Last week I was on the London Underground listening to Super Soul Conversations on Spotify with the inspiring Ms Oprah Winfrey. Her special guest was one of the all time happiness guru’s, Gretchen Rubin, who spoke about her happiness project.

Having listened to this, I asked myself a question which I don’t feel we get time to ask ourselves often: “What makes you happy?”

I wanted to challenge myself and create my own Happy Life Commandments and in turn challenge YOU, the reader, into doing the same and sharing this movement to create a ripple effect of positivity.

Below are my very own Happy Life Commandments:

1 – Just let it go.

When our life is already filled with too much business, rush, stress, and worries…just for a moment, let go of all that.

Everyday of our lives we are glued to machines vying for our attention; rings, beeps, vibrations, flags, likes, double taps, selfies…Sometimes you need to take a moment out for yourself when it gets a bit much, and let it go.

The noise you may hear from people trying to dictate your life to you, causing you unnecessary stress and concern… who cares right? RIGHT. Your life is YOURS not theirs, so let them make all the noise they want. Let it go.

2018 is definitely the year to stop troubling yourself over the smallest things. There are other bigger and better things you can shift that energy onto: YOURSELF. Learn more about yourself, create, innovate, love and just let it go.

2- Be Saira

It’s usually after a tragic incident that you start to really learn about yourself. Self exploration I call it. But If you’re lucky, you will have someone to teach you all this on your journey of self exploration.

Before the new year started, I made a pact with myself to own my God given gifts and my flaws, because it is THIS that makes me unique. My individuality comes from accepting and owning all that is me.

To all the girls who got told they were big and risk not being married- you are STRONG and BEAUTIFUL just the way you are and any man who doesn’t see that isn’t worth having. Love yourself first, because no one can make you happy unless you are happy with yourself first.

To all the girls who were made fun of for having fuller lips- isn’t it just fascinating and ironic to see the same people paying £££££ for them now?!

To all the girls who are pressured into straightening and damaging their natural hair with harsh products and heat because your natural hair is “too big” –  Absolutely stupid…[Also SORRY but I can’t hear that noise over the volume of my own hair!!! LOL]

I love my curls and will rock them forever. Join me curlies in my #NoHeat2018 mission!

3- Think before you speak

T- is it True?

H- is it Helpful?

I – is it Inspiring?

N- is it Necessary?

K- is it Kind?

4- Keep dreaming

I’ve realised that dreams don’t have an expiration date, so we never have to stop…dream all you want and dream big!

5- Count your blessings

It is so quick to count ALL the problems we have in life, but we never count our blessings. I’ve really struggled at this but I have noticed that by counting my blessings, even the smallest ones, the problems don’t seem as big and concerning anymore. I can live with that.

6- Don’t worry about the future

Ok honestly, how many times has worrying about the future made you upset? It always bugs me because I am a natural born worrier! I have realised however that there is no point in worrying about the future, if I can’t take care of my present! So I have started to stop worrying and living in the moment, letting the future take care of it self for now.

7- Pay attention to the mind-body-soul connection

We all know that synchronicity and alignment of these three things is what ultimately brings PEACE. Being aware of YOU, and feed yourself nothing but truth, hope, love, harmony, joy and peace.

8 – LOVE

Love all you can… you will only get it back in abundance. I truly believe this. There is no room for judgement or any kind of negativity towards others in my books. Love one another and we can all live happily ever after! Our world needs more of this.

9- Listen to your heart

The most useful asset of a person is not a head full of knowledge, but instead a heart full of love and hands to help. You aren’t ever going to escape that feeling you get in your heart every time something happens, so you may as well listen to what it has to say. Your heart may be on your left, but it’s ALWAYS right!

10- Never stop questioning

I was once told off by a teacher during primary school for asking too many questions in class. In fact the teacher told my parents at the parents evening that “Saira tends to disrupt the class by asking too many questions”. Well, I still didn’t listen clearly, because asking questions is what has saved me from a lot of things that could have gone horribly wrong.

Even Einstein himself said that “the important thing is to never stop questioning. Never lose a holy curiosity”.

Take that Sir!

11- Trust the process

I have accepted and learnt that life won’t change in a day, week or month. You have to be patient. I also believe that we always end up right where we are meant to be right when we are meant to be there. Nothing in life will ever be random. I used to think it was, but my gosh was I wrong. Trust the process. I finally do.

 

So there you have it, my 11 Happy Life Commandments that I aim to stick by this year. It’s a great exercise worth doing for yourself and if you’d like to share them with me, then please do so! I would love to know what happy life commandments you have listed for yourself! Make sure you tag me on instagram and use the hashtag #HappySai11 to get this trending!

Love,

Sai x