The Happiness Project

If you want to see the finished poem, e-mail or back-channel me on Facebook. I noticed that the poem started halfway down the page and then ideas wove back and forth. I’m a messy writer, I like to jump in and then organize my thoughts, unless I get them down perfectly the first time–yeah like that happens! I spend a lot of time on revisions and enjoy the process as much as the writing of the original idea. I love when you get a passionate idea that unfolds in front of your eyes and can be folded into a flock of origami birds. One word can alter the entire life of the bird sanctuary. We have so many decisions to create our worlds.

I’ve read a new book called the “Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. I started doing some of the exercises in the book after joining a Facebook Group to process the book as we read. As I was posting to FB, I kept saying this is the thing blogs are made of and decided to post my response to the book here. The first chapter is about finding what your values are and what will add more happiness to your life. Gretchen started out by making a list of “Commandments” then broke those down into results oriented projects over the span of a year. One month for each commandment. I believe we are all works in process and ever evolving. What is important to me today, may not even blip my radar a few months from now. Here is my list, subject to as many revisions as my last poem–see photo above!

1. Be more courageous
2. Practice mindfulness
3. To be generous and charitable
4. To find serenity each day
5. To create daily
6. To practice loving-kindness, wholeheartedness, appreciation and gratitude
7. To play and laugh more often
8. Choose health and fitness
9. Treat myself as well as I treat my friends: Do unto myself as I do others
10. “To live by design, not by accident” (thank you Martha Beck)
11. Clear out the closets, garage, book shelves, mystery boxes, and clutter–Keep my life organized
12. Celebrate Life, entertain more, get out of the house more often, enjoy friends, family and nature.

Since each “Commandment” above coincides with a month. I’ll be starting to set goals for July for choosing health and fitness. What comes to mind immediately is to:
Get the dreaded cat scan of my neck and throat I’ve put off for 6 weeks, face my fears of being allergic to the iodine contrast my doctor insists I have and fear of diagnosis.
Have my annual mammogram–just do it
Go back to restorative yoga twice a week
treadmill 30 minutes a day 5 days a week
strength train every other day
dentist time for a cleaning and exam
not too daunting!