Can You Trick Yourself to be Happy?

The 100 Happy Days Challenge is something that crossed my radar months ago, but like most other interesting things got bookmarked and buried under dozens of cat videos and DIY projects. Once I returned from my blogging hiatus I noticed that bloggers I followed we're taking part in the challenge, and some were close to completing it!

This past spring was one of the most exciting times in my life, with me living and interning in Washington DC, getting dangerously close to graduating college and just about everything else in life seemed to be going so smoothly. It wasn't until I walked across the stage and picked up my fake diploma that everything came crashing down...

This summer has been a never ending stream of stress, with grad school decisions hanging over my head, trying to find housing in Washington DC while I'm all the way in California, needing to basically toss or donate everything I own(because all I can take with me to DC is two suitcases) and just a general early twenties existential crisis.

After talking to multiple bloggers and just reading general posts about the experience in completing the task overall, I decided I was up for a challenge, but even more, I am in desperate need of some happiness in my life.

Travelling back home, no matter how short the stay may be for, just makes me feel like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed every day. I made the decision to go to a college far away for the same reasons why I don't enjoy visiting the small town I grew up in. I can honestly say I don't have a single friend here, there's not much of anything to do, and I overall I feel like there is no room for me to grow as a person. Being that I've been home all summer, there is no time better than now to force a little happiness into my everyday life.

My most often used excuse for not taking part in the challenge was that I didn't have a smartphone, so uploading photos every day would require me use my digital camera and then transfer the photos. I just couldn't picture myself doing that on a daily basis for longer than a week or two. Now that a friend graciously let me have his "old" iPhone, that problem is nonexistent, leaving me with no more excuses.

My hopes for the 100 Happy Days Challenge is to trick myself into being happier each day, until I eventually do start finding happiness in the small things that would usually go unnoticed. I am about to start a chapter in my life thousands of miles away from home, with nothing but two suitcases and my childish dreams. If all goes right, I'll be moving to Washington DC mid-August, starting school in September and adjusting to East Coast weather all through fall, so what better time to document my life on a daily basis?

The plan is to recap the challenge here on the blog every ten or so days, for those of you who don't follow me on Instagram. (But who totally should.) I'm incredibly competitive so hopefully that will keep me motivated enough to not bail halfway through, cause there's no way I can be part of that 71% of people who fail the challenge! My official start date is August 1st because is it just me, or does fall feel more like a new beginning compared to January 1st? Maybe it's because August means new grade level in school, school supplies, clothes (if you were lucky), etc.

Wish me luck, and if you've completed the challenge comment below with any posts you may have written about it. Or just any kind of comment, they kinda sorta definitely make my day.