That was day 3 right?

Alright, I have a confession to make. It’s pretty difficult to admit, but here goes…I’m not perfect. There, I said it.

Yesterday was day 3 and I’ve already fallen back into bad habits. How embarrassing is that?!

Ah, but like I’ve already admitted, I’m not perfect. Although this doesn’t necessarily make me feel a whole lot better about the fact that it took me less than a week to fall off the wagon, it does remind me that there are going to be challenges with making a better life. And shouldn’t there be…challenges I mean? Shouldn’t there be obstacles and roadblocks and dead-ends and stop signs and?…I can’t think of another roadside metaphor.

Making anything better usually involves getting over something that gets in the way, even if that something is yourself.  The truth is, there are going to be things that I do that aren’t perfect, and contrary to what I would have myself believe, this is normal. (Does this mean that I have to give up on my self-loathing? Survey says, YES!)

So where do I go from here? Where do you go from here? How have your resolutions (read: Life Goals) been going? If you’re not on track as you had expected to be, ask yourself why, give yourself a hug and try again. You’re not perfect…but I think you’re pretty darn awesome and you deserve to think so too! Remember it’s day four and a new start.

 

“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher

Making Life Remarkable

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What do you want to do this year to make your life remarkable?

Goals and aspirations are a plenty, but how do you simmer them all down to that concentrated collection that will add all of the flavour and zing to your life?

I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out just what my resolutions for 2012 will be. So far this is what I’ve come up with in a somewhat, but not necessarily, particular order:

Goals for 2012:

1. Get 8.5 hours of sleep a night
   
2. Get in shape & honour my body
3. Save some money/ Make some money
4. Learn to speak French
5. Read a book a month
   
6. Write
7. Figure out all the shit in my head & see a therapist
8. Become a better, more skilled Photographer
9. Push my body to master a challenge
10. Travel
11. Have another art exhibition & be part of shows
    
12. Volunteer my time

But then I though about categorizing these goals into more general terms – into “Big Ideas” so to speak.  I know that when teaching, the curriculum is often divided into “big ideas” to help lead to a greater connection and understanding of the subject matter.  And while this further categorization would somehow seem to make the resolutions too general, they in some way serve as anchor points or guiding lights.

The “Big Ideas”:

Spiritually – Connect: With others and God

Physically – Move: Honour my body and abilities by achieving new challenges

Mentally – Understand: Learn new things & understand old things more deeply

Emotionally – Heal: Release my regrets and forgive myself

Financially – Organize: Get my books in order, because $ makes the world go round – and it’s not going away any time soon!

 

So, here it goes with the 1st goal:  Get 8.5 hours of sleep a night

Who: My remarkable self

What: Get 8.5 hours of sleep a night, minimum 6 nights a week

Where: Sleeping on my bed only (No falling asleep on the couch watching T.V.)

When: 3 weeeks (21 days) to build the health habit

Which: Counting backwards 8.5 hours from my wake-up time; washing up and reading 20 minutes before bed time

Why: So that I can reset my internal clocks, balance my hormones and feel better with more energy!

Resources helping me with this: wikipedia.org, psychologytoday.com & National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Are you ready?

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2012. It’s here. Are you ready? Have you made your list of resolutions yet? You know, that list that you scrawl onto a scrap piece of paper minutes before the clock strikes 12:00. Or, perhaps you’re more of a mental list maker. This way you won’t have any evidence of what it was that you had planned (and inevitably gave up on) once the third week of January goes swishing by. Or, do you not make a list at all…knowing full well that you probably won’t commit to it anyway, so why put on the charade?

I don’t mean to be so pessimistic. Unfortunately, it seems to be the honest truth when it comes to most of us. And by most of us, I mean myself. But this year will be different…right?

According to TopAchievement.com any goal you make should be a S.M.A.R.T. goal. I’ve heard of this idea before. Essentially, ambiguous goals will not get done. Or, they might, but S.M.A.R.T. goals are more likely to be.

So, what are these S.M.A.R.T. goals? Well, according to TopAchievement.com they are:

• S – Specific
• M – Measurable
• A – Attainable
• R – Relevant
• T – Time-bound

Easy enough right? It seems a little daunting to plan, but I’ve been really thinking deeply about my goals for the year (and for my life). Perhaps have a goal or two a month? Or perhaps have 1-2 big goals and a few mini-goals for the year? There is certainly a lot to consider…I’m just glad to be considering it.

What does happy mean?

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We all go in search of it, yet it seems like it escapes more and more people. Happiness. It seems like everyone I speak to these days is lacking happiness. How is that possible? These are successful, healthy people with homes, cars and jobs. Shouldn’t they be happy? Shouldn’t they at the very least be content? With life, with their homes, with their jobs? But what does happy mean? What does it mean to us, the people who, let’s be honest, don’t really have much we should be complaining about. I have been trying to figure out the answer to that question for some time now. At first I thought that happiness was in my job title, but no. Okay, perhaps happiness could be found in another country? Nope. Missed again. In fact, misery found me there (with speckles of hope and sunshine if I had to tell the whole truth). What I’m beginning to realize more and more (and I can’t help to admit that I think I’ve known this the whole time), is that happiness, this illusive thing we call “happy”, is inside us. To each his own, as they say. Can I tell you what happiness is? No. Which might mean that having read this post was kind of a waste of time on your part. However, if I can say anything, with complete faith and hope, it is that only you know what happy means. No one can tell you. No one can give you the answer. We can only inspire each other to search for the answer…what does happy mean to you?

This is my Life of Happy. I will chronicle my search for happiness with daily posts. Some short and sweet, some long and boring. I’m tired of complaining and feeling lost in this big, bad world. Time to make it a year, and a life, of happy.