If you're happy and you know it....

2014 should have been a fantastic year. After several years of marital discord my husband and I finally had our marriage back on track; the kids were a little older which mean't that we were able to sneak away for a couple of hours at a time to grab a bite to eat, Date Nights were reintroduced, trips were planned, 2014 was going to be awesome.

April changed everything.

My best friend had felt unwell for a few months and having beaten mouth cancer several times over the previous few years she was terrified that the cancer had returned. Sadly it had, and she was diagnosed with cancer yet again. This time it was both lung and bone cancer and on 24th April she was given the news that it was terminal. It was her 42nd birthday.

A few weeks later my father-in-law fell sick. Many, many years of heavy drinking had finally caught up with him and it was clear that he was on borrowed time. I found myself surrounded by sadness and the worst part was that I knew that things were only going to get worse. I was no stranger to depression and I knew that my mental health was very much under threat, I felt as if I was staring into a big dark pit and that at any moment I could lose my footing.

I spotted that my brother was taking part in something called the #100happydays challenge and went onto their website to see what it was all about. The idea was simple enough, post one picture each day to show one thing that made you happy that day. This was not a happiness competition, this was a personal challenge to help you focus on any small moments of happiness. 

So that's what I did, I signed up for the challenge and started on 2nd May 2014. Despite the stress and sadness that was happening all around me (my father-in-law died a few weeks later) I managed to find one thing each day that brightened my day no matter how small. Some days were much easier than others. Funnily enough I don't think I posted my 100th day! I'd just got back from holiday and posted several days at once up to day 99 but not day 100. Oops!

My beautiful friend died on 4th September 2014, this year I am repeating the challenge in her memory.