Sometimes I go back and read my old blog entries and the other day I was looking through January 2007 where I had included a post on happiness. The idea came from my having read an article in a magazine [while hanging out at the dentist with DD] that listed 50 Ways to be Happier.
Most of them, I felt, were somewhat insipid. You can read the original post here if you scroll down to January 16.
While I’m torn on the subject of happiness [I believe our happiness is something we’re all personally responsible for, and I also believe there are times when happiness is impossible to achieve] I do have a short list of things that I’ve discovered can help boost, if not create, personal happiness. This is along the vein of the original article, btw, so it’s not a list of those elusive things that would make anyone happy like winning the lottery, getting an uber multi-book deal from a major publisher, making the NYT bestseller list...etc. Those of course, are givens.
Here are a few things I’ve discovered this year that have made me happy, or increased my overall contentment level. Don’t laugh.
Getting a cat. [My kitteh may try to eat the Christmas tree, and I think he’s giving the dog an ulcer, but he’s a joy to me. All black velvet and glowing golden eyes, he’s always looking for fun and he sees the world as one big adventure. I adore him.]
Having the carpets cleaned. [Who would have thought, but wow, the house looks a thousand percent better and my anxiety over cleaning has dropped to a manageable level.]
Finding a new [or rediscovering an old] hobby. [Having something to do besides working and cleaning house goes a long way toward personal happiness. This year I’ve rediscovered painting and drawing and it’s made me feel a lot better.]
Advanced preparation. [stealing a bit of time to get a project done ahead of schedule had reduced my usual anxiety about a lot of things, whether its writing out Christmas cards or shopping for school supplies, doing it before it NEEDS to be done makes life easier.]
Reading a new genre. [Science fiction and romance, adventure and romance, paranormal and romance, I love them all, but I’ve had a ball reading Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series which really doesn’t fall under any of those catagories.]
What have you done this year that has increased your happiness level?
No comments:
Post a Comment