What If We Didn’t Have to Be Happy All the Time?

Most of us spend a lot of time chasing happiness. So when Christine said she wouldn’t choose a lifetime of it, we wanted to understand why. Not because she doesn’t want to be happy, but because she wants to experience everything life has to offer, including the surprises and emotions she can’t always plan for.

Christine Wan Yu is a friend of The Self Hug community. We first met her at one of our community events in Bali, where she took our journals home with her. Since then, The Best Self Journal has become part of her ongoing journaling practice.

We sat down with her to hear more about how she came to see life differently, and what she discovered along the way.

When the Body Speaks to You

Christine Wan Yu, a transformational coach and strategic consultant

Christine spent 12 years working in finance at a global company. Today, she’s a transformational coach and strategic consultant, but that wasn’t something she had planned. For years, Christine had been good at setting goals, making plans, and achieving them. But somewhere along the way, she began to question whether she was living the life she truly wanted, or simply following the path she had always believed she should take. Eventually, she decided to take a leave of absence, giving herself time to step back and take better care of her mental and physical health.

The turning point came after a severe allergy flare-up. Despite undergoing numerous medical examinations, she couldn’t find a clear explanation for her symptoms. This led her to explore the connection between physical and emotional well-being, and to reflect on the grief she hadn’t fully acknowledged.

She was afraid that if she truly paused and faced the emotions she had been avoiding, the life she had worked so hard to hold together might fall apart. Part of her believed that as long as she didn’t confront those feelings, everything could somehow stay the same. Yet she knew she couldn't keep living the way she had been. She didn't know what would come next, but she was willing to take that step anyway.

Taking that step didn’t mean she suddenly had everything figured out. It meant she was finally giving herself time to find out.

Writing It Down

Journaling became part of Christine’s journey of self-reflection, helping her navigate uncertainty and recognise how far she has come.

With work no longer filling her days in the same way, Christine had more room to notice the thoughts and feelings she had been carrying. She started writing them down, and journaling became part of how she moved through this uncertain period.

She loves pen and paper, and found that The Best Self Journal gave her a place to reflect while she was still figuring things out. It became part of her routine, and it’s something she continues to return to today.

“When I'm doubting myself or feeling anxious, I reread some pages. It reminds me of the challenges I've already overcome and how far I've come.”

One of the things we love about journaling is how it lets us look back at ourselves with a little more perspective. Sometimes, we’re so focused on what’s happening right now that we don’t notice how much we’ve already been through.

On Day 1 of The Best Self Journal, a prompt asks: “Things you’re grateful for in this version of you.” Christine wrote about protecting her mum and sister, and the discipline and resilience that had carried her through challenges with family, studies, and health. Looking back helped her recognise strengths she could carry into this unfamiliar chapter.

Reflecting on that page, she shared:

“I feel proud of myself and grateful for all the people and experiences that have shaped who I am today. And I feel braver as I continue living my life.”

There’s something meaningful about recognising those parts of ourselves, especially when we don’t always stop to acknowledge them. Looking back isn’t only about remembering what happened. It can also help us see the strength we’ve built along the way.

Christine also returns to the Vision Board section of The Best Self Journal. What once felt like a collection of hopes now gives her a chance to see how parts of the life she imagined are beginning to take shape

Christine's The Best Self's Vision Board in The Best Self Journal

“It’s just a vision board, but when I look at it, I feel like I’m almost living the life I hoped for.”

The Messy Parts

Journaling wasn’t the only change Christine made during this time. She started setting aside an hour each morning without her phone, enjoying some sunshine and making space for meditation. Yoga and Muay Thai also became part of how she cared for herself. These small practices gave her more time to check in with herself. As she did, she began noticing patterns in how she showed up around other people. Looking back, she realized that at work, she had often been afraid to open up because she worried people wouldn’t like the messier parts of her. Over time, that fear started to loosen.

“Now, if people don’t like me, that’s okay. It’s not personal. Maybe they’re just not my people, and I’m okay with that.”

It wasn’t that she stopped caring about what others thought. Rather, she was learning to accept and trust herself more deeply, while remaining open to and valuing others’ perspectives. She was becoming more comfortable being herself, making choices aligned with her own values, even when others might not understand or agree with her.

The journal also invited her to reflect on her strengths and how she might use them to contribute to others. Rather than giving her a clear answer about what to do next, these reflections helped her explore what she wanted from life beyond her previous career.

Along the way, she also began to see emotions differently. She started appreciating how different emotions, including the uncomfortable ones, could help her understand herself and experience life more fully.

Freedom to Choose

When we asked what she discovered during this phase, she came back to one word: freedom.

“I had the freedom to choose how I wanted to spend each day. Before, I was living by a linear plan.”

Over time, freedom began to mean something deeper to Christine: the freedom to pause, listen to herself, question long-held beliefs, and consciously choose how she wanted to respond to life.

That freedom led her to the work she does today. Christine brings together her experience in business strategy and her passion for human well-being. As a transformational coach and strategic consultant, she hopes to support individuals and purpose-driven organizations in gaining clarity about what matters to them and turning that clarity into meaningful action. What keeps her learning is helping her clients and hearing that it mattered to them.

She also volunteers with a women’s community in Taiwan, where a recent conversation with someone ended with a big hug and a thank you. It left her feeling warm and grateful that a small thing for her, turned out to be incredibly valuable to others. In that moment, she realised that meaningful moments don’t always arrive as milestones. Sometimes they’re a conversation and exchange that you didn’t see coming.

No plan would have scheduled that hug. Christine will take the surprise over knowing exactly what happens every moment of every day. Where’s the joy in that?