Finding joy in the now

On New Years i made a resolution to love life. In order to figure out how to be happier, i contemplated unhappiness...i considered times in the past when i was joyful...i recalled that even when i was in "the thralls of marital bliss" i sometimes still struggled with staying positive. Marcel Pagnol, a French novelist and playwright, once said:

The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is and the future less resolved than it will be.

This quote is now plastered all over my calendar, my journal and post-its at work.

Here is how i have enjoyed my present:

• Brightly colored pens at work that make my "To-Do" Lists look happy
• Reading (Jane Austen, Ray Bradbury, and young adult fantasy writer Rick Riordon)
• Being more selective in the blogs that i read
• Reading my scriptures in Spanish (and out loud)
• Neon colored nail polish on my toes
• My Clarisonic
• Working on my quilt...again
• Listening to this song, this song, and this song
• Using Barbie band aids
• Using a "scentsy" to fill my office and my home with smells of coconut, chocolate peppermint and berries
• Home made pizza, home made Thai food and home made salad dressings





Getting pictures of this face in text messages
(and knowing she's related to me!)

 



Ending a night with:
Journaling, Reading, Goal Setting






Blowouts from Paul Mitchell Hair School





Green Smoothies (and sometimes sharing them)






Baby BO snuggles






Happy Socks
(And friends who see them and buy them for me)






Pedicures with friends






Spa days alone






Going to the symphony





Making faces with my niece



Here's to happiness, a realistic view of the past, a positive view of the present and an optimistic view of the future (and many more "happy lists" to come).