to finding smaller snatches of joy.
Sally explains: “In my experience, being on a quest for happiness rarely has the ending we’re looking for. After all, where and what is happiness exactly? Instead, consider all the small moments. Even on a day where we may think it’s all been negative, there will be tiny moments when things were better. In thinking this way, we’re not worrying about the bigger picture of ‘happiness’, we’re simply being happy.”
Rather like little wins or glimmers, recognising these brief, pleasing elements will deliver a happiness top-up. And once we learn how to identify these moments, such as seeing the sun peep over the horizon in the morning, or how lovely crisp, clean sheets feel, Sally says we will start to see more of them, making each day more rewarding. She says: “Tiny sparks of joy really add up, especially if we make a point of enjoying and noticing them.”
Acknowledging something good, and how it makes you feel within – and then carrying on with your day – is a great habit to get into, and will offer plenty of wellbeing benefits.
As Sally reminds us, joy begets joy. “Every time we take pleasure in a moment of joy, we create new neural pathways, making it easier to take the same joyful pathway again,” says Sally. “By reframing happiness as more of an internal feeling, rather than an outward appearance, we can then be more open and present to the moments that really make us feel joyful.”
So, where and when should we start to seek pockets of joyful moments?
Make a record
If something has sparked joy, then feel free to record it. “Revisiting each joyful moment by talking about it, writing it down, or taking pictures, is a great way to strengthen the habit of enjoying the little snacks,” Sally says.
Ask the question
A great habit to get into is asking yourself to recall the positives, a bit like a gratitude journal. Children sometimes list their best moments of the day, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do the same.
Sally adds: “By asking yourself 'What's been good today?’, not only do you create the expectation that there will have been good moments, you also build an increased awareness of the possibility of good things.”
Get in the habit
Sally says that once you begin to acknowledge moments of happiness, you will encounter more and more. “It's a lovely circular path, where taking little snacks of joy leads to finding even more snacks along the way.”
And, on those days when you need a little boost, you’ll have a full menu of joyful snacks at your fingertips you can actively seek out and treat yourself to.
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