Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Final Week

Well the final week is upon us. I would love to hear what everyone thought of it!

Week 7:

Sunday:

Do more things everyday that make you happy no matter how silly they seem

Monday:

Thinking of fun, enjoyable past memories on a regular basis can lead you to happy, positive thinking in the now

Tuesday:

Finish what you start! Care about what you are doing and do it right

Wednesday:

The problems you spend your time and energy thinking about should be both important and improvable

Thursday:

Take a moment each day to think about the simple pleasures of your daily life

Friday:

Envying other peoples relationships is pointless! The best hope is to enjoy every relationship you have, neither forcing them to meet some artificial standard nor holding them up for comparison with anyone else's life or loves

Saturday:

If you learn to ease yourself into new circumstances, changes you make in the future will be easier for you

Remember to pass along happy thoughts to everyone around you. No one likes a negative Nancy (no pun intended to either of my amazing Aunts)

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 6

Week 6:

Sunday:

It's not what happens - it's how you think about what happen

Monday:

Fear can be worse than the thing feared

Tuesday:

Always remember where you started and how much you have accomplished

Wednesday:

Prevalent criticism within relationships reduces happiness up to 1/3

(maybe we will think differently when we nag next time)

Thursday:

Think about what you need to do to get where you want to be

Friday:

If you can't reach your goals, your goals will hurt you

Saturday:

Show more true positive feelings such as joy, gratefulness, and pride better through tone of voice, chosen words, facial expressions

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 5

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you are enjoying some special time with your loved ones!

Week 5:

Sunday:

No on is forcing you to do anything - you chose what you want to do

(I didn't realize this was so much like the one from yesterday! I guess it works well for a weekend!)

Monday:

Believe in your own value first, last and always

Tuesday:

Unhappy people take defeat, enlarge it, making it stand for who they are and using it to predict the outcome of their future life events

Wednesday:

Happy people rig the game in their favor by choosing to value things that are within their grasp

Thursday:

Be more open with new ideas - people were 1/3 less happy when resistant to change

Friday:

When you don't know the outcome of something guess positively

Saturday:

If you don't believe in yourself you won't be able to function

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 4

Half way through! I have enjoyed this and think it's really helpful. You never realize how negative your thoughts are until you force yourself to think nothing but positive thoughts.




Week 4:

Sunday:

In relationships those who feel they can fully communicate their concerns and needs to their partners are 40% more likely to feel satisfied than those that do not

Monday:

Buy only things you really want or need instead of "stuff"; you'll appreciate everything you have on a day to day basis

Tuesday:

Buy only what you really like! The more you buy, the more you give away, therefore leading to you spending more and getting less

*Monday and Tuesdays thoughts will be good to use while shopping for Valentine's Day gifts

Wednesday:

Bad things happen buy you don't feel the effect of them on you forever unless you hold onto it. Think about other things in the aftermath of negative events

Thursday:

Be your own fan! Stop looking for others to make you feel better about yourself. Pick yourself up when you're feeling down. Don't depend on someone to make you feel better or change your mood

(Please tell me I am not the only one guilty of this?!?)

Friday:

Smile more! Your smile makes others happy which in turn will make you happy

(Plus it's Friday - one reason to smile already!)

Saturday:

You always have a choice! Think about the positive effects of your actions, the reasons you go to work, the reasons you keep the household running

(remember this while you are folding laundry, washing dishes or picking up toys in every room of the house)

Make someone's day!

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 3

How is everyone doing? Here's my weekly list:

Sunday:

Be more socially open; laugh, enjoy company, share stories

Monday:

Find something to do - being bored brings down personal happiness and life satisfaction

Tuesday:

Think about things and people or events that bother you less. Goes along with thinking positively

Wednesday:

Make your goals more specific so you can measure your progress and really know if you have successfully completed or reached them

Thursday:

Blaming yourself for negative events can lead to you being more unhappy with yourself in every event

Friday:

Let your job be your calling, not just something dragging you away from what you want to be doing

Saturday:

If something bothers you, raise the discussion in disagreement, but do so lovingly and constructively not with anger or aggression

Repeat: Happy thoughts, Happy thoughts, Happy thoughts

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 2

Did everyone have a positive week? Here's week 2:

Sunday:

Realize that complete satisfaction does not exist - set your sights on being generally satisfied or generally happy, not on expecting every aspect of life to be perfect - if you can accept this, you can accept what you have

(I strive for perfection too much and am often left disappointed in myself)

Monday:

Happy people let themselves be happy. Unhappy people continue to do the things that upset them

Tuesday:

There is no objective way to tell if you have has a good life, a good day or a good hour. Your life is a success based upon your personal judgment

Wednesday:

Measure your life not by the greatest moments but against some of the tough days you have had

Thursday:

Valuing what you have over what you do not or cannot have leads to greater unhappiness. People who like what they have are twice as likely to be happy as those who actually have the most

Friday:

Laugh More! It improves personal happiness by 1/3

Saturday:

Find more common interests; proven to improve a relationships ability it last

All you have to do is think happy thoughts!

Simple Steps To A Happy Life: Week 1

Here is the first full week of Simple Steps To A Happy Life:

Sunday:

You have to realize that some disagreements and disappointments have no point and should be dropped and not pushed. If you push something of no point if never goes away

(Man oh Man! I am really guilty of this!)

Monday:

Happy people do not have one success after another; and unhappy people one failure after another. They have basically very similar lives, similar life experiences. The difference is that on average an unhappy person spends more than twice as much time thinking of unpleasant events in their life, while happy people tend to seek and rely upon information that brightens their personal outlook

Tuesday:

Events are only temporary

Wednesday:

Don't blame yourself

Thursday:

It makes more sense to deal with outcomes than with fault. Don't blame yourself because only some things are in your control and some things are out of your control

Friday:

Blaming yourself does not fix the problem! Blame is about the past, a plan of action is about the future

Saturday:

It doesn't take everything you have, and everything you can get your hands on to wind up where you want to be

Pass happy thoughts along!

Simple Steps To A Happy Life :o)

A few years ago, before Taylor, I was pretty unhappy with where my life was. I was living with a roommate that I didn't get along with, DJ was constantly traveling and I wasn't happy with my job. I started reading little books on being happy and they were actually really good. If I ever find them I will post the titles. But when I was reading them I wrote down the best tips, hints and quotes I read. 5 address changes later and I still have the list I made. I read it every now and then but recently started reading it more. Like I said in the earlier post, I will be going to counseling and a "Happy Anger" class to help me let go of things and become more genuinely happy. I am looking forward to this. I also decided that I needed more positive affirmations, confirmations and sayings in my life. So I printed off blank weekly calendars, will place each week inside the planner and every day I will focus on a new phrase. For every item I wrote down from these books, I added it to the calendar. I have 7 weeks' worth. I believe there are many people out there that do not participate in positive thinking enough (myself included) so every Sunday I will share my weekly list with you.

 

Here is my list for this week (only 2 days)

Friday:

Strive to improve! Do not strive to be perfect

Saturday:

Those who are least likely to quickly overcome a temporary sense of dissatisfaction with life are those who cannot define sources for their feelings

The Sweet Things In Life

Have you ever noticed that doing good things for others is usually more rewarding than doing something for yourself? Today was a great day. I did tons of small things that hopefully bring smiles to everyone's faces. Here's the things I did today:

My Aunt Nancy posts some great recipes on her blog all the time and I have always wanted to try them. So today I made Cheesy Beer Bread and Cinnamon Bread Delight. We haven't tried them yet (just got out of the oven) but they smell so good! So today I made a great dinner for DJ. We're having roast, potatoes and carrots and Cheesy Beer Bread. I didn't realize until half way through the recipe that I would be making two loaves of Cinnamon Delight Bread. So DJ's family will be getting the extra loaf. I hope they like it.

DJ's phone recently broke and he had to get it replaced. All of his phone numbers were stuck in his old phone though so while he was working today I wrote all his phone numbers down for him and he can program them into his new phone when he gets a chance.

DJ's also been looking for a used fridge - either for free or really cheap - and I found him one! He gets to pick it up tomorrow. And this is perfect timing because he just brewed his first batch of homemade beer with his dad. It's sitting in our spare bathroom fermenting right now but soon will be ready to keg! Now he'll have his keg-ger-ator for the garage!

I also had a lot of smiles today. Taylor and I played a lot and she is so cute! I can't believe that in just about two weeks she'll already be 2 months old. She is really growing up a lot faster than I would like her to but I am enjoying every minute of it. Babies are so cute to watch sleep. She was sleeping in her chair today while I was baking and I couldn't help but laugh. Her little arm kept raising into the air like someone had attached puppet strings to it. It makes me wonder what she was dreaming about.

I hope everyone else enjoyed their day as much as I did. :)