Resisting Happiness
Half of Lent has passed me by and I don't feel the silence in my soul like I normally do (when I'm being consciously reflective). So for today's MM I decided to start reading a book they gave our on Ash Wednesday - Resisting Happiness by Fr. Matthew Kelly. It comes with homework. Here is today's:
Key Point:
Find out what makes you happy
Action Step:
Identify three activities that increase your happiness. Write them down.
So I wanted to get super specific on these because it's easy to be vague ("Being healthy makes me happy.") but vague is not necessarily actionable. That's why I chose being active. When I get more sedentary I get unhappy. It doesn't matter what my body looks like. My mind projects an image of bleh over it when I'm sitting on my buttkins all day. Also replacing "family time" with "spending time outdoors". We are a game playing family, and I'll often sit on the floor and play puzzles or cards or let my kids play with my hair, but while the coziness of it warms my soul, it doesn't leave me feeling invigorated. But when I get my kids out and about, and we go to the beach or for a walk or camping - I feel good because I'm doing item #1, AND good because I'm doing it with the people I love and they are loving it. I should also say that #2 extends to my non-blood family, because our little retreats are basically the best thing ever. And then the third is job related. I just love love love seeing something crappy and gross and transforming it into a beautiful home. A lot of time now my design inputs are small because the team has it down, but I still really enjoy that feeling of creation. Taking that a step further, I love building furniture and other projects. So there are my things. The things that increase my happiness. Time to implement. :)
Key Point:
Find out what makes you happy
Action Step:
Identify three activities that increase your happiness. Write them down.
- Being active - exercising, dancing, training
- Spending time outdoors making memories with my family. Specifically camping, swimming, exploring.
- Building things
So I wanted to get super specific on these because it's easy to be vague ("Being healthy makes me happy.") but vague is not necessarily actionable. That's why I chose being active. When I get more sedentary I get unhappy. It doesn't matter what my body looks like. My mind projects an image of bleh over it when I'm sitting on my buttkins all day. Also replacing "family time" with "spending time outdoors". We are a game playing family, and I'll often sit on the floor and play puzzles or cards or let my kids play with my hair, but while the coziness of it warms my soul, it doesn't leave me feeling invigorated. But when I get my kids out and about, and we go to the beach or for a walk or camping - I feel good because I'm doing item #1, AND good because I'm doing it with the people I love and they are loving it. I should also say that #2 extends to my non-blood family, because our little retreats are basically the best thing ever. And then the third is job related. I just love love love seeing something crappy and gross and transforming it into a beautiful home. A lot of time now my design inputs are small because the team has it down, but I still really enjoy that feeling of creation. Taking that a step further, I love building furniture and other projects. So there are my things. The things that increase my happiness. Time to implement. :)
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