friday’s, uh, thursday’s “secret”: being grateful = being happy

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Here’s my absolutely, positively, number one, sure-to-work, no-fail secret to my being happy, and it’s mind blowing: I must be grateful for what I have.

So this Thanksgiving, I would like to increase my happiness quotient by highlighting just a few of the things that I am grateful for this year.

  • My Hubby – this guy has proven himself to be an excellent father, in addition to being a great husband, just like I knew he would be when I started dating him 13 years ago.
  • Buddy Man – this guy! What can I say about him except it’s true: your life changes in so many ways, both expected and unexpected. It’s the unexpected ones that truly surprise me. I love this guy more and more in each day.
  • My Parents – speaking of the Buddy Man, I could not raise my son half as well without the support that they give us. I truly appreciate my mother much more, being a mom myself. What she did for my sister and I, day-in and day-out, cannot be calculated or described.
  • My Sister – another wonderful source of support during this new adventure I find myself in. I can’t even begin to thank her for everything that she has done for me this year.
  • My New Brother – my sister got married this year! I absolutely love my new brother, a fellow reader! He’s awesome!
  • My Mother-in-Law – Thanks for those much needed periods of restoration from the Buddy Man every week. Don’t know if I could make it without it.
  • My Family and Friends – a special shout out to those who have especially supported me throughout this challenging year: Grandma, Mel, Nicole, Joy, Jamila, Domonique, Cindy, Mrs. Cort, and Erika.
  • Challenge Groups and Team Beachbody – my Challenge Group peeps (Nicole, Jamila, Ciera, Aunt Libby) and the Beachbody Team  – Randi and the 21 Day Fix program. I’m making progress to my fitness goals. Thanks for all of your support.
  • Great Books – book have definitely kept me sane this year. There have been so many good ones but a few deserve a special mention this year: Nourished by Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph; Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert; and Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and her Four Tendencies Framework provided a, dare I say it, framework to make and continue some changes in my life. Life-changing!
  • The Ability to Run – the other major thing that keeps me sane.
  • And it’s always nice to take a hot shower after a run.
  • And finally, all of you – the readers of my blog. Thank you so much!

“Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.”

– Dennis Prager

Happy Thanksgiving! enjoy life…

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

friday’s “secret”: “make someone else happy”

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One of my favorite authors, Gretchen Rubin has the following quote:

 

Make Yourself Happy

One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy.

I have shared Jennifer Belthoff’s The Love Notes Project here. What’s so great is that it was an experience that keeps on giving. On The Love Notes Facebook page, a fellow member posted about the Chemo Angels Program.

This simple but truly wonderful program supports individuals battling breast cancer matching applicants together based upon age, gender, interests, etc. You then send your assigned fighter cards, letters, and small tokens of positivity, support, and encouragement through good old-fashioned snail mail. The goals of the project are to show individuals battling this terrible disease that they are not alone and maybe help fuel a positive attitude to aid their recovery.

There are two kinds of angels: (1) Card Angel and (2) Chemo Angel, which is a little more involved than a Card Angel. To be a Card Angel, all that is required is that you send one card or letter once a week – 49 cents per week = $27.44 a year. Once you have accepted your assignment, you commit to sending something every week. It is worth noting here that Chemo Angels and Card Angels is a very serious commitment. Someone is counting on your notes!

I applied last month for a number of reasons:

  1. Making someone else happy would help make me happy!
  2. If I were ever diagnosed with breast cancer, I would love to receive notes of encouragement. “Do unto others…”
  3. By writing someone who is in a more challenging situation than myself on a weekly basis, I will be more grateful about my own life and my own circumstances. I received my assignment two weeks ago: a young woman, my own age with three young boys! Mission accomplished!

If you are able to spare the time, please take a look at this program and if you feel so inclined, please sign up. It’s such a little thing to do that could have a HUGE impact in the life of someone else. The website is: www.chemoangels.com and link directly to an application here.

enjoy life…

quick lit – next page, please {november 2015}

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quick lit-november 2015Today I’m linking up with one of my favorite haunts on the web, Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy. The site is great for a bookman like me. Anne reads a ton; I mean, I thought I read a lot but there really is no comparison.

This year, I am on target to read 35 books. Initially, after the birth of the Buddy Man, I lowered my expectations dramatically and set a goal of 12 for the year. Well, needless to say, I have smashed that goal and am still going; and a lot of the books that I have read this year have been based on reviews and recommendations by Modern Mrs. Darcy. Thanks Anne!

Once a month, she hosts a monthly link-up on her site called Quick Lit where she and other bloggers, like me, let you know what we’ve been reading lately. So here’s my round-up for the month. It’s weighing heavily on the self-help shelf. I’m planning to lighten it up bit over the Holidays.

Read:

  • Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin: A re-read because I used it extensively during that presentation I made in October. I talk about what I learned from that experience here. A quote that hit close to home: “Stress doesn’t necessarily make us likely to indulge in bad habits; when we’re anxious or tired, we fall back on our habits, whether bad or good.”
  • The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson: Read this as a part of a Facebook 21 Day Personal Development Challenge Group. Thanks, Randi! Very easy read for me and due to the inability to sleep a couple of nights, pulled this off in a little over three days. I appreciated the concept that our actions, however insignificant they may appear at the time, are always tending us either up or down, positively or negatively, forward or backward, and through the compound effect, these actions will determine whether we are successful or unsuccessful at life. Not a new concept, but I appreciated the simplicity of the writing and the reminder to keep working on the things that I am working on, even though I don’t see the changes or results right away. They will happen if I don’t get give up! Favorite Quote: “It has already been proven that information and technology alone are not going to create real change….Information needs to be coupled with a community to have any real life-changing effects.”
  • Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert: Even though I read it early last month I am including it in this month’s edition because Elizabeth Gilbert and her podcast, Magic Lessons, where Brené Brown was a guest, is one of the main reasons I had to pick up Rising Strong. I have to say that these two books go very well together. Quote I try to remember every day:“…my fear was boring. Mind you, my fear had always been boring to everybody else,…”
  • Rising Strong by Brené Brown: I have failed at so many things so many times that I was interested in the research about what it took to keep trying in spite of failure; to get back up on one’s feet and do it again. I have completed the book but know that I am going to have to reread it again to really digest all that was there. I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the meat of it in the new year after digesting Daring Greatly. One of my favorite quotes:“…absolutely no amount of experience or success gives you a free pass from the daunting level of doubt that is an unyielding part of the process.”

Currently Reading:

  • Daring Greatly by Brene Brown: After reading Rising Strong, my first book by Brown, you know I had to go back and read the one before it. I must say that I would probably have preferred to have read this before I read Rising Strong. I was reading this one at my usual pace and then realized that I wanted to study and really internalize the material. So I am slowing this one way down and thus it will take a while to read it.
  • The Distant Hours by Kate Morton: This is my first novel by Kate Morton and I must say that she writes beautifully. I love books that describe settings vividly. It helps me visualize the story. However, I am having trouble moving through this book due to the sheer volume the descriptions. The story is moving a little slow for my taste but the writing is lovely and I will eventually finish this one, even if I have to check it out again from the library.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the following:

  • L M N O Peas by Keith Baker: This one is read, and reread, and then reread again almost every day! Favorite quote and the one that sparked the title for these Quick Lit posts: “We’re readers! Next page, please!”

What books have you been reading lately?

enjoy life…