Blog - November 15, 2019

Day 15 : The November Happiness Challenge 2019

Hi everyone, My name is Hameedat Oyenuga, I am an International Development enthusiast, currently building a career in Law.  How do I attain happiness? I’m going to let you in on that on my story so far this year. The year started out pretty amazing, I started the new year visiting places  with a couple of friends, I was still living in the euphoria post my graduation, I can say  December ended pretty well.    January came and went pretty quickly, I travelled and got to see my friend who moved away for Uni, I got gifts from my former work place and colleagues, it was emotional saying goodbye. Fast forward to February, I moved to Nigeria and here brethren is where my frustration started.  I had started working and was eating out a lot, then malaria and typhoid hit me, coupled with a lot of other issues, I had really had enough and I decided i needed a break.  In April I went back to England with my family, totally unplanned but I needed it, spent some days and i knew the Nigeria I was avoiding I had to face it and no matter how it tried to break me, i had to be happy and rise above it. So what did I do?    To attain ultimate happiness, when I can afford to , I travel. My going back to England helped clear my head, I met with a couple of friends and visited new places and restaurants. I also had time away from work and refused to open any work mails.  To me, eating out and travelling is therapeutic, so on the days I feel really stressed out and down, I hit one or two friends we go out and spend the day together, sometimes exploring food places in Lagos or wherever we find ourselves.    Back in the country, one of the things that give me genuine happiness is volunteering. Carving a way for people and putting people especially girls on opportunities they would generally miss out by the virtue of their gender or  economic background, I started Project elevate in May. Project elevate is a youth led education program that focuses on career development and opportunities for girls in higher secondary education. We had our first event in June, you can check our maiden event on instagram.    July was my birth month and I spent my birthday with my friend Derin, it was arguably the best four days away from home, my friend wasn’t working so we did any and everything. It was a good day and month. August and September came with weight gain🤣. What they don’t tell you about your early twenties is the weight gain. If you read up, I was eat out a lot and eating very unhealthy, my cheeks were growing and though the scale didn’t move, I knew I had added weight which I dreaded so much. I had to work on it, so in October I started going to the gym. I totally forgot how happy I felt after a workout session, it changes everything for me so I have decided to stick to this as much as I can.    In a summary the ways I attain happiness includes travelling ( praying Allah bless us with sufficient funds), eating out , meeting with friends, exercising, volunteering and ultimately praying to Allah for genuine happiness everyday because without him, I wouldn’t have been able to find happiness in all that I listed above.    This is November,  position your mind to do something that makes you or someone else happy, asides the barakah (blessing) that comes with it, you achieve genuine peace of mind. Give charity, call your friends, eat and eat a lot,  choose you and tell yourself everyday this November and beyond that you deserve to be happy because no what you are going through, know it is a phase and it would definitely pass.    Fee Amanillah.   Connect with me on Instagram

Comments (2)

  1. Eniola

    November 15, 2019

    Sweet and easy read. And you’re such a fashionista too.

  2. Toyeen

    November 15, 2019

    Choose you and tell yourself everyday this November and beyond that you deserve to be happy”. -Words to live by.

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