Getting it done!

When you set goals are you happy when you accomplish them or are you upset when you don't? Do you determine your mood for the day if something doesn't get done that you wanted or needed to get done? I was doing some light reading today when I came across to very good posts regarding goals and happiness and I thought I would share them with you. The first one I enjoyed is called:
Goals are Bananas: The Fallacy of Goals. In that article he mentions another article on how achieving your goals does not ensure happiness.

So, my challenge to you is enjoy the journey- don't just concentrate on getting there! You learn the most while driving, and not arriving. And you need to ENJOY life to be happy- not breeze through it achieving this and that and never stopping to smell the roses.

The older the wiser and happier??

I have always been fascinated with the elderly. It seemed as though most old people I came across were blissfully happy, and I didn't understand why? Yes, you had your occasional "Mr. Wilson" but for the most part, it seemed they were all happy. Yesterday as I was reading different news articles on the internet, I came across this one and it made me smile:)

After I read that- I then looked through my RSS feed, and one of the local blogs that I subscribe to had posted a similar post. Leon Hale is a writer for the Houston Chronicle and he wrote a post titled "Old Age is not at all like I thought it would be" This also made me smile!

Happiness is being content with who we are, where we are, what we are, with the people around us. We can still hope and dream and keep going for what we want out of life- but it is being content while we go for these things and not hating life if it doesn't end up exactly the way we want it to. Give life your best and love it, and it will give back.

I think we can learn a lot from older people, and I think the most important thing we can learn, is that- yes we will become happier as we get older because we learn to not take things as seriously as we experience more life..... but we can do that NOW! Why wait??

Here's to being content with where you are at now, and living in the moment.

Happy day...TODAY!

The wisdom in a cookie.........

Chet and I took the kids out for dinner to Pei Wei the other night. When it comes to the fortune cookies it is a free for all, and so my kids grabbed about 57 before I could stop them. Usually I find the little fortunes some what comical and not very original... like- "You will have a good day today!" or "You will eat dinner tonight" So, while my kids didn't get very good fortunes - I DID! Not really a fortune, more like words of wisdom:)

"Doing what you like is freedom.
Liking what you do is happiness."

At first I was like, huh? I don't get it while scratching my head. (Yes, I have my moments) :) I read it again- and it hit me!! How true is this little bit of wisdom! So, today- I'm going to like what I do as a mom, I'm going to like doing the dishes, and like doing the laundry and like doing everything else that seems to become mundane after a while! I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom- so yes- that is freedom:) - Now I need to remind myself that I can like the routine things and that is happiness!

This reminds me of the book "The Present" by Spencer Johnson. Very good and quick read, if you are ever looking!

What is your freedom and your happiness?

What a littler imagery can do

Some where over the rainbow.... and it really is a WONDERFUL WORLD!:)
I imagine myself running in a field of wild flowers in a cute flowing sundress, and laughing with my family! What do you imagine??

Laugh a little today

I know I have already posted on laughter, but laughing is one of my most favorite things to do, and so I dedicate another post to laughter but with a different meaning.

A while back I was reading "Laughter - A Scientific Investigation" by Robert R. Provine.

I was looking through my notes from the book this morning and came across something he said that makes sense.... and goes a lot deeper then we may think. He said,

"The idea that laughter is a calisthenic for body and soul has become so pervasive that we tend to overlook the fact that laughter evolved because of its effect on others, not to improve our mood or health."

Does anybody else see what I see in this comment?

I will try and put it in my own words.

"The idea that laughter and service mainly evolved because laughing or doing good for others makes that person feel good, or cheers them up, or makes them feel special.... REALLY, helps us out, and is good for our body and soul. So, what was intended to only help the other person in the equation, ended up doing more for you then you think. " :)

So, laugh or serve- or better yet- do both at the same time! I guarantee you, you WILL come out happier then when you went in!

With Love.....

I'm so grateful for the response I have had to guest bloggers! I love reading what other people have to say about happiness, and learning from their wonderful words. Here is another amazing guest post from Jen

Love is what happiness is all about. Loving yourself, your family, your friends and doing things for them. Jen has brought housework back to a loving perspective that I fear I had forgotten. Thanks Jen!

It was a Wednesday several months ago when I first changed the way I deal with laundry. By about the hundredth (I may be exaggerating a little bit here) inside-out item I lost it completely. No longer would I turn things right side out while folding! I was done! The rest of the load got folded much faster. I put the baskets of nicely folded stacks in the hall for pick-up and went about the rest of my day. Several weeks passed. No one mentioned having an abundance of inside-out clothes in their clean piles. Nice. I cut my folding time by several minutes, allowing me to read an extra chapter of my current book, wipe down the kitchen countertops, take the dog out, reapply my lip gloss, call a tenant to ask where's the rent, and read blog posts by cjane.

My happy balloon was about to burst. Mar mentioned one day how his workout shirt was inside out and he wore it during his entire workout before he noticed. Dillon came home from school one day and I noticed his shirt was inside out. Had been all day I guess. Mar said to me, "My clothes are inside out quite a bit lately." To which I replied, "Really?" Then I brought up how much time I was saving with my new laundry method and how I would really appreciate it if certain people would make sure their clothes were right side out before they were put into the laundry for cleaning. Mar replied with a sad face, "I guess the laundry isn't done with love anymore." :-(

Well.

I guess not.

Maybe I needed to rethink my motives here. Do I enjoy doing laundry? Well, parts of it. I like separating things into color categories. I like adding all the soaps into their little drawers. I like choosing the cycle I need. I don't even mind cleaning out lint screens. I don't care so much for remembering to move loads around and where the enjoyment process breaks down completely is the folding part. Not a big fan. Don't even get me started on the socks! But, my job as mom comes with laundry responsibility. Responsibilities like these are sure easier to handle when you have the right attitude. I can see the possibilities here.

During the 2 minute yoga part of my Turbo Jam video the next morning I repeat my new mantra: I will fold the laundry with love.

Next laundry day, I encounter 6 items of inside out clothing, all of which I turn right side out and fold into nice piles. Into one of Mar's workout shirts I slip a note. "Folded with love on 3/5/08 heart Fif " (Fif is me)

The note starts a chain reaction I did not intend but which Mar and I now enjoy immensely. He found the note, wrote a note back on the other side, and hid it in with the bill drawer so next time I sat down to pay bills I found it. I wrote another note and re-hid it taped to the steering wheel of his truck. The note is still circulating; the other day I found it my vitamin cabinet (it's hidden right now tucked inside the bike shoes he uses when he spins at the gym). Folding laundry with love led to learning more about how we love each other. And also a fun game of hide and seek.

Here's to learning that housework is all about love. I hope my family knows this. I'm glad I do, too.

Peace

I believe happiness goes hand in hand with peace.

All fear comes from living in the past or the future, which are both in our minds- in reality, it is always now. As long as we stay with the Now, we have peace. Knowing this, we can choose peace at any moment. - Message from Tolle's book "The Power of Now"

I believe that actually living in the present moment is ALL we really have and when we focus on that and truly live, then we will be happy and have peace.

How many times have we worried ourselves to death that this might happen or that. Or regretting something that happened in the past, or wishing that things were the way they used to be- that YOU were the way you used to be- without wrinkles, or a smaller size, or more energetic. If we put ALL of that aside- then we have NOW and we need to enjoy it and enjoy our surroundings, because if you don't enjoy the now- soon the now will be the past, and you will wish you had.

Be filled with peace and happiness.... live in the NOW!:)