Monthly Archives: July 2012

health, life well lived

Life Well Lived: Resources for increasing and sustaining happiness

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Its time for another Life Well Lived Getting Happy panel!

Happy This week’s question is: What are your favorite resources for increasing and sustaining happiness?

For once, the LWL question made me stumble a bit.

My knee-jerk answer is to list the things that never fail to make me happy. Faith. Family. Friends. A great conversation. Photography. Writing. Music. My cats. Eating. A good cup of coffee. Reading. Sleeping. Great fitting blue jeans. Anything Texas A&M University. Sunshine. Rain. Etc.

I could list off things that make me happy for hours on end. I’m a naturally happy person in general, and its so often the little things that make me happy. But that is where this trips me up… these things make me happy, sure. But these things can also sometimes frustrate me.  Then it hit me…

My favorite resource for happiness is myself.

A story to illustrate my point: Just last weekend, when I went to pick my husband up from the bus, I walked out the door making a conscious decision to be in a good mood when I got there.

I almost always end up picking him up after only getting 3 hours of sleep, and 9 times out of 10 I deal with a fellow driver that leaves my blood boiling. (And of course, due to lack of sleep, my already short fuse with drivers who don’t drive defensively is a lot a shorter than normal.) My husband is just used to me picking him up in a terrible mood. It’s almost a running joke that he wonders how ticked off I’ll be when I pick him up. But that day I went, “I am happy he is home. He needs to see THAT, not a ticked off wife mad at the world.”

You know what happened? I picked my husband up with a smile that was genuine and I caught him off guard. I made the conscious decision to be happy. I can’t help the fact that I don’t get enough sleep before I pick him up. I can’t help that other drivers just don’t pay attention to what is going on around them. But I CAN help how I respond. THAT is one thing I CAN control.

It’s not about having a cup of coffee. It’s not about if the sun is shining or not. It’s about my approach to life — to any given situation or moment in time. I am my own favorite resource for happiness.

What about you? What is your favorite resource for creating and increasing happiness?

Join me here and and in the comments over at the Main Post on BlogHer.com.

general-post, random musings

Clean house for company

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I have a clean house right now. Oh don’t get me wrong, I don’t live in a dirty house. I clean the bathroom regularly, and the dishes are done daily. But it can get cluttered, and I certainly don’t mop as often as I am sure I should.

However, when I know I am going to have company, my house ends up super clean! The days in advance center around whatever room or task I am tackling as I prepare for my guests. The last few hours before they arrive are spent making sure everything is in place. Candles are lit. Everything is in its place.

Every time I do this, the house feels lighter. I actually even sleep better, knowing all is in its place.

And then I wonder… why on earth don’t I do this for myself… just for me!? Why does it take house guests for me to make my home the best it can be? I’m worth it! I deserve to come into my home and see it tidy. I deserve to enjoy it by myself. But no, it takes house guests to motivate me to do the job. Another motivator is my husband coming home after an extra long run on the road. I like the house being perfect for his return home.

Next big house clean will be just for me. It’ll be for my own peace. And I can end the day with a hot shower and a glass of cold wine. Yeahhh… I like that idea.