I’m delighted to welcome Aimee Foster to the happiness series! Aimee is a stay at home mum & founder of a fab website & blog – Mum Amie that helps mums find friends. Aimee has answered the happiness series interview. Here is what Mum Aimee has to say about happiness…
1. Name three things in life that make you happy. And, please tell us a little about each one.
Firstly, my little family consisting of my husband and our children Susie (6), Freddy (1) and our angel baby, Grace. Today I was listening to Susie and Freddy playing peek-a-boo and laughing hysterically together and it just made me so happy and feel so blessed to hear them. They are my world.
Secondly, my website. When I receive messages from other mums saying that they’ve found friends through the website it makes all the hard work worthwhile. That was my goal when setting it up and achieving it makes me very happy. Also, through the blog, I’ve rediscovered my love of writing.
And thirdly, the sea. We moved to the coast eighteen months ago. It was so hard leaving behind all of my friends and the area I grew up in. I still miss my old home very much. But, living by the sea is something my husband and I had always dreamed of. And it has lived up to its expectations. A walk along the cliff top, breakfast by the water or an afternoon spent playing with the kids in the sand make me incredibly happy – the sea is definitely good for my soul!
2. What’s something you do to find your happiness when you’ve lost it?
I run through a list of things I’m grateful for. I have so many blessings from good health to food in my cupboards and everything in between. Practising gratitude is an instant mood uplifter and brings genuine, long-term happiness. It’s something I discovered when I read the Magic by Rhonda Byrne two years ago and it has completely changed my life for the better.
3. What cheers you up after a long, difficult day?
A glass of wine, a cuddle, an episode of Friends, listening to a Queen song, writing or reading a good book. Any or all of those things!
4. Does your job make you happy? If you are a SAH parent, does that make you happy?
I’m a stay at home parent and I fit in my website and a few other commitments around naptimes and during the evening. I love being a stay at home mum, though I do find it extremely challenging! It does make me happy, but I also need to do something for myself which is why I started the website.
5. Share a happy memory with us.
When Susie was a baby, my husband and I used to go for long walks in the evenings while she slept in her buggy. These evening walks during a hot summer are some of my happiest ever memories. This was at the beginning of our relationship, as I met my husband when Susie was six months old and I was a single mum. During those walks we really got to know each other and I felt so blessed to have met him as it was all so unexpected.
6. Do you think money can bring happiness?
I think lack of money can make you unhappy but I don’t necessarily think lots of money will make you happy either. Some of the richest people in the world appear to be some of the unhappiest. I think you need enough to live on without being constantly stressed and in debt. And if you’re lucky enough to have that then I don’t think being rich would bring long-term happiness.
7. Is your happiness influenced by the things you do or the way you think?
I think it’s influenced by the way you think and then that in turn changes the things you do. It took me so long to learn that happiness is within. When I learnt to just be grateful for what I have and stop wanting more and more, I found a sustained happiness which lasts beyond the short-term happiness brought about by external factors. In turn, I then found the courage to do things never thought were possible – like starting my website, which was a dream for 4 years until I turned it into a reality (with the help of my amazing friend Gemma).
8. Which would make you the happiest – a sun holiday, new car or a new job opportunity?
I think the sun holiday would win out at the moment – I can’t wait to see the back of winter!
9. Which wine makes you happier – red or white?
Definitely white. And fizzy!
10. Share a quote that makes you smile.
I love quotes and am always jotting them down in a notebook. It’s hard to pick just one…One of my favourites at the moment is; ‘If you build it, they will come’.
Aimee Foster is a mum of 3 and co-founder of UK-based mum friendship website, Mum Amie, where she also blogs about parenting, baby loss and well-being. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
If you would like to take part in the Happiness Series by contributing a happiness post or by answering the happiness interview questions, I’d love to have you! Find out more details on The Happiness Series Page.
