The Brainstorm.

Holy Happy Project.

There are definitely a few things I've learned during the brainstorming part of this project:

1. Lots of things make me happy.
2. There are lots of things I still want to add to my routine which will add to my happiness.
3. There are lots of happiness books I want to read (whoa reading list explosion).
4. Consciously thinking about happiness has allowed me to be consciously more happy and more aware of my feelings.
5. In the brainstorming process I also made some notes on the things that have been hindering my happiness.

So, what makes me happy? It seems like every little thing makes me happy: the sun, the fact that it's fall! It's apple season, books, church, wine, spending time with friends, spending time by myself, cheese, chocolate, my Stella-the-Bear. Sleeping in! I was thinking about making a full-on spreadsheet and categorizing my happiness, but I thought that may be a little extensive. This research is easy research because it's all about me.

I have been noticing things that make me happy or make me smile a little bit more each day. Even with how busy and exhausted I've been from work this past week, I still feel relaxed and happy and at ease. The reason for this is just because I've been a  little more aware of myself each day. I've been sleeping better, spending more time with Stella, and being more intentional with my daily interaction.

Things that have been hindering my happiness... Really, there's not much. The things that stress me out daily are things I really have no control over.. Namely: Money and Time. Time will never slow down, and money will get better eventually. I'm getting better at fitting in "me time" into the everyday crazy and I'm working on my finance plan for the new year. Other then that, there isn't much that is hindering me, Like I said, I'm a generally happy person.

Happiness routine. So what am I thinking about adding to my routine??

• I've recently added a bible study group, which I'm loving but only happens once every two weeks. So I'm thinking if I add something like a book club to the every other week that will make me happy, keep me reading, and give me a chance to meet new people.
• I want to start eating healthy again. I went grocery shopping today and laid out my food for tomorrow.
• If I'm going to keep running, I need to start doing it right. I'm afraid I'm going to get hurt if I keep up the way I've been training lately. I have a half marathon in 2 weeks. and another in a month and a half. I want my knees to be stronger by that second half.
• Yoga. I miss it, I want it, I want to wake up for it, I need it. I'm having a very hard time getting up early these days, but I'm going to try my hardest to get there this week. Because I know how great it will feel.
• The past two weeks I've read every single day. I always read, but I've read for me, for my own knowledge, comfort, experience. It has been glorious and I'm going to continue that every single day.

Next step in my happiness project?? Explore every new routine in detail. The most difficult one will be yoga. I love this when it's part of my routine... but making it part of my routine will not be easy because I've been so tired. The easiest will be to keep reading, because I've already made it part of my routine. The one that will be most affected by those stressors I spoke about earlier is eating healthy, and the routine I'm most nervous about is running because my knees is making me super nervous. Finding or building a book club may be the most time consuming... do people still do that??

What did you learn about your happiness this week??


My blog goal for tomorrow:... Not really sure, but I know I want to write before bed.