Our Happiness Project group met today for our first meeting of 2014. I am so excited about the possibilities. Everyone has something unique to bring to the table, and we will pursue our 2014 resolutions in a variety of ways, meeting the needs and desires of each individual. I took my plan, ready to share, but I was so impressed with the plans presented by the others. I love Gretchen Rubin's book, but her system worked for her and we are adapting it to work for us.
Of course, the pursuit of happiness is extremely personal. Why would we all follow the same plan, the same themes, the same goals? Victoria brought her charts, Evelyn brought her binder. Sheralyn has a pocket calendar and I have my blog. Christie and Carolyn are still working their ideas out. The one thing we have in common is that we are not content to stay in our comfortable place. This year we will spread our wings, reach, stretch, learn, become aware and change. A metamorphosis.
I really want this blog to be about sharing what I am learning. And it won't just be about the Happiness Project. If I read, learn, or come across any interesting or inspiring little tidbit, I want to share it with you. I love it when someone else shares their perspective with me and I have an "a-hah" moment. I love to see things in a new way. I think I've spent most of my life searching for those missing pieces of the puzzle, and whenever someone pops a new piece into place I can see more of the picture and it gives me a certain satisfaction.
To sum it up, this is why I am excited for the group this year:
1. We need our friends. We need a safe place to share our dreams and our struggles. We need the perspective of others.
2. We need to be accountable to stay on track. I will use this forum to do "my thing" during the month knowing that I will share an overview of my journey with the group.
3. We need to be inspired. Life can be hard on us. When we are having a challenging time of it, nothing is more motivational than to be around others who are overcoming their challenges. With a smile on their face.
11 January 2014
10 January 2014
Prayer
This morning I ran across a great little blog post in One Good Thing by Jillee. I love her stuff (and her sisters' blogs, Rebecca and Dori) and want to share:
Seven Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest in 2014
It seems a lot of people think about change in January. We measure time by beginnings and endings and there is something exciting about a fresh start.
The other day I mentioned my top priorities in life. Have you thought about yours? It gives you a fresh perspective. I listed my relationship with God as my top priority. Now its time to list how I can improve this relationship and how I can make more time for the most important things in my life.
I can check off a few things I am already doing: I attend church regularly. I fulfill my assignments. I read scriptures and other inspirational material. I pray.
I want to focus on where I can improve and Prayer is one area I can definitely improve upon. I say prayers. But often I say my prayers because I know I should. And often I neglect saying prayers because I rationalize that God already knows my needs and what I am grateful for. I'm ashamed to admit this, because I know God just wants to hear from me and my checking in with Him shows Him that I am willing to make time in my day for Him. I also believe that prayer shows God that I am willing to put my trust in Him and lean on Him for strength, which is a form of humility.
My two main goals concerning prayer are:
1. to really communicate with God; to respectfully talk to Him as I would a friend. I tend to say the same things over and over in prayer. I want to shake that up and really focus on opening my heart to Him.
2. to pray in the morning. I am usually so tired by the time I go to bed at night that I can't think straight. I think that by communicating with Him during the day, I am alert and in tune. Also, I am alone in the house. I have the privacy to really open up and take the time.
I love the imagery of God as a potter. If I am clay in God's hands, then He can make something infinitely more precious and beautiful of me then I can make of myself. I need to be willing to turn my will over to Him and see the masterpiece that He can shape. I have a hard time letting go, so this will be a challenge for me.
Seven Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest in 2014
It seems a lot of people think about change in January. We measure time by beginnings and endings and there is something exciting about a fresh start.
The other day I mentioned my top priorities in life. Have you thought about yours? It gives you a fresh perspective. I listed my relationship with God as my top priority. Now its time to list how I can improve this relationship and how I can make more time for the most important things in my life.
I can check off a few things I am already doing: I attend church regularly. I fulfill my assignments. I read scriptures and other inspirational material. I pray.
I want to focus on where I can improve and Prayer is one area I can definitely improve upon. I say prayers. But often I say my prayers because I know I should. And often I neglect saying prayers because I rationalize that God already knows my needs and what I am grateful for. I'm ashamed to admit this, because I know God just wants to hear from me and my checking in with Him shows Him that I am willing to make time in my day for Him. I also believe that prayer shows God that I am willing to put my trust in Him and lean on Him for strength, which is a form of humility.
My two main goals concerning prayer are:
1. to really communicate with God; to respectfully talk to Him as I would a friend. I tend to say the same things over and over in prayer. I want to shake that up and really focus on opening my heart to Him.
2. to pray in the morning. I am usually so tired by the time I go to bed at night that I can't think straight. I think that by communicating with Him during the day, I am alert and in tune. Also, I am alone in the house. I have the privacy to really open up and take the time.
I love the imagery of God as a potter. If I am clay in God's hands, then He can make something infinitely more precious and beautiful of me then I can make of myself. I need to be willing to turn my will over to Him and see the masterpiece that He can shape. I have a hard time letting go, so this will be a challenge for me.
07 January 2014
On Priorities
I thought I knew myself well. At 52, I realize that I am just beginning to be acquainted with myself. Or see myself as I actually am. Most of this has been quite disconcerting. And after a few days of feeling sorry for myself (because I'm actually not as spectacular as I thought ;) I have realized that this is the gift of life. We have an opportunity to grow and stretch and become better with each day. It requires action and effort; wishing doesn't bring about change. How we handle the time we've been given and how we work to overcome our weaknesses is what makes us great.
So what is most important to me? How can I spend my time on what is of most worth? Most of my list deals with relationships.
1. relationship with God
2. relationship with husband
3. relationship with family (children, parents, siblings)
4. relationship with friends
I realize that other tasks that must be done support these relationships. For example, I want to keep a comfortable, clean and organized home because it supports harmony and comfort within my family. I want to be fully participating in church because I believe this is where I learn, through instruction and service, to be closer to God.
These are the things that I want to focus on. These, therefore, are my top priorities. The next step is to define how I can actually spend most of my time supporting these priorities.
So what is most important to me? How can I spend my time on what is of most worth? Most of my list deals with relationships.
1. relationship with God
2. relationship with husband
3. relationship with family (children, parents, siblings)
4. relationship with friends
I realize that other tasks that must be done support these relationships. For example, I want to keep a comfortable, clean and organized home because it supports harmony and comfort within my family. I want to be fully participating in church because I believe this is where I learn, through instruction and service, to be closer to God.
These are the things that I want to focus on. These, therefore, are my top priorities. The next step is to define how I can actually spend most of my time supporting these priorities.
04 January 2014
Roll-over Minutes
In Sunday School last week, I was explaining the concept of roll-over minutes to my 14 year-old students. Each month, we have unused minutes that are sent into the next month to be added to that month's allotted minutes. In all the years that we have had this plan, we have never run out of minutes, or incurred a charge for extra minutes used.
Life is not like that. In pursuing the topic of priorities, I was reading a talk by Dallin H. Oaks (who seems to have a lot to say on this topic!) and this bit of wisdom popped out at me: Our priorities are most visible in how we use our time. Someone has said, “Three things never come back—the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity.” We cannot recycle or save the time allotted to us each day. With time, we have only one opportunity for choice, and then it is gone forever.
That kind of stopped me in my tracks! You see, I have a problem with wasted time. I start each day with the best of intentions, but at the end of the day, I can't really account for a lot of productive hours. I want to change this.
I know the computer sucks up too much time.... facebook, shopping online, reading interesting articles, checking email. The list goes on. When I stop to think about it, I can see how much more productive my life was pre-tech.
I also have a problem with following through. I am an endless list-maker. I have to write things down because I will forget. Another problem to overcome is sticking to my list. I can't tell you how many days I have started out with a plan, only to scratch my head at the end of the day because I only crossed off, finished, one thing. Oh, I started everything, but somewhere along the way I got distracted and jumped to another task on the list. Or added something that wasn't there to begin with. It's part of my random, buoyant nature. But to live in this world (and with my task-oriented husband) I have to actually accomplish something!
Today's goal is to make a list of TWO things and to accomplish them. It's a Saturday and we have plans away from home, so I will be realistic. I think every human being needs to feel like they are contributing something valuable, even a random helium-filled personality like me.
Life is not like that. In pursuing the topic of priorities, I was reading a talk by Dallin H. Oaks (who seems to have a lot to say on this topic!) and this bit of wisdom popped out at me: Our priorities are most visible in how we use our time. Someone has said, “Three things never come back—the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity.” We cannot recycle or save the time allotted to us each day. With time, we have only one opportunity for choice, and then it is gone forever.
That kind of stopped me in my tracks! You see, I have a problem with wasted time. I start each day with the best of intentions, but at the end of the day, I can't really account for a lot of productive hours. I want to change this.
I know the computer sucks up too much time.... facebook, shopping online, reading interesting articles, checking email. The list goes on. When I stop to think about it, I can see how much more productive my life was pre-tech.
I also have a problem with following through. I am an endless list-maker. I have to write things down because I will forget. Another problem to overcome is sticking to my list. I can't tell you how many days I have started out with a plan, only to scratch my head at the end of the day because I only crossed off, finished, one thing. Oh, I started everything, but somewhere along the way I got distracted and jumped to another task on the list. Or added something that wasn't there to begin with. It's part of my random, buoyant nature. But to live in this world (and with my task-oriented husband) I have to actually accomplish something!
Today's goal is to make a list of TWO things and to accomplish them. It's a Saturday and we have plans away from home, so I will be realistic. I think every human being needs to feel like they are contributing something valuable, even a random helium-filled personality like me.
03 January 2014
New Year, New Plan
Most years I create my New Year's resolutions. This year, I am inspired by Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I joined a group of friends to discuss this book throughout 2013, but because of health problems and travel I only attended maybe half of the meetings. I did read the book, however, and I have a whole list of things to work on for 2014.
One day, I will blog about my love for another book It's Just My Nature by Carol Tuttle. I learned a lot about myself and why New Year's Resolutions haven't worked for me in the past. I'm a dominant Type 1 energy, which means I have a tendency to get excited about new ideas, but rarely have the focus or determination to finish something before I get distracted by the next big thing. I'm hoping my Happiness Project format will work well with my easily side-tracked nature.
I chose to begin with Priorities, because I have a serious challenge here. This is the girl that spent 2 years at a university, 2 years working full-time, three years at a business school and 18 months as a missionary. Basically, it took me 8.5 years to earn an associates degree in business!
I often shove important things to the back burner, like the storage room that has seriously been neglected for years, in spite of the fact that I have promised my husband I would clean it out and organize it for..... years. I think about the storage room every time I walk into it, then promptly forget it because I have just started a new book, or a new exercise program, or I have a lunch and movie date with my gal pals on Thursday. Some of you might wonder why I'm concerned with the storage room at all (fellow Type 1's, perhaps?), but I made a promise and it's slowly eating away at my self-respect. And I need to show my husband that I am a girl of my word, even if it takes me years to finish something!
Here is a quote by Dallin H Oaks to get me started: “Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.”
One day, I will blog about my love for another book It's Just My Nature by Carol Tuttle. I learned a lot about myself and why New Year's Resolutions haven't worked for me in the past. I'm a dominant Type 1 energy, which means I have a tendency to get excited about new ideas, but rarely have the focus or determination to finish something before I get distracted by the next big thing. I'm hoping my Happiness Project format will work well with my easily side-tracked nature.
I chose to begin with Priorities, because I have a serious challenge here. This is the girl that spent 2 years at a university, 2 years working full-time, three years at a business school and 18 months as a missionary. Basically, it took me 8.5 years to earn an associates degree in business!
I often shove important things to the back burner, like the storage room that has seriously been neglected for years, in spite of the fact that I have promised my husband I would clean it out and organize it for..... years. I think about the storage room every time I walk into it, then promptly forget it because I have just started a new book, or a new exercise program, or I have a lunch and movie date with my gal pals on Thursday. Some of you might wonder why I'm concerned with the storage room at all (fellow Type 1's, perhaps?), but I made a promise and it's slowly eating away at my self-respect. And I need to show my husband that I am a girl of my word, even if it takes me years to finish something!
Here is a quote by Dallin H Oaks to get me started: “Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.”
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