Happiness Happens Month
“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”
– Russel M. Nelson
August marks the beginning of Happiness Happens Month, a time to focus and reflect on what brings you true happiness. True happiness is only achieved through experiencing the opposite – sadness. Understanding that there are constant ebbs and flows in your mental state is a crucial stepping stone on the path to genuine joy.
Happiness can often be circumstantial, but true joy comes from what we put our minds to in our daily lives. The opportunity to find meaning in everyday life lies in our own hands. We have the ability to control our own happiness and make choices to bring about natural happiness – for example, selecting a new career that you love.
A fulfilling job that serves purpose can generate this authentic happiness that many seek. However, only 20% of Americans are significantly passionate about their occupation.
“There are 24 hours in a day. We work for 8 hours per day in a typical full-time work environment. Then, we are doing our own thing with our family, loved ones and friends for 8 hours per day. If we are lucky, we sleep for 8 hours per day. Taking sleep time out of the equation – that means that 50% of our awake time is spent at work! Being able to have a career that also provides purpose and meaning to our life is a wonderful goal to have.”
– Andrew Dubler, Co-owner Home to Stay
Caregiving
Pursuing a career in caregiving or even being a part-time family caregiver can be a particularly rewarding career. Having the chance to care for either your loved ones or other individuals in need can alone provide meaning to a caregiver’s life. According to the Center for Compassion and Altruism located at Stanford University, helping others increases our positive brain chemicals and provides a similar internal feeling to being at a goal weight or just completing a workout.
Some additional benefits of helping others include, but are not limited to:
- Living longer
- Lowering blood pressure
- Lowering chronic pain
All of these benefits and you are getting paid – how great is that!
According to AARP’s “Caregiving in the U.S. 2020” annual research report, approximately 53 million caregivers have provided care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. As these staggering numbers reflect, the chances of caregiving at some point in your life are around 1 in 5. These numbers are only inflating over time, with 9.5 million more caregivers in 2020 than 2015.
Caregiving is a fundamental part of human nature and instilled in almost everyone in one form or another. If lending assistance to individuals in need fills you with unequivocal happiness and satisfaction, caregiving may be the career that leads you down the path of joy.
Work with Home to Stay
Does becoming a professional caregiver peak your interest? Home to Stay is one of the best non-medical Home Care service providers in New Jersey with an emphasis on supporting seniors with dementia related diseases.
In addition, Home to Stay Senior Care Solutions is the only agency in New Jersey who is an authorized provider of the AlzBetter dementia training program. This training program provides Certified Home Health Aides extra support from our dementia coach. You will always have the support and training needed to care for your client.
Considering a career in home care for your next opportunity will not only help others, but also yourself!
