Tag: Choose Happiness

Don’t Quarantine Gratitude

I can remember sitting around the table and my sister-in-law asking everyone for their highs and lows of the day. She wanted to know the high point and the low  point of each persons day. It was a great way to connect with each other,  to share some important aspects of what happened that day and how you were feeling about it. On Thanksgiving, she would ask each of us to state what we were grateful for that day. She was ahead of her time in terms of understanding the benefits of expressing gratitude.

I’ve read about a gratitude exercise where every day you write down on a slip of paper something for which you are grateful. At the end of the year you can pull out those slips of paper and review them. Right here in My Little Blue Kayak, I have written about gratitude many times, including here and here. It seems that being grateful is all the rage!

 

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10 Happiness Questions

Do you want to increase your happiness?  There is more than enough to go around and it is free to make more and more. One could argue the supply of happiness is endless.

Then why are people so unhappy all of the time?

I think we live such busy, hectic lives that we are stressed out most of the time. We don’t spend time doing things we love and eventually we forget the joy we once derived from simple pleasures. We get caught up in daily chores, work, responsibilities, and commitments and forget to do the little things that bring us joy.

I bet he is smiling!

I would argue that if you want to increase your happiness, if you want to be a better person, if you want to be the best YOU possible; that it takes work. It takes some introspection and quiet time. But all of the time and effort is worth it once you can find ways to maximize your happiness, reduce your stress and spend time with the people who bring out the best in you.

With that in mind, here are 10 questions to get you thinking about what truly makes you happy. Continue reading “10 Happiness Questions”

I Like To Wing It!

Do you like to cook?

I love to cook. I usually have a main ingredient in mind and then start perusing the fridge and the cabinets to see what else is on hand that I can toss in the pot. I think about what protein I want, what fresh vegetables I have and the spices that will bring it all alive.

Preparing dinner is my down time at the end of the work day. I usually drink a glass of wine or an ice cold IPA while cooking and sing along to my favorite tunes. I start a meal while still thinking about what else to add to it and the final product is often nothing like what I had in mind when I started.  I will stop what I am doing to run out to the garden to pick some fresh basil, parsley and tomatoes  or at the last minute prepare some type of sauce or salsa to top it all off.

I love homegrown tomatoes!

You see, I am not a perfectionist when I cook in the kitchen. I am more of a creator or a sculptor.

Laughing out Loud!!! Ok, Ok. That is a stretch. No one has ever accused me of being an Artist in any way, shape or form.

Maybe paint and sip!

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Don’t Follow the Herd

I have been in vacation and family mode for the last few weeks and have not managed to carve out time to work on my blog or to study for my health coach exam. I have managed to spend actual time in my little yellow (sit on top) kayak, the canoe and relaxing in the lake. My honey and I spent a week vacationing in the Adirondacks with a group of friends and Child #1. That week was full of laughter, games and lake time.

The Adirondacks are gorgeous!

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Do You Melt?

Do you let the weather determine your plans? Let’s go kayaking next week. Let me check the weather first. Let’s go for a bike ride. What day is the rain going to let up? Do you want to have a picnic? No, it is going to rain.

Once upon a time, I was getting together with a friend to check out the sand castles on a beach in Maine. I was getting ready to go and the weather looked a bit iffy. I called my friend and asked if she still wanted to meet up as it looked like rain. Her response was…

Do you melt?

I don’t Melt!

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Schedule It!

The long winter of 2017 is over and spring has been pretty wonderful, although a bit rainy.  I managed to plant my small garden several weeks ago which is pretty early for this area. I have tomatoes, basil, parsley, scallions, and peppers. I have been doing lots raking, weeding and planting in my own yard and with others.

Not my house, not my garden!

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Blah, Blah, Blah

Do you ever get the sense that blah, blah, blah is what people hear when you are speaking?

Do you try really hard to listen to your co-worker, your boss, your friend and your honey but they might as well be saying blah, blah, blah? Continue reading “Blah, Blah, Blah”

Is the Universe Conspiring in Your Favor?

You know the feeling when you get stuck in your head? When your little inner voice just won’t quit with the negative comment and the criticisms?

Please tell me this happens to you…

It is time to turn off that voice and invite the positive voice to lead the ongoing dialogue in between the ears!

When people tout the benefits of positive affirmations and mantras  they say a lot of really cool things. I look at positive affirmations as simply the self talk I need to hear in order to drown out the negative voice, the self talk that is helpful vs toxic. Mantras are a simple word or sound that you repeat to yourself over and over again. I recently started listening to OM mantras on YouTube to check them out.

This site claims that mantras can cleanse your body of stress, allow you to experience more synchronicity and serendipity and unite our left and right brains allowing us to access our gut feelings, intuition and creative problem solving.

This one states “It is our self talk that creates our self concept, and there is a one-to-one relationship between our self concept(s) and our level of performance.” In other words if my self talk tells me I am stupid and lazy I will perform at a stupid and lazy level. I have read that positive affirmations, self talk and mantras help you plug into the universe which will then conspire in your favor to reach your dreams.

I’ve got the whole world in my hands!

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Do You Want To Know a Secret?

My Secret:

I have no clue what I am passionate about. Is that weird? Is it unusual? I have no clue about that either. Please don’t tell anyone. Let’s keep it a secret.

What part of secret didn’t you understand?

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When Doing The Right Thing Hurts

I adopted my dog Fenway 8 years ago when she was just 4 months old. She has been with me through good times and bad and I love her like crazy. If she was in jeopardy, I would risk my life to save her.

Right now my Fenway is pretty ticked off at me. If she could tell you about it she would say I traumatized her this morning. I pulled her hair, dumped water on her, and about tackled her in my arms.

This morning my Fenway got a good brushing and a bath. She hates them both with a passion. Every time she hears the shower turn on she runs into her crate and curls up in a ball. When I try to entice her out she pulls away from me. I have had to learn to get everything set up when she isn’t paying attention, call her into the kitchen for a treat and then scoop her up in my arms and carry her to the tub. Did I mention she hates to be carried?

The thought popped into my head that sometimes doing the right thing hurts. But it still needs to be done.

Just turning on the water makes her run!

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