My Quest for Happiness

Happiness/controlling anger is a topic I have studied off and on since having children.  Children bring such added joy to my life but also a lot of stress and anxiety, plus they do things that try my patience!  As each of my boys continue to grow up, I can't help but reflect, as many parents do, how quickly time passes!  I worry that I get so bogged down in the day to day stuff, that I'm not treasuring the small moments enough.  Especially now that Caleb has started school, I've realized just how precious this time is that I have at home with them before school begins.  As this cartoon says below, I want each day to be memorable.  Plus you never know when life might be cut short, and I want to live my life to the fullest and be happy each day.

I just finished reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I loved the idea of the book, the fact that she takes one month for a year to focus on something that will bring added happiness in her life.  Working on something month to month makes it seem more doable.  With some friends at church, we have decided to embark on our own Happiness Project for the next year, and therefore have some accountability through the process.  I want to journal the things I'm doing, the difficulties I have, and the successes.

Below are some ideas of things I want to work on over the next year.  I only have 9 months planned right now, and I don't know the order I'll want to do things (I think having a baby next month will influence what I feel I'm capable of working on for the next few months).  As I see the things my friends are doing and as I go through the process, I'm sure that will spark some more ideas for the final 3 months.  The more I've thought about this project, I have felt that focusing most of my month goals on attributes of the Savior will bring the added happiness, optimism, and perspective I want to add to my life.

October:  The goal I'm working on this month is organization.  I felt like this would be a great place to start because A) I'm having a baby in a month and may not have the energy to attempt this goal for some time later on and  B) It's great preparation for moving.  Walking into a clean, organized room or closet really does make me happy.  I feel tense and frustrated if things are messy or out of place.  Throughout the month, I'm going to attempt to go through each room in the house.  Today I started with my closet and went through all my clothes.  It's amazing how much extra space I have in my closet now that I've gotten rid of clothes I haven't worn in 5+ years!

Month Idea 2: Marriage--biting my tongue, no nagging, extra patience, greeting my husband with a smile and kiss each day when he gets home from work, focus on his love languages.  I'm so exhausted by the end of the day most days that it takes a lot of extra effort to give my husband positive attention, so this is an area that I'll focus on one month.  Hopefully I'll develop some habits this month that will stick :o).

Month Idea 3: Parenthood--lighten up, smile more, laugh often, validate my children's feelings, determine their love languages and make sure I'm meeting them, perhaps start some new family traditions

Month Idea 4: Friends--no gossiping, no judging, positive thoughts, giving the benefit of the doubt

Month Idea 5: Preparedness--updating our 72-hour kits, taking stock of our food storage and seeing what areas are lacking, going to the cannery, compiling a recipe book of recipes specifically with our food storage.  This one won't be done until after we move into our new home.  I've been using my food storage, but not restocking it because of our pending moving plans.  Moving food storage is a pain!  So after we move, I'll have a better idea of what food areas I need to work on and not to mention more room to store it all!

Month Idea 6: Gratitude--keeping a gratitude journal every day for that month.  I've done gratitude journals in the past, and they help me to focus on the positives in life and keep things in perspective.  I also want to answer this question that Eyring mentioned in a past conference talk: How have I seen God's hand in my life today?

Month Idea 7: Crafts--spending a whole month just on craft projects for the new home, doing sewing projects, crochet, etc.  I'm not the best seamstress, and I'd really like to develop that talent more.

Month Idea 8: Charity/Service--getting the family involved in service projects throughout the month.  I'll plan this one for a month when our ward is in charge of cleaning the church building as that is an easy family service project.  Now that Caleb is getting older, I really want him to understand the importance of helping other people for no other reward than it's what Jesus would do.  I think he associates service or helping with getting a reward afterwards.

Month Idea 9: Stimulate the mind in new ways--take time to learn new things, read different books than I normally would, study a topic that interests me, etc.

Some goals I want to work on consistently throughout the year: 

1) Finish turning my blog into books by year--it made me so happy to do the first year of my blog!

2) Index 200 names per month* (maybe I'll make this number higher--we'll see)

3) Read a spiritual book at least every other month--I make time to read fun literature frequently and have never taken the time to read books by General Authorities etc. 

4) Start a Happiness Box and add to it every month.  A Happiness Box is a collection of all sorts of little trinkets meant to trigger happy thoughts and memories.

5) Exercise regularly--I always make this a priority because it really does put me in a good mood.  I just signed up for my 5th half marathon scheduled Saturday, March 2, 2012, so after baby comes, I have some serious training to do.

6) Leisurely reading--I've always loved reading, and it makes me really happy if I get a little bit of time each day to read for fun.

*I just started indexing about two weeks ago.  It definitely makes me happy!  I feel so good knowing that I can sit down and do a little bit each day that might make a difference in someone's family history.  I feel like it's a productive use of my time, and I think it's fun!  I first learned about it over a year ago and wanted to get started right away.  At the time, I was teaching preschool and serving in the Primary Presidency.  I just didn't have time, and I felt so guilty about it!  After getting released from the presidency a few months ago and not teaching preschool this year, I knew it was the perfect time to relieve this guilt and get started.  I love it!  I'm almost finished with my first 200 names.

I am SO excited for this year adventure, and so grateful to have friends to keep me accountable!