December – Boost Energy: A focus on Vitality

After three months on sleeping pills ($200/month!), staying up too late, sleeping in too late, I decided my project needed to start with a month focusing on energy. My mood is always better automatically when I feel rested. Fortunately, I haven't had to have a sleeping pill in 3 weeks, even though not every night has been a great night's sleep. And I won't deny the Benadryl. God bless Benadryl.
So my first goal in this month’s resolution is to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Sleep studies (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/how-many-hours-of-sleep-are-enough/AN01487) show that adults should get 7-9 hours of sleep, so 7 hours is on the low end. Since I get up at 5:15 a.m. (or try to!), this means I need to BE asleep no later than 10:15 p.m. It takes me at least 30 minutes to fall asleep, I need to be in bed by 9:45 p.m. I struggle with this some, because I do a lot of things to get ready for work the next day. I iron my clothes, make my lunch and snacks and get my gym clothes ready for the next day. After I get home from work, I cook, play with my son, get him in to bed, do the above items, and by then it’s already 9:30 p.m., which leaves little time to relax. I’m going to try to carve out more time in the evening to relax, meditate, write in my journal, pray/read my Bible, AND try to get in bed by 9:45 p.m.!
Drink less caffeine. Since I switched from coffee to black or green tea, I have slept better.
Drink 100 oz of water a day.

Workout schedule:
Do yoga 3-4 times a week. Don’t force it to be a certain amount of time, just do what you can in the time you have.
In addition, Run 3 times a week.
Cross train 2 times a week.
Rest 2 days a week.
Give myself latitude to rest more if I need it.
This is similar to what I already do for exercise but adding in more yoga to prevent injury and restore. Yoga is good for mind, body and soul.

I’ll add/change goals as I go along!

Simple Truths, Personal Commandments and Areas of Focus

Simple Truths
1. To be happier, think about feeling good, feeling bad and feeling right in an atmosphere of growth
This truth is about the measure of happiness. What does it mean to feel good vs. feeling bad but in an atmosphere where you experience personal growth (vs. a superficial, fleeting moment). True happiness to me is an ongoing, satisfying, fulfillment vs. a hedonistic, humanistic approach.
2. Quality is always better than quantity
Doing more things only makes you busy. Doing things of substance makes you happy.
3. The days are long but the years are short
Similar to quality, this truth addresses living an extraordinary life, not a general one.
4. People matter more than things
Self-explanatory. Things aren’t bad, but shouldn’t be a focus of a life.

Personal Commandments
I. Be Lynn – I will not force myself to do things that I do not enjoy just because I feel like I should be “that” type of person. At the same time, I will try new things and keep an open mind.
II. Work Smarter Not Harder / Quality over Quantity
III. Pray, pray, pray
IV. Hit the Mat – Yoga is happiness for mind, body and soul.
V. Silence is Golden – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all
VI. Sing more; dance more; laugh more
VII. Other people cannot tell you that you are/are not happy
VIII. Be slow to anger – and breathe
IX. Be good to yourself – take time for your body to heal, rest and relax
X. Kick some butt – Selectively push yourself!


Areas of Concentration:
December – Boost Energy: A focus on Vitality
January – Aim Higher: A focus on Work
February – Love: A focus on Marriage
March – Serious about Play: A focus on Having Fun
April – A Mom and her Son: A focus on Parenting
May – Make Time for Friends: A focus on Developing Quality Friendships
June – Contemplate the Heavens: A focus on my Walk with God
July – Conquer my Fear: A focus on What I am Afraid of
August – Being Mindful: A focus on Staying in and Enjoying the Present
September: Pursue a Passion: A focus on Hobbies
October: Get it Together: A focus on Organization
November: Others: A focus on Volunteering

My Happiness Project

I'm not the best blogger. It's been 18 months since I've even posted.

My site is not going to look fancy or awesome. I'll settle for functional.

I'm not horribly witty. Well, I am in real life but in blogger world, I'm mostly just random.

I am happy. Generally speaking. I am not clinically depressed or angry. I have a pretty good life. But, like most of us, life is very busy and tends to skip days. Tomorrow I will likely wake up and be 40, even though I'm only 31 today. The busyness of life has often made me pause (although not for long) and wonder what I could do to decrease the chaos, somehow slow down the clock, and create more quality (not quantity) in my life without giving up a bunch of activities that I enjoy. I tried reading the book "Make Room for Life" but had problems getting past the first chapter. Finally, after 3 months, I finally finished my book club's book for September, "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. The book, and Gretchen's quirky personality, really spoke to me. After I finished the book yesterday, I immediately made up my mind to do my own project. Like I said, I am happy already, generally speaking. But it's a general feeling. I desire an extraordinary life. Not a general one. I want an extraordinary marriage and relationship with my son. I want extraordinary friendships and passions that I pursue heartily.

So here I go! Essentially, I am going to follow the same pattern Gretchen did and many of the things she concentrated on are areas I want to concentrate on too, with a few exceptions. The first step is to come up with a list of Simple Truths; basically, what I want to accomplish or what I define as "happiness." Second, you list Commandments; things that you hold true to in order to pursue genuine happiness and not areas you just wished you were good at, did, or enjoyed. Lastly, you come up with a list of 12 areas of concentration that you want to create more happiness in and around; for example, parenting, marriage, energy/health, etc. This is essentially what a happiness project is. It's not about perfection. It's about a passionate pursuit of life.

Again, I am really bad about blogging regularly, so don't expect daily updates. I'll shoot for once a week at the most, and once a month at a minimum. My next post will address my Simple Truths, Commandments and Areas of Concentration. I will also keep really personal stuff out of my posts, I'd hate to embarrass my husband ;)

The project starts December 1. And I promise to try and update my boring blog background.