What a Girl Wants (Revisited)

Back in January of last year (which feels like approximately 20 minutes ago...seriously, where the heck is time going?) I announced a happiness project that I wanted to experiment with in an effort to improve my life and, well...increase my happiness. I have been meaning since January of this year (which feels like about 5 minutes ago) to do a follow-up post about how it went, what I learned, and all that good stuff, but since 5 minutes goes by really, really fast, I haven't had the chance yet.

Well, now we are nearing the end of May, which means that summer vacation is already around the corner (read: the panic is beginning to set in). It also means that we are also almost halfway through the year (WHAT?) so I better sneak this in while I have the chance. Since, you know, at this rate, I should probably get to thinking about my Thanksgiving shopping list. Ugh.

Well, here is the rundown. In case my one faithful follower happens to care. And if not, well, maybe posterity will.

#1 Be happier

Totally nailed this one. 2014, despite some really difficult challenges, was actually probably one of my happiest years ever. More than anything, I attribute this to personal growth: I started exercising in earnest for the first time in my adult life, I journaled, I blogged, I was better about studying scriptures, and I was focused on gratitude. All told, the above combination happened to be a perfect one for me. It helped me to appreciate my family more, live my religion better, and enjoy the abilities of a physical body that had, in many ways, been getting dusty on the proverbial shelf for the last several years.

#2 Read More

I did this one too. In fact, for the duration of the kids' summer vacation, (when the majority of my days were comprised of feeling completely overwhelmed and stowing sneakily away in whatever room my kids weren't in at the time) I averaged about 5 books a month. 

But.

 I learned something, too. As much as I enjoy reading, doing more of it didn't really make me more happy. In fact, I found that in the times that I was trying to get through a great book, I was much more short-tempered and impatient than I am on the average day...probably because being interrupted when you're reading a great book is kind of the worst, and all of my kiddos happen to be Certified Interrupters. Lesson learned, for now. We'll see how I do this summer. Right now I need to just remember that I am super smart even if I don't have a book in my hands at all times.

#3 Get enough sleep

Ba-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! 

Epic fail. Moving on.

#4 Get my house more organized (and care less about what it looks like)

Well, I did pretty great on the second part of this one. At the beginning of the year, I was super on top of cleaning, purging, and general organization. I had a weekly list of the stuff I wanted to get done, and the days on which to do it. Right about the time that Spencer started walking (in April), that whole list went to pot and I had to learn to live with the disastrous results. My once-weekly bathroom cleanings became a semi-annual affair. Toy bins overflowed. Donation piles accumulated. Etc., etc.

And, truth be told, this year hasn't been any better. (I still blame Spencer). But, I am living with it, and finding that I can still be happy and love my life even when things aren't put away, floors aren't swept, and I can't even remember where I left the vacuum.

#5 Run two miles without stopping. Then run three.

Oh, man. This was a doozy, one that I am happy to report I was able to accomplish. After I did the 5k in March, I started working on doing longer and longer distances. (Easier said than done. I was certain that after being able to run 3 miles, I could surely just as easily run 5 or 6, right? False. Since then, I have had to fight for every single mile, every single step of the way. But that's okay, because it just means that I can appreciate even more what my body can do and what a gift it is to continue progressing and improving.)

#6 Write about my life more often

Mission accomplished. Not only was I able, miraculously, to write in my gratitude journal nearly every day, I also had an all-time high of blog posts. (Hence the exorbitant price of the blog book this year. But that's another story.) I am keeping up with the gratitude journal, but definitely slowing down on the blog posts. But it's all good. Sometimes it's enough to know that I can reach a goal when I set my mind to it. 

Well, to quote my good friend Porky, that's all, folks. Looking back, it doesn't look like I accomplished anything super great, but I can say that every single thing on this list was a challenge at the time that I felt really good about meeting. And, most of all, I learned that happiness is something that we achieve by making internal changes, not external ones. 

And that lesson is my favorite of all.