Hello, happy humans, and welcome to the Choosing Happy Podcast, where we empower you to spark joy, find purpose, and create a life you love.

I'm your host, Heather Masters, and today we're diving into a truth that changes everything.

And that truth is that relationships are everything, from how you connect with yourself to the dance you do with life now.

Nature, money, change, or the people around you.

These relationships shape your happiness, shape how your world unfolds.

And that's what we're talking about in today's Choosing Happy Podcast.

So stick around for a playful, powerful relationship reset exercise toward the end to sprinkle a bit of joy into every connection you have.

So let's get started with this week's Choosing Happy Podcast.

Hello, and welcome to the Choosing Happy Podcast.

I'm Heather Masters, your host, and today we're looking at relationships, and more than that, how relationships are in everything.

Yes, they're that important.

The way you relate to yourself especially, as well as how you relate to your life.

Nature, money, your partner, your friends, even those pesky outside influences like social media determines not just how happy you are, but how your entire life unfolds.

So today, we're exploring how nurturing these relationships with intention can transform your world.

And here's the magic wand.

By pausing to ask, how am I relating to this?

And how would I like to relate to this?

You can shift your perspective.

You can change your behavior and your happiness in an instant.

Plus, stick around for a fun, practical exercise I'm calling the Relationship Reset to help you sprinkle some joy into every connection in your life.

So grab a cuppa, get comfy, and let's get relating.

Let's start with a big idea.

Relationships aren't just about people.

Yet that's where we go to.

That's where we kind of automatically navigate to when we're thinking about relationships.

Sure, your best friend, your partner, or that co worker who always steals your lunch are all part of it, but relationships go way, way deeper.

They're about how you connect with everything, including yourself, your money, nature, the chaos of everyday life, even the way the world's evolving and how you relate to change.

Every single one of these connections shapes your joy and your journey.

Think about it like a cosmic dance floor.

You're twirling through life, partnering up with all these different parts of existence and how you're reflecting.

Engaging in those relationships can be crucial.

Sometimes you're in sync, sometimes you step on toes, and sometimes you're just doing the robot in the corner, wondering why the music's off.

You Know, we can get stuck, we can pause, we can wonder what's happening with our relationships.

But here's the thing.

You get to choose how you dance.

You get to choose how you show up in your relationships.

And by nurturing these relationships with intention, you can turn a clumsy shuffle into a full on joyful boogie with life.

So let's break it down and explore a few key relationships that shape a happiness.

And every day, starting with the most important one.

Your relationship with you.

Your relationship with yourself.

Your relationship with yourself is the foundation of everything.

How do you talk to yourself when you mess up?

How do you talk to yourself in general?

Are you cheering yourself on or are you the harshest critic?

I'll confess, I used to have a bit of an inner mean girl.

If I forgot something or didn't nail a project, she'd pop up like, wow, Heather, what are you doing?

You're dropping the ball again.

But I've learned to pause and ask, how am I relating to myself right now?

What is the voice saying in my head?

And spoiler, it wasn't with kindness.

Then I'd asked, how would I like to relate to myself?

And the answer was always with compassion, with patience, like I treated your friend.

And also about celebrating what I had achieved and recognizing what I have done in my life, in my world, just in that one day and that simple shift, pausing and checking in, choosing kindness changed everything.

It's like giving yourself a big warm hug instead of a cold shower.

Taking a moment to congratulate yourself rather than criticize.

When you nurture, nurture this relationship, you build confidence, resilience and a deep well of self love that spills over into every other part of your life.

Here's an exercise for you.

Take one day out.

I choose Saturdays when I take the time just to nurture me, to go with the flow, to congratulate myself, to list out all of the things I've achieved that week, that month.

And to celebrate, to put on some music that I love.

To treat myself to things that are self caring.

So happy humans, what's your self talk like today?

Are you relating to yourself like your best friend or a grumpy roommate?

Let's choose best friend.

Let's be kind to ourselves.

Now let's zoom out to your relationship with life and nature.

Life can feel like a wild roller coaster sometimes.

Full of twists, turns, unexpected happenings and the occasional loop.

The loop that makes you scream.

And nature.

It's this incredible, living, breathing partner that we're all connected to, whether we're hiking in the mountains, walking in the forest, or just staring at or talking to a house plant we're trying not to kill.

Now here's a story I used to relate to life like it was a to do list.

And I've noticed that it's something I've started doing again over the last few weeks.

I've got so focused on what I should be doing in my business that I've been rushing through my days, checking boxes, barely noticing the world around me, barely noticing how I'm interacting, even with my dogs.

And when I was walking in the forest yesterday, stressing about the emails, stressing about what I needed to do, Robin landed right in front of me.

And it was like nature saying, heather, slow down, notice.

And I paused and asked myself, how am I relating to life right now?

And I found myself pretty detached.

I was treating it like a race, like going through the motions, but not really feeling into life.

How would I like to relate?

With curiosity, really feeling it and embracing it, with presence and like I'm on an adventure every day.

And that moment really shifted me yesterday because I started to notice the little things.

The way the trees sway, the smell of the ground after rain, and the rhythm of life itself.

Noticing the beauty of the flowers as we're moving well into summer at the moment and nurturing this relationship brought me so much joy.

It's like life and nature became my wise, playful friends, always reminding me and always ready to teach me something if I just listen.

I think it's really important to put it into your day to spend at least five minutes in nature and just taking that breath and expanding your awareness to notice what you didn't notice yesterday.

One of the exercises I haven't learned for a while is to count the number of different flowers in the forest at this time of year, because there's always a new one I hadn't noticed before.

So how are you relating to life and nature?

Are you rushing past or are you dancing with them?

I watched a video last night which really went into digital and how spending so much time on digital and on electronics detaches us, dampens us.

It.

Not only that, it.

It causes us to forget who we are, to forget how joyful we were.

And I think that's a wonderful exercise to take a moment to think about, you know, even three, four months ago, what were you doing that filled you with joy and aliveness that you're not doing anymore?

Not because you can't, but somehow you just kind of got out of the habit and let it go.

And this is Something that I've noticed.

I'm making this promise to myself to engage more, be present more with life, to do the things that give me joy, whether it's just taking a breather while I'm making a cup of coffee and just feeling into life and taking a moment to remember how good life is to us and to smile.

Okay, now let's get real about two tricky ones.

Our relationship was money and those outside influences which I've already mentioned, like social media and the news, or that one aunt who always has opinions about your life choices.

Money can be a loaded topic.

For years, I related to money not just like it was elusive, judgmental, gatekeeper, but that it was an evil friend.

I'd stress out about not having enough or feel guilty when I spent it.

But when I paused and asked how.

How I'm relating to money, I realized that I was treating it like an enemy and why would it show up with the energy I was sending towards it?

And how would I like to relate with respect, gratitude and trust that it's a tool for creating a life I love and that it's a tool for.

Create.

For making a difference in life as well.

To being able to grow my business, to being able to give back, to being able to tip well, to be able to.

To buy things that ultimately result in others keeping their jobs and having, you know, a business of their own.

So this was a huge shift.

I've started seeing money as a partner in my journey, not a barrier.

Now, if you're wise and awake, you'll understand that the.

The current monetary system isn't particularly your friend.

So it's not about thinking of money purely as the current fiat system, but as a system of energy and currency from the universe.

Whatever shape that currency takes, whether it's bartering, but whatever it is, it's an exchange of value.

And I've taken the time to really build a new relationship with money, to see it as a friend, to see it as welcome, to accept, acknowledge and appreciate its presence in my life and the choices that I have because it is there.

What happens when you think about outside influences?

Instead of letting the news or Twitter dictate my mood, I choose to relate to them with discernment, taking what serves me and letting the rest go.

It's like curating your own happiness playlist, Choosing what you allow into your internal world, what you allow to influence you, what you allow to take up rental space in your mind.

So what's on your playlist?

What's on your mind?

What do you allow into your world.

Now let's get a bit deeper and talk about your relationship with evolutionary change.

The way that world's shifting from tech to culture to climate, it can feel overwhelming right now.

But when you ask, how am I relating to change?

You might notice you're resisting it, clinging to the old ways, wishing it was like it was 10 years ago.

Ask instead how you would like to relate.

Maybe with curiosity, openness, like you're surfing a wave instead of fighting against it.

And this can apply to your relationship with others too, Whether it's your partner, friends, family, even strangers.

Relationships thrive when you approach them with intention.

For example, I used to get frustrated with a friend who was always late.

But when I paused and asked, how am I relating to this?

I saw I was judging her on my terms.

And how would I like to relate?

With understanding, compassion, and maybe even with humour.

That shift turned our connection into something lighter, more playful, long lasting.

Every relationship is a mirror showing us where we can grow.

So nurture your relationships.

I think it was Carl Jung who said that the most challenging relationship in your life is asking you to grow.

So ask, what is the lesson I'm learning here?

Rather than judging and dismissing and getting upset.

And then how would you like to relate?

Instead, nurture your relationships with love and watch your happiness bloom.

Okay, happy humans, it's time for some action steps.

And I've got a fun practical exercise called the Relationship Reset to help you nurture your connections and spark more joy in your world.

So grab a notebook, grab a or your phone or your iPad and let's do this together.

It'll take about 10 minutes, but it could change how you dance through life.

So the step one is to pick a relationship.

Choose one relationship to focus on.

It could be yourself, it could be money, it could be life, it could be your partner, or even change itself.

Your relationship with the outer world.

Have you got one?

Great.

Step two, we're going to check in and ask, how am I relating to this right now?

And be honest, Are you relating with stress?

Love?

Avoidance?

Gratitude?

Just notice what immediately comes up for you and write it down.

No judgment, just curiosity and awareness.

And step three, we're going to choose with intention.

Now ask, how would I like to relate to this?

Maybe you want to relate to money with ease or relate to money as your new best friend.

You may want to relate to your partner with playfulness or to change with excitement.

Again, feel into it, open your awareness and write it down and imagine how it feels to relate this way.

Let that feeling really sink in.

And step four is to take one tiny step.

Pick one small action to nurture this relationship today.

So if it's with yourself, maybe write a kind note to yourself or take some time out to do something that you know is self caring and self nurturing that you maybe have been putting off.

If it's with nature, take that five minute walk and notice the world around you.

Notice the season that you're in, notice the way that nature has been shifting and changing and take a moment to try and notice something you haven't noticed before and notice what you notice.

If it's with a friend, send a really heartwarming text message, a thank you, a note of appreciation, or send them a card through the post just to surprise them and do it within 24 hours to to keep the momentum going and keep this relationship reset handy.

Revisit it, try it with different relationships and watch your life transform.

It is important to do this.

Relationships are everything and if you have a business, you know really taking the moment to notice how you're showing up for your clients or how you're showing up on social media.

If you're seeing it as a chore, what energy are you bringing to building those relationships and is it the energy that would encourage you to connect?

Remember to really ask those two questions.

How am I relating to this and how would I like to relate?

It's like giving every part of your world a little love note today.

So happy humans, here's the big takeaway.

Relationships are everything.

How relate to yourself, life, nature, money, change your business and others shapes your happiness and your journey.

By pausing to ask those two questions, how am I relating to this?

And how would I like to relate?

You hold the power to shift your perspective, change your behavior and bring more joy into your world.

Nurturing these relationships isn't just a nice idea, it's a game changer.

It's choosing to dance with life, to show up with intention and to create a world that feels alive with possibility.

I'd love to hear from you.

Try the relationship reset and share your experience.

Drop me an email@heatheroosinghappy.co.uk or tag me on socials and join our Choosing happy community@choosinghappy.co.uk where we'll have weekly exercises to keep nurturing your relationship and your joy.

If you love this episode, please follow, like, share and leave a review.

It helps us spread the happiness and helps me keep going with the podcast.

Until next time.

Keep choosing happy, keep choosing intention and keep choosing you.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode.

If you enjoyed it or think it would be valuable to others, please do share.

And if you really enjoyed it, please leave me a review.

It really helps the podcast.

All of the links are in the show notes and I look forward to seeing you next week on the Choosing Happy Podcast.