7 Small ways to find your happiness

You know what I've learnt about life recently? It's hard. Just when you get comfortable and think that you are in control, life throws you off your high horse.  Suddenly you feel lost... you doubt who you are and everything you thought you knew about yourself.

Another thing I've learnt, that I'm slowly coming to terms with, is that it's okay to not have your life all figured out. This doesn't make it any easier of course, and you will have to work to get back on your feet.

The following are little things you can do which will eventually help you once again, find your happiness.

Indulge in routine

Make time every day for the simple things you love. For me this would be enjoying a cup of tea while reflecting on my day, taking my pup for a walk or indulging in my skincare pamper routine... Whatever gives you that satisfied feeling.

Be alone

I don't know about you but as much as I like "me time", I often struggle doing things by myself. As a society we are so self aware, constantly worrying what other people think about us, that we forget that it's completely normal to take time for yourself. Take yourself out to lunch or go on a solo-adventure and learn enjoy your own company.

Let go

Once you've hit rock bottom it means that nothing in your life was working out as it was meant to. Those toxic friendships, the unfulfilling job, your ego... Let go of it all. From this you will gain humility and be able to more clearly navigate your life forward.

Just cry

Sometimes when it all gets too much, it's okay to allow yourself to cry it out.

Do something for someone else

With no expectation, and don't brag about it, just let it be your thing.

Get active

While dragging yourself out of bed each morning and into the gym might be a daunting thought, you will feel so much better after a workout. Get those endorphins pumping!

Home Made Almond Butter Recipe

I've been stalking 'healthy lifestyle' Instagram accounts and I have been seeing almond butter everywhere! Therefore I decided to try and make some at home. I've also received my April Lust Have It! last Monday but I am unsure whether I am going to do a post, because I am so disappointed about it, seriously thinking of cancelling. But back to almond butter:

Almond butter is like peanut butter except made with almonds. I decided to make it myself because it is quite expensive if you buy it in store and it's so easy to make! PLUS you know its 100% pure almonds, no added preservatives.

I just used a small packet of almonds, but they didn't make much butter, so I would advise buying a bulk pack. You can use as much almonds as you want, there aren't specific measurements. You can use either raw or toasted almonds it doesn't really matter, during the processing the almonds get really hot and I read in another post that if you use raw almonds, they'd be cooked by the time you're done. Put the almonds in the food processor and start processing.

After about a minute or two the almonds will be finely chopped and look like the picture above. Now all you have to do is keep processing. Be sure to scrape the nuts that stick on the sides down so it all gets processed.

I didn't get a photo of the next step, but basically as the natural oil starts to come out of the almonds, the processed pieces start sticking together and become lumpy. This happened for me after about 10 minutes, so don't give up if you think it's failing. It then required another 5 minutes + until the lumps started becoming a smooth paste. At this point you still want to keep processing to reach a really creamy consistency. You can add some salt to bring out the flavour of the nuts.

Above is a picture of the finished almond butter. You can add honey or vanilla or whatever else your creative mind can think of. Almond butter can be used in recipes, or as a snacks. Ideas for snacks include on rice crackers, or with apple slices.

P.S if you think you aren't coming right - just keep processing it takes a lot of patience!