This month (August) I hosted a 14-Day Happiness Challenge. The call to action for Day 4 was to write down 5 things that make you happy and to share 1 thing with the group engaged in the challenge. I shared more than 5 and it inspired me to really look around my world and notice ALL the things that made me happy on that day. It inspired me to just keep adding to my list. The world throws curveballs everyday – some of them come in with a soft thud, but others land squarely in our laps; it’s nice to know that I control my happiness and how I respond to my environment. It’s easier to respond when I remind myself that “this too shall pass” and there are other things going on around me to be happy and grateful about. I encourage you to think about the things that make you happy. I know that my life is as good as I believe it to be. So, here’s a list of 100 things (in no particular order) that make me happy:
Morning coffee
Supper cooked for me
Overflowing flowerpots
No checkout lines
Chocolate
Clothes that aren’t
tight
Comfortable shoes
Soft blankets
Church
Slow Sundays
Antiquing
Autumn
Checking items off my
to-do list
Camping and road trips
Living debt free
Clean sheets
Clean feet
The smell of puppies
and kittens
Watching puppies and
kittens play
Reading
Hearing “I Love You”
Hugs
Surprises in the mail
Flowers
Getting my hair cut
Fall boots
Hearing kids laugh
Christmas lights
A big bowl of popcorn
with butter
Meals with friends
Makeup
Warm clothes from the
dryer
A good hair day
Birds chirping
Bookstores
Vacations
A warm shower
Smell of cinnamon, nutmeg,
and cloves
Babies
Holding hands
Random acts of
kindness
Leaves falling from
the trees
Fall colors
Old movies
Alabama football
Blue skies
Listening to the sound
of a river
Christmas music
Riding bikes
Falling asleep to the
sound of rain
Trusting someone
Crafting
Cutting the grass
Patio time
Porch sitting
Honesty
Watching kids play
Sitting by the fire
pit on a cool evening in a campground
Happy Hour (Peace
Time)
Friday afternoons
Finding the perfect
gift
Handwritten notes
Receiving a card in
the mail
Candles
Listening to music
The smell of cookies
baking
A new bag
Entertaining family
and friends
Seeing the American flag
waving in the breeze
Catching all green
lights during the morning/afternoon commute
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
~Dalai Lama
In a digitally driven world, it’s easy to forget that all of us need connection to thrive as human beings. Take our live human connections away and we will wither away. No amount of texts, Facebook, Instagram likes, and tweets will ever substitute for one real human moment. If only for a second we know we matter in our truest form, it changes our day and our outlook.
Unfortunately, in this drive-through world, kindness and compassion takes a back seat to selfies, self-interest, and expendable human interactions. Why is that? Kindness is fundamental to our existence. We are wired for kindness. Being kind isn’t hard work. It just requires that we put others before ourselves.
Can you recall a time somebody was kind to you? Was it today? I hope so!
Now change the scenario and think of a time you were kind to another person. Was it today? I hope so! Think about their reaction and how your heart felt. After I’ve committed a single act of kindness, I feel less pain and stress, greater well-being and even a rush of peace.
If you read no further, can we agree that kindness affects the giver and the receiver?
“Kindness to me means doing things for the cause, not the applause.”
~ Unknown ~
Kindness helps me bite my tongue when I’m tempted to begin injustice collecting. Being kind says that I don’t need to be right if my goal is to promote and preserve peace of mind. Giving someone a piece of my mind has only ever resulted in a couple of things – (1) I lost a little bit of my mind and (2) I’ve incited conflict and separation.
Being kind teaches me to see the beauty in myself and others. As I look into a person’s eyes now, I know they matter. My life is richer because of them. The more I focus on kindness, the more kindness I see around me.
Kindness has many benefits including increased happiness and a healthy heart. It slows down the aging process, smooths out the lines in your face, and improves relationships and connections, which indirectly boosts your health.
Kindness acts heal. Given all the wreckage we see in the news on a daily basis, when a “feel good” story is shared, it instills faith that there are still people doing what they can to make their part of the world a nicer, more caring place.
That’s the world I want to live in!
“How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.”
Have you
ever wondered if a door was truly opening or whether it was just another shiny
thing appearing before you, teasing you?
Sometimes
we want something so much that it can be difficult to decide whether the perceived
opening is really something we should pay attention to or whether it is a
distraction from our journey.
When our “wants” are so strong, we oftentimes confuse the two.
It takes
patience and focus to stop and ask yourself if this is what is meant for you at
this moment.
On the road through experience, I can attest to wasting years following pursuits I thought were meant for me. I went down rabbit holes, chasing the shiny thing only to admit too late that I was led by something other than what was going to support me on my journey.
Likewise, there have been times I missed an open-door opportunity due to fear or uncertainty that I had the skill or ability. Fear drove many of my decisions to hold back and stay in my comfort zone. Timing is everything.
This week
we lost a very dear friend – suddenly. It is one of those deaths that stopped
us in our tracks, made our hearts skip a beat, and rendered us without words. Time
stood still for a brief moment.
This loss has given me pause; I’ve wondered how much time I’ve wasted pursuing opportunities that were never for me. Worse yet, how many opportunities slipped through my fingers because I was afraid or because I didn’t believe in myself? Timing is everything.
Without
the certainty that we’re going to have tomorrow, it’s important to be certain
of our path, our calling, the direction we want our life to follow so that we can
make the most of the time we do have.
Our
choices today have a direct effect on our life tomorrow. Today we are as blessed
as we’ll ever be. That is something I whisper to myself every day.
When you’re trying to understand who you are and what your purpose is, walking through the right doors at the right time is serious business and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Timing is everything.
Through
this tragedy of loss, I am more committed to live my life happily, to love
without holding back, to eliminate negative people and negative situations from
my life, to minimize my time on social media, to look up more, to sing and
dance more, to read more, and to put my bare feet on the earth as often as I
can.
In times of strife, I hope I can remember to ask myself “what would water do?” Water finds its way around obstacles and can either be powerful or soft. It can take on the form of a solid, liquid, or gas. I hope my answer is be humble, be in harmony with what is around me, and be open to shaping myself to the situation I’m in.
Timing is everything. What will you do with your life today?
You are enough. How often do we tell ourselves that we are
enough? What does “enough” mean?
It doesn’t mean you are complete, finished, that
you have accomplished everything you wanted, that you are done with learning,
growing, and expanding your horizons, evolving your thoughts.
It doesn’t mean you
are perfect, flawless, omnipotent, and powerful. It doesn’t mean you are everything
to everyone.
It simply means you are enough, as you are right now, in the
place you are, just as the Creator made you to be. You don’t have to do
anything else to earn the label of “enough.” It is so right now.
When you can hold “I am
enough” in your heart and mind you can push through doubts that bubble up
when you make a mistake, or need help, or fail at something. You know being
“enough” doesn’t mean world events will go your way and you’ll get everything
you want.
It
doesn’t mean you don’t need people,
experiences, or things. It simply means you are grateful for what you have and
can acknowledge all that you have right where you are, right now.
It means you know your
flaws, weaknesses, and imperfections are not a reflection of your value and
worth but simply a reflection of your humanness. They are all just a part of
your story and your journey.
When others call you
out on their perception of your flaws and imperfections it doesn’t mean their
observations are necessarily true because you know what you’re working on every
day. Their words may sting but because you are holding “I am enough” in your
heart, you can move past the sting. You will continue being you, flaws and all.
When
you were born, you were enough then and you are enough now. You were a perfect
little human being then and you are enough now. You were a reason to smile
then, and you are reason enough to smile now. You were enough in every way
then, and you are enough now. You didn’t have
to prove yourself then and you don’t have to prove yourself now.
Does
this all mean you shouldn’t be more of something? Absolutely not. I want to be
more intentional, more loving, more present, more expressive, more flexible,
more playful, more grateful. But knowing “I am enough” says I no longer work at
trying to be more worthy in someone else’s life, or more loved, or more needed.
That is their issue. I am already all those things right here, right now. I am
already me – beautiful, imperfect, broken, mended, a child of the most high
God, me.
Whatever you choose
for you is right. You cannot get it wrong. You cannot fail at being you because
nobody else can be you. You are enough. You have you down perfectly. You are
enough. Appreciate that you are an outstanding and complete success at being
you. You are enough.
So, keep getting up,
getting dressed, and showing up in your life every day. That’s it…that’s all
you must do.
You were enough
before, you are enough now, and you will continue to be enough as you become
more of who you were made to be.
We’ve done it at one time or another. It just happens. Before you realize it’s happening, you’ve sized someone else up and compared yourself to them and decide that your either inferior or superior.
We compare ourselves because of doubt, self esteem, and insecurity. We also compare because we feel lack in some area of our life. Humans are competitive and have the desire to be the best, the prettiest, the smartest, the most talented, and the list goes on. We have a fundamental need to evaluate ourselves, and the only way to do that is in reference to something or someone else.
It’s an unpleasant way to live life and here’s why: most of the time we are going to end up completely miserable and constantly feeling inadequate. We end up feeling like we’re not enough when we are so enough.
In the age of social media it’s hard to not compare. The beautiful pictures of the perfect home, the new house being built on the shores of a lake, the Christmas tree that is color coordinated right down to the packages and the bows, the flower pots that are overflowing with blooms. It’s all there, staring back at us in a perfect state. It’s the best of the bunch.
What is never shown is the broken marriage, the overdue bills shoved into a drawer, the bank account that doesn’t have a penny to spare. If you could peek behind the curtain you would find life’s struggles, strife, sadness. It’s all there behind the veil, in that place we keep hidden from the outside world.
Another contributor to our comparison woes is the instant gratification of likes and comments that we get from social media. We’ve become so enamored with a silly “thumbs up” icon that when we don’t get it we feel dejected and let down.
If we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others, it’s hard to see the abundance in our life. When we’re always feeling like we’re missing out on something it’s hard to feel grateful for what we do have. But what if what we have right now is enough? What if who we are right now is plenty? Look around you – you are enough and you have enough.
The Universe is working in your favor. If we constantly feel like the world is against us, that’s what we’re going to attract. The truth is there’s always going to be someone ahead of us and someone behind of us. Once we stop comparing our journey to others, we begin to see that our journey is just fine.
You are enough. You don’t need to be like everyone else; you just need to be more of yourself. You’re exactly where you need to be, and you’re doing a great job at it.
Here’s Why We Don’t Always Take Steps Toward Success…
Can I be honest with you? We all know we need motivation to stick with our goals. But with busy lives, we may not always take the steps we know will bring us success. That’s why we need others — friends, colleagues, and personal accountability partners — to help us stay on track. So recently, I’ve taken the unusual step of building what I think is the ultimate tool for keeping you constantly in action toward achieving the life of your dreams.
It’s a community of like-minded people from around the world who are doing exciting things with their lives—or want to! It’s a global movement of abundant thinkers who’ve been grounded in living some pretty clear-cut principles of success.
When you decide to join us, it’s like being accepted into a uniquely powerful club — an inner circle of friends and contacts — without the rigorous membership requirements. Best of all, it’s completely FREE to join and starts on Monday, February 18th.
What Can You Expect
To get you started — and challenge you a bit — I’ve prepared a free 14-Day Workbook with simple assignments designed to keep you focused on your goals, while you uplevel every area of your life.
Over the next 14 days, you’ll:
– Finally resolve long-standing troubling situations and move forward without stress- – Become proactive about your future, instead of blaming and complaining – Respond differently to unexpected disasters and unexpected opportunities – Master the #1 habit that top achievers use to stay focused (hint: it’s not time management or a 3×5 card)
The 14-Day Challenge Workbook I’ve prepared is included FREE when you become part of my inner circle online.
Meet new friends, swap stories, share your biggest wins, participate in guided discussions. You never know who you’ll meet in this amazing new online community — or what they’ll mean to your future!
Use this link to join the Facebook group and begin to take control of your life!!!
