Realising When You Are Happy
When are you most happy?
I tend to overthink things and I tend to be oblivious to my own fortune. That’s not to say that I am never happy in the moment, but after that moment I tend not to dwell on the feelings of happiness as much as the other noises around at the time.
I am happiest when I am with my family and often after I have prepared a really good meal for them. However, again I really don’t always recognise the good fortune I have. I have my health, I have the huge good fortune to have been able to slow down and not have to continue working full time at a relatively early age. I have been to concerts and had experiences that many people have been unable to have. I need to get better at reflecting on the good times and my good fortune and not dwelling on the bad. That can be one of my resolutions for 2026.
To balance out this negativity I will reflect on the times recently when I have been happy both at the time and afterwards.
Going to Salzburg was an amazing experience. The Christmas Market was something I had wanted to go to for ages and it definitely didn’t disappoint. It was probably my best holiday for years.
This month (December 2025) I have had a number of really good Christmas events. I went to the Sir John Rutter Carol Concert at the Royal Albert Hall and it was fantastic. We went as a family to the Dickens Christmas Festival in Rochester and had a lovely time. I went to see The Last Dinner Party in concert and they were outstanding. My daughter and I took a trip to the Coliseum in London to watch the fantastic new staging of The Nutcracker, which is the best I have ever seen. From there we met up with my wife and my daughter’s partner and went to the Chelsea Village Illuminations. The day after that we went to a lovely carol service at Rochester Cathedral.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to Southwark Cathedral to see Jethro Tull’s Christmas Tour but the highlight of the night was Marc Almond of Soft Cell singing Tainted Love and Say Hello Wave Goodbye, two of my favourite songs ever! They were songs I never ever expected to hear live and that experience was full of awe and joy.
I have a very good life and I promise to get better at recognising that.
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David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 
Yes, some life really! Counting your blessings should make it even better I would think. Plus, it’s not like there’s been no hard times or adversity, so that ought to make you appreciate it all the more really. Even the bad times are manageable because we;ve mostly been through worse.
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I think that’s the tricky bit for me. I know hard times should make you appreciate the good, but my mindset, probably through upbringing, is to assume that I did something to precipitate them. As a result I end up trying to understand what it was that I did and end up with a kind of doom spiral! I should avoid amateur psychology like the plague!! 🤣🤣
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