Memories and healthy recipes for your dinner table.
Spring is here. Buds are forming on the trees. Everyone is out enjoying the beautiful weather. Since last fall we have battled illness after illness. There were two weeks of pink eye followed by two weeks of the flu in December. An ER trip, a …
Source: “Valentine’s Day Heart” by Claudia Bear Franklin Convey once said it takes 26 days to make a habit. Child Development therapists tell us when disciplining our children to modify one behavior at a time. I decided to take their approach to my New Year’s …
My goal in 2009 is to laugh more. I am focusing on joking around with my kids, especially during tantrums and learning to discover the optimist in me. This list is taken from the Happiness Project website. She does state that helping others is one of the best ways of boosting your happiness; however, it is not listed as one of the top ten. Maybe that is because we should already be doing that.
10. Take action.
Some people assume happiness is mostly a matter of inborn temperament: You’re born an Eeyore or a Tigger, and that’s that. Taking time to reflect, and conscious steps to make your life happier, really does work.
9. Stop nagging. Replace nagging with…persuasive tools: wordless hints (for example, leaving a new light bulb on the counter); using just one word (saying “Milk!†instead of talking on and on); not insisting that something be done on my schedule; and, most effective of all, doing a task myself.
8. Exercise to boost energy. Exercise is one of the most dependable mood-boosters.
7. There are two types of decision makers. “Satisfiers”- make a decision once their criteria are met. “Maximizers”- want to make the best possible decision. Satisfiers tend to be happier than maximizers. Maximizers expend more time and energy reaching decisions, and they’re often anxious about their choices. Sometimes good enough is good enough.
6. Buy some happiness.
Our basic psychological needs include feeling loved, secure, being good at what we do and having a sense of control. Spend money to stay in closer contact with…family and friends, promote…health, work more efficiently, eliminate sources of irritation and marital conflict; to support important causes; and to have enlarging experiences.
5. Don’t treat the blues with a “treat. The pleasure lasts a minute, but then feelings of guilt and loss of control and other negative consequences deepen the lousiness of the day. Ask whether this will truly make things better.
4. People who do new things are happier than people who stick to familiar activities that they already do well.
3. Fake it till you feel it. Feelings follow actions. Feeling low? Deliberately act cheery and you will yourself actually feeling happier. Feeling angry at someone? Do something thoughtful for them.
2. Expressing anger related to minor, fleeting annoyances just amplifies bad feelings, while not expressing anger often allows it to dissipate.
1. Go to sleep at a decent hour and do not allow yourself to get too hungry.
Not long ago, I made an amazing discovery. As in J.M Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, I had grown up. I had forgotten how to play dolls and cars or come up with a silly song or bedtime story. It is so easy to become consumed …
I went running this morning and I found the energy I had been looking for. The weather has been beautiful all week. I just had to get out and take advantage of it before it turns rainy or cold again. Mild weather is certainly one …
This month’s website review happens to include two websites; The Happiness Project and My Simpler Life.
THE HAPPINESS PROJECT is a memoir written by Gretchen Rubin about her year long adventure as she sets out to test every theory, tip and scientific study on being happier. The website is her daily blog on the subject.
MY SIMPLER LIFE – SIMPLE LIVING
Beth Dargis is a simplicity coach. Her goal is to help teach others how to love life, work hard and have fun, how to stay positive and take time to relax. She helps her clients “uncover what is the most important things for them to be doing.” She coaches those individuals “searching for something more in their life while releasing what they no longer need.” There is no need to become a client in order to become inspired or get tips on time management off of Beth’s website.
Both The Happiness Project and My Simpler Life teach how to step back, breathe and enjoy what we have at the moment. My brother once told me you are who you are now, unless you change who you are today. I have come to realize their is never going to be a better day than today unless I make it so. I find I am happier when I break free of me. When I can step back and think of all the joy around me. It takes time and a lot of practice. I am also trying to laugh more. Something I lost for a while. It is really hard to be angry when I am laughing or singing.