2011 is rapidly coming to an end. And like we say every year, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Especially this month. And while I can't say that I hit each one of my goals every day this month, I know that the times that I have, I feel better or I have more energy and that makes me feel good. But this project isn't about FEELING good, it's about BEING happy.
I'd also like to clarify happiness. I read a quote the other day from someone that said, "Life is not about being happy." I would counter that life is not about being SELFISH. People often do things compulsively and selfishly, chasing after what they think is happiness, but end up feeling empty inside. I know that my ultimate source of happiness is my God, but I also know that God expects action on our parts in our lives. I also know that the Bible speaks an awful lot about joy. So I say there is nothing wrong with wanting to be happy and joyful, dwelling in the Source of it all.
So next month's focus is going to be on "Work." Why I chose "Work" for January, I'm not sure! Maybe because "Health" seemed cliche with the New Year's Resolution time of the year, and if anyone knows me very well, they know that I eat pretty well and work out 4-5 times a week, so there is not a lot of "Health" that I need to focus on.
This next week, I will take some time to come up with what within "Work" to focus on!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Week 3
Week 3 has come and gone in a blink.
While we had a much better week with D, I did a poor job on my resolutions. I only hit about half of them - mainly the exercise and drinking enough water. I noticed how important emotional energy was to physical energy. I only have one kid but when he's in a cranky mood, it really takes a lot of energy to deal with. I can only imagine the mothers who have more than one! And it's no secret that this busy time of year can create a lot of activities that cause it to hop from one thing to another, taxing our energy.
Fortunately, we're done with all our Christmas parties and I've only got a gift or two left to pick up, so this week will likely be slower before the mob of family arrives, which is always a good time! I love having all our family around, it's an emotional pick me up (most of the time :).
Another observation I made this week was how much of a distraction my iPhone is. I already leave it in my car during work, but I still check it in the morning, at lunch and at night, pretty much constantly. So this week, I am going to limit it to 1-2 times a day. There's never anything so urgent that I need to check it 10 times a day!
So this week, I am going to do a better job of getting in to bed on time and getting stuff ready for work in the morning, especially since I am at work by 7 a.m. It can be frustrating after a 10 hr day, getting D into bed and then trying to fix my lunch and iron my clothes, all while getting in to bed by 9:45 p.m. It can feel like you end up with no free time or time to relax. Keeping in mind one of my commandments, to work smarter, not harder, I'm going to try and be more efficient in this area, so I have more time for myself!
Here's to this week!
While we had a much better week with D, I did a poor job on my resolutions. I only hit about half of them - mainly the exercise and drinking enough water. I noticed how important emotional energy was to physical energy. I only have one kid but when he's in a cranky mood, it really takes a lot of energy to deal with. I can only imagine the mothers who have more than one! And it's no secret that this busy time of year can create a lot of activities that cause it to hop from one thing to another, taxing our energy.
Fortunately, we're done with all our Christmas parties and I've only got a gift or two left to pick up, so this week will likely be slower before the mob of family arrives, which is always a good time! I love having all our family around, it's an emotional pick me up (most of the time :).
Another observation I made this week was how much of a distraction my iPhone is. I already leave it in my car during work, but I still check it in the morning, at lunch and at night, pretty much constantly. So this week, I am going to limit it to 1-2 times a day. There's never anything so urgent that I need to check it 10 times a day!
So this week, I am going to do a better job of getting in to bed on time and getting stuff ready for work in the morning, especially since I am at work by 7 a.m. It can be frustrating after a 10 hr day, getting D into bed and then trying to fix my lunch and iron my clothes, all while getting in to bed by 9:45 p.m. It can feel like you end up with no free time or time to relax. Keeping in mind one of my commandments, to work smarter, not harder, I'm going to try and be more efficient in this area, so I have more time for myself!
Here's to this week!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Week 2
I'll admit, week 2 was hard. Much harder than I anticipated. It started off fine, but with Mikel traveling, I was worn out all the time from having to be the only one here to get D and myself ready for the day, take him to school, work a full day and exercise, pick up D, fix dinner and then get him in bed. And he was CRANKY. All week long. Don't know if it was the full moon or what, but it's really hard to be "happy" when your four year old kicks you square in the face. But I get points for staying calm with him and not over reacting, something I struggle with when he does stuff like that. Who wouldn't??? It's not easy to keep your cool when your kid lands one on your face. So I was worn out from all that but by then it was Wednesday and Mikel came home....sick. No real symptoms other than fever, aches and sleeping all day. So naturally, the next day, I started feeling it too. By Friday, my boss made me go home and strangely enough, I didn't fight him and did. I should have taken the chance to sleep when I got home but instead I watched 6 hours of TV. I had a headache and didn't feel like sleeping even though I was worn out. I went to bed by 9:30 p.m., after Mikel woke me up on the couch when I eventually fell asleep.
So needless to say, this week didn't feel like a success. It was hard keeping up with some of my goals when I was so tired by the end of the day. Which is still one thing I need to identify an energy boost for. I love music, so maybe I need to blast some cheery music when D and I get home for a little mini pick me up. However, I did allow myself to rest this week. I didn't push it on the exercise because my hip has been injured from running and I let myself to rest when my body was obviously fighting off getting sick, which allowed it to heal because I feel much better.
This next week is going to be focused on eating well because we have 3 Christmas parties to go to and I have two lunch dates. That's a lot of eating out. I will also ease back in to running as my injury is much better. I ran 4 miles yesterday and 5 today. I will do a better job of getting my lunch, gym bag and clothes for the next day lined out because that is a big help in the mornings, helping me get ready on time and taking some of the chaos out of the hectic morning.
Here's to a new tomorrow. Even if it is a Monday.
So needless to say, this week didn't feel like a success. It was hard keeping up with some of my goals when I was so tired by the end of the day. Which is still one thing I need to identify an energy boost for. I love music, so maybe I need to blast some cheery music when D and I get home for a little mini pick me up. However, I did allow myself to rest this week. I didn't push it on the exercise because my hip has been injured from running and I let myself to rest when my body was obviously fighting off getting sick, which allowed it to heal because I feel much better.
This next week is going to be focused on eating well because we have 3 Christmas parties to go to and I have two lunch dates. That's a lot of eating out. I will also ease back in to running as my injury is much better. I ran 4 miles yesterday and 5 today. I will do a better job of getting my lunch, gym bag and clothes for the next day lined out because that is a big help in the mornings, helping me get ready on time and taking some of the chaos out of the hectic morning.
Here's to a new tomorrow. Even if it is a Monday.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Week 1
This week began the Happiness Project December area of focus for vitality & boosting energy.
It hasn't been real easy. D has had a few tough nights of what we think are mild night terrors and it's hard to get 7 hours of sleep when that sleep is interrputed by an inconsolable 4 year old who screams who 45 minutes. However, drinking 100 oz of water a day and cutting back considerably on caffeine has really helped. And, even though I was very doubtful at first, I started journaling at the suggestion of my friend Erin. I have a tendency to be a bit OCD and to be perfectionist. The biggest issues I would have trying to fall asleep were the amount of time it would take (30 minutes at least) and trying to turn my brain off. When Erin suggested journaling, I thought something as simple as that would in no way help me fall asleep. I thought I needed something (like a sleeping pill) to turn that constant stream of thought off. It wasn't related to stress as it would happen whether or not I felt stressed or had a lot of things going on in my life. What stressed me out was not being able to sleep. It seemed to get worse when I was overtired, which didn't make sense, so I was so tired! But I see D having the same problem and I understand that our bodies produce cortisol when we are stressed or tired, causing our bodies to work overtime and not be able to rest and relax.
http://www.sleep-problems-nomore.com/Cortisol_and_Sleep.html
The sleeping pills, which were not very strong, worked, but I felt a "crash" by the afternoon, worse than coffee. I decided to drastically reduce the amount of coffee I drank. Then, we went to Guadalajara Mexico on a mission visit. I really wanted the trip to induce a change both spiritually and mentally. Before we left, I left the sleeping pills at home and journaled just about every night. Although I didn't sleep well in Guadalajara (Train tracks next to hotel!), I have slept well ever since.
My next step is to identify some activities and behaviors that I can do in the evening to keep my energy up in the evening. I think we all understand the difficulty in staying energized after a long day.
In the Happiness Project book, Gretchen kept a resolutions chart for each month in the area of focus for that month. That was really something I did not want to do. I understood why though. Keeping track of the goals you wish to accomplish within a resolution, creates the ability to measure how well you are accomplishing those goals. But my friend Juli told me about an app to help keep track of behaviors and responsibilities we were teaching D and I thought it would be a good, simple way I could keep track of my goals.
It hasn't been real easy. D has had a few tough nights of what we think are mild night terrors and it's hard to get 7 hours of sleep when that sleep is interrputed by an inconsolable 4 year old who screams who 45 minutes. However, drinking 100 oz of water a day and cutting back considerably on caffeine has really helped. And, even though I was very doubtful at first, I started journaling at the suggestion of my friend Erin. I have a tendency to be a bit OCD and to be perfectionist. The biggest issues I would have trying to fall asleep were the amount of time it would take (30 minutes at least) and trying to turn my brain off. When Erin suggested journaling, I thought something as simple as that would in no way help me fall asleep. I thought I needed something (like a sleeping pill) to turn that constant stream of thought off. It wasn't related to stress as it would happen whether or not I felt stressed or had a lot of things going on in my life. What stressed me out was not being able to sleep. It seemed to get worse when I was overtired, which didn't make sense, so I was so tired! But I see D having the same problem and I understand that our bodies produce cortisol when we are stressed or tired, causing our bodies to work overtime and not be able to rest and relax.
http://www.sleep-problems-nomore.com/Cortisol_and_Sleep.html
The sleeping pills, which were not very strong, worked, but I felt a "crash" by the afternoon, worse than coffee. I decided to drastically reduce the amount of coffee I drank. Then, we went to Guadalajara Mexico on a mission visit. I really wanted the trip to induce a change both spiritually and mentally. Before we left, I left the sleeping pills at home and journaled just about every night. Although I didn't sleep well in Guadalajara (Train tracks next to hotel!), I have slept well ever since.
My next step is to identify some activities and behaviors that I can do in the evening to keep my energy up in the evening. I think we all understand the difficulty in staying energized after a long day.
In the Happiness Project book, Gretchen kept a resolutions chart for each month in the area of focus for that month. That was really something I did not want to do. I understood why though. Keeping track of the goals you wish to accomplish within a resolution, creates the ability to measure how well you are accomplishing those goals. But my friend Juli told me about an app to help keep track of behaviors and responsibilities we were teaching D and I thought it would be a good, simple way I could keep track of my goals.
Speaking of, I better get to bed! Mikel has a 6:30 a.m. flight, which means an early wake up call for us all.
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