Chasing Happiness Blog

There are going to be some changes coming to the Chasing Happiness website over the next few weeks so blog posts might every few weeks until June rather than weekly.  I will of course keep you all updated on the changes and can't wait to see what you all think of how the site will be changing. 

"You love too much." "You love too hard.""You care more than you should.""You're too much for people to handle.""You're going to get hurt if you keep allowing yourself to care this much."I've heard it all. At some point in my life, I've heard it from everyone. When I was a kid, I thought they were right. Why would I believe any differently? I was a...

 This month I've found it hard to focus enough to do a lot of reading. I know we are all struggling right now with the Covid-19 lockdowns and winter not to mention just how emotionally drained we are all starting to feel. This month I only have a couple books in my list of 40 because of all this so here is what I read.As the book for the ...

 Everything we do in life is about love. Think about it, every choice you make is about how you love yourself. How you love or don't love other people and the world around you. It all comes down to love.  I've been thinking a lot about this recently. I've been thinking about all the choices I've made over the years. All the good and bad d...

 Look, the truth is right now, things are sucky. It sucks that a year into this pandemic and lockdown, we are still dealing with an inability to manage this pandemic. We aren't handling it in a way that allows us all to have some sort of routine that seems like our old normal daily lives.  Right now, we are starting to see the mental heal...

This year, I've decided to take on the enormous task of reading 40 books over the next 12 months since I've now turned 40. These books will be a mix of everything. Business books, self-help books, personal growth books, romance novels and everything else I can get my hands on. I want this challenge to be fun for me and something I can learn from. B...

It wasn't because I was about to turn 40 (that happened today). I'm actually excited about that. It wasn't because I was sad or hurting in any way.It was because, like most of you, I had been holding my breath for the last 4 years. Waiting for the next horrible thing that could and would likely happen. I was praying every day that it wouldn't end i...

This month I will be turning 40. While I would love to travel to some far off place I've never been before and explore a part of the world that is magical and full of unicorns, Covid-19 has me living in a full lockdown/ stay at home order here in Canada. How can one properly celebrate a birthday, let alone a 'big' birthday, without being able to do...

 This word scares some people.  Frankly, it scares me a little, but that's the whole reason I picked it as my word this year. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions or setting pie-in-the-sky goals for myself at the start of a year. I like to aim each year towards getting more comfortable with myself, growing in some way that I haven't befo...

 A lot of people over the last few months have said they want 2020 to be over. Simply put, people want to turn the page into a new year and hopefully a new way of life that differs from the last 10-12 months.  I'm not sure how to feel about that because, on the one hand, I understand the sentiment. 2020 has been a year filled with chaos, ...

Has anyone ever asked you what you do for yourself today?It's not a question many people get asked or stop to think about, but it should be. We spend so much of our time focusing on other people's needs. This past year especially, we've had to focus a lot of our time and energy on the people we care about. On their health, their safety and what we ...

What is "Aces," and why do I think it matters? "Aces" is a study done in a joint effort by the Centre for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente in 1995. Yes, I said 1995. Even though this groundbreaking research is more than 20 years old, it is crucial for us to be aware of it because the continued research supports its findings and is expanding on...

Recently on the Chasing Happiness Podcast, I had the privilege of interviewing R. Dawn Hutchinson about how she became an author and what it means to her. You can listen to the full podcast episode here (Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/chasing-happiness/id1178333959?mt=2 or Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/03cBFZOCy1CMld...

 The three blessings exercise is about changing your mindset.  Let's not sugar coat it.  This year has been horrible in many ways; it's been stressful and hard to navigate. We've all wanted a reset button for 2020. People have wanted to get to the end of the year just to be done with it. People are looking forward to getting back to ...

 It's that time of year again. The Chasing Happiness twelve days of giveaways for this holiday has season has begun. This year because of possible delays in the postal system with more of us ordering online, I've started the twelve days in mid-November so that hopefully, everyone who wins something will receive what they won before Christmas.&...

Let's face it, Halloween this year is going to be different. In a lot of areas, kids won't be trick or treating. We won't be going door to door to get candy or having large Halloween parties. This year is different. We all know it. We've felt it for months now, and based on conversations I've had with friends and other entrepreneurs; we've all had ...

I tried to go caffeine-free for 30 days. As most of you know, in August, I started a 30 days caffeine-free experiment. I had no idea what I was getting myself into because so many things contain caffeine. I also underestimated my emotional attachment to drinks like coffee and green tea. As someone who has an education in addictions counselling, I k...

We now live in a society where cancel culture has become such a regular part of our days that it almost seems normal. The idea that your actions (even those from years ago) can get you written off have you lose your job, lose friends, cancel your life has become the standard.However, just a few years ago, cancel culture wasn't even a thing. If you ...

Do you ever stop while doing something to take a minute to appreciate what is going on around you? Have you ever found yourself looking at a sunrise or sunset with a beautiful sense of completeness? Do you look at things like Niagara Falls or The Grand Canyon with awe and wonder?I do!I find myself stopping to appreciate those remarkable things that...

I have never been what you would call a 'normal' sized adult. My weight started to go up when I was nine and kept going up as I went through puberty. I have never been what the world calls a 'thin' adult. For my whole adult life, I've been what society has seen as overweight or obese. I've had people call me names, give me dirty looks when I get on...