INTRODUCING.....HAPPY ME!
Hi there! Pleased to meet you. Thanks for popping in. Let me
introduce Happy Me, aka Jacqueline Johns, Happiest Person I Know
- at your service. I also happen to be the author of your Happy Life
site, and your Happy Life Mentor.
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Why am I the happiest person I know?
It all started...
in Launceston, Tasmania, many moons ago.
Little Happy Me
Happy Me was third born, so didn't manage to make it onto film
until I was walking, well, at least standing. My parents' lack of
photographic interest in my life up until then didn't phase Happy Me.
You see I had the most divine green spotted bikini and all the
luxuries money could buy! I felt so good in that bikini! I felt it
showed off my belly particularly well, and, with the slightest
adjustment, my thighs as well. My bathing buddy, sister Carolyn
(seated) seemed to be dwelling on the fact that the green spotted
bikini could never be hers, rather than being grateful for our
luxurious oasis.
We learned very early the simple pleasures to be gained from such
wholesome activities as shelling peas.
I'd say I'm definitely the happiest pea-sheller in the pic (seated). My
sisters Carolyn and Geraldine are standing, right.
The other two kids are just some neighbourhood hangers-on, and
I've no idea who the ghost is behind the bush on the right! But this
is probably where my spiritual development began!
This idyllic life, however, was not to last. It wasn't long before I
learned my most valuable lesson: green spotted bikinis or
glamorous gowns, complete with gloves, hair and makeup, do not a
Happy Person make! Not Happy Me.
Ah, but spending a day with loved ones at the Launceston Show,
that will bring a smile to the dial! That's more like Happy Me.
I learned the hard way that what you resist, persists!
Life had tried to teach me at the tender age of five that 'glamorous
me' did not equal Happy Me. Yet here we were, years later, my
sisters and I held fast in the grip of the superficial beast that is
Glamour Fever.
It would be many years before my mentoring abilities would come to
the fore and I would succeed in convincing my sisters (Carolyn
centre, and Geraldine right) of the charade that is Designer
Dressing.
We have been assured of an eventual recovery, but it is a battle we
each wage on an almost daily basis. Even today, we take one day at
a time, determined to keep the beast at bay.
A taste of achievement can help one along the path to a Happy Life!
Especially when that achievement is gained from within the bosom
of a huge extended family.
Our swimming squad and the friends we made all throughout
Tasmania, and interstate, became like a big family.
Little did Mum know as she burned up the roads of Tasmania in her
little Hillman Hunter, Tupperware bursting at the seams with
sandwiches, and trusty thermos at the ready, that not only was she
giving us the opportunity to further our swimming careers, but also
enhancing our social skills to the point where we had a sense of
belonging wherever we went.
We were also oblivious to the subtle developments taking place
within our personas - we thought we were just having fun on the
road trips, singing to our home-recorded (from the radio) music and
indulging in the odd snooze in our sleeping bags!
Our Happy Lives almost all came to an end the night the Tasman
Bridge, in Hobart (refer to map above) was hit by the ship, 'Lake
Illawarra'. We were obviously meant to sing another day, as we
escaped death's clutches!
Bigger Happy Me
I spent the best years of my life at Kings Meadows High School,
where they made us wear ridiculously short dresses! But still I
remained, Happy Me.
After High School, I pursued the lofty heights of an office job, which
was to springboard me into my assault on Europe (still 'warm-up
bouncing'!).
As is tragically so often the case, at my first fulltime job
I met the love of my life, whom I was to eventually marry (his
repeated begging wore me down like a kid in a lolly shop! it's ok he
won't read this - woops! he did).
Soon I was wrenched from my hearth and home, near and dear, kith
and kin, and flung into the hurly-burly of 'mainland' (that is truly
what Taswegians call the big island of Australia) life, that is
Melbourne.
Of course, I was happy in Melbourne, too. Even when my friends
made a public spectacle of me in a crowded restaurant, in the form
of a Strip-o-gram, Happy Me smiled through it.
But this innocent girl from Tassie found the transition to the corrupt
Big City difficult, and public shame and humiliation being what they
are, I soon upped camp and escaped to sunny Adelaide, where I
hoped to lay low and leave the sordid past behind me!
Of course, the emotional turmoil I'd encountered since leaving my
sheltered Tasmanian home was sure to take it's toll on my health.
My immune system was sorely tested around this time and I was
presented with some potentially devastating health challenges. Not
only did I have the daily battle with Glamour Fever to endure, for
which my sisters and I regularly met to support and share
(and as evidenced above, we didn't always win) I was soon afflicted
with a severe case of Blackspotitis, which Happy Me eventually
overcame with my positive attitude
Quickly followed by a particularly virulent strain of Purplefloralaria,
the day before my wedding!
Throughout all these health challenges, including a four year battle
with Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome, which was to come later, I always
looked forward to my recovery, never dwelling on the hard luck
which had befallen me.
Whilst living in Adelaide, I was lucky enough to be blessed with two
adorable bubbies, Emily and Thomas.
The happy busy-ness that is raising two babies helped me forget my
sullied past in Melbourne, so we moved back there and continued on
our happy way!
I'd learned the importance of making time for myself, whilst also
being the best Mum I could be. I continued to indulge the passion
for showbiz which had reared it's ugly head way back when.
A Happy Mum equals Happy Kids, so I always took the time to
exercise and indulge my passions....
Deliriously Happy Me
but I drew the line when Hugh Jackman (the sexiest man alive)
couldn't keep his hands off me(!) and begged me to run away with
him(!!). My kids would always be my first passion....
and they'll kill me if they ever read this! But I've always maintained
it's a mother's right to publicly embarrass her kids, and have acted
on that philosophy numerous times.
I'm a committed Mum, whose goal has been to produce Happy Kids
whilst remaining Happy Me. I would now consider that I am close to
achieving that goal, which affords me a great sense of satisfaction.
And Now.....
My third baby, Jacqueline Johns Life Mentoring, was born in 2006,
after many years of voluntary mentoring of friends, neighbours,
acquaintances and total strangers who just wanted to tell me their
'stuff'.
JJLM provides personal mentoring online and in person. With the
motto of "Life is NOT a dress rehearsal!", we hope to inspire people
the world over to live the life of their choice, NOW!
As an author, The Path To Success speaker Happy Events and
webmaster Site Build It we now have the ability to reach people in
their tens as well as one-on-one!
You may have thought, when reading the opening statement
regarding me being the happiest person I know, that I was just born
lucky and had it all. WRONGO!
In the process of living my own Happy Life, I've endured marriage
breakups - my parents' and my own, financial hardship, ill health,
and still come out smiling. Now I am qualified to teach others how
to enjoy single life after years of being the centre of a busy family.
The preceding info about happy me gives you a glimpse into a life of
challenges (and there's more but you'll have to wait for the book)
which I have chosen to outlast with my positive attitude, and several
other skills I've learned or discovered along the way.
As my mission statement (below) explains, I'm driven to share this
knowledge, to uplift others (that's you!) and to assist you to live in
the happy state in which I reside.
Is there anything that could make Happy Me even happier?
To know I've reached thousands and thousands of people like these
and like these happy people and succeeded in uplifting, inspiring, or
having an impact on their lives. I want to express here my gratitude
to those people who have taken the time to contact me and offer
their kind words.
I have thoroughly enjoyed creating this site (baby number four)
while STILL battling Glamour Fever, and consuming copious amounts
of licorice bullets - a sacrifice I gladly endure if the info contained
herein has been beneficial to you in any way. I have loved every
second of it, and hope it continues to grow and thrive, as all babies
should.
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