My Happiness List

It has been quite a while since I posted beyond doing my podcast episode updates.  I had to scale back this summer because I’m pregnant (14 weeks along now and due February 3rd)!  

I’m not one of those women who powers through nausea well.  This pregnancy has been like my others, in that the all-day morning sickness leveled me.  But it’s been different than my other pregnancies in that I have been very weak physically.  As a result, I’ve forgotten so many important things, and slacked on others.  All our fun summer plans/routines went right out the window.   However, the nausea is finally at a level I can function with, so I’d love to get back to writing here more!  I have missed this!!

I’d like to break the getting-back-to-blogging ice by sharing a list of things that make me happy.  I know this sounds a bit selfish; but as I still get through a pregnancy, parent through some difficult things, and deal with the general stress/busy-ness of life we all deal with, I know that it is best for me to remember what helps buoy up my happiness and do my best to actually ensure those things are incorporated in my daily life.   A happy mother deals much better with stress!

If you are familiar with The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (I loved that book and listen to her podcast as well), then you might be familiar with this concept.  Once you have your own happiness list, then you are equipping yourself with important information about yourself, and you can then use that list as a tool to actually create that daily happiness in your life.  It won’t likely happen all at once, but you can gradually pick away at your list and come up with routines and ways of thinking that make that list a daily reality.

   By myself

   With my children

   With my spouse

   With friends and extended family

   For what I need to do each day

   With my larger goals

   Within my home

   Minimalism with toys, household items, and clothing

   Time management

   Daily spiritual practice and study

   Mental–meditation

   Physical, through daily exercise and healthy nourishment

   Personally–working on improving my habits/practices

   Parenting–major overhaul at times, and smaller tweaks

   Marriage–what marriage doesn’t always need work?

   Professionally–I’m not receiving money for what I “do,” but my blog/podcast are still very much 

   my work and I like to improve

   

   

So, now that I have my list, I can look at it and analyze where the holes are in my life.  I’m already working on a hole.  

My husband started a new job a month ago where he has to leave for work at 5:30 AM.  That is when I used to get up and exercise, which took care of some quality alone time to myself, my physical exercise, and even my spirituality (I listen to talks/scriptures/podcasts or just think and pray–which helps my spirituality a great deal).  

I’ve had a hard time adjusting to this new schedule, in large part because now that I’m trying to exercise either with my kids or with them at a gym daycare (for the first time in my parenting life), I feel a lot of guilt–exercise time doesn’t feel like quality “me time” as much now because I know I’m essentially taking time away from these kids or things they’d like/need to do.

But exercise is still really important and needed, so it’s something we simply have to make the best of.  Instead, I’m trying to shorten my workouts and make them really purposeful so my kids don’t have to sacrifice too much of their lives for that.  I still get in my exercise, and my guilt is lower because I’m shortening the time I used to take to do so.  And to make up for the other “me time” components I’ve been needing, I’m trying to wake up after my husband leaves and do two things first: Meditate (for even five minutes–this is a new practice for me); Study my scriptures/religious books.

Then, if there’s time (and there should be!), I can work on my podcast (and not blogging!) for a little while before the kids get up.

Doing this new routing checks off so many things off my happiness list!  I’m slowly working towards getting up earlier and hoping I can officially be an early bird to better my overall happiness.  This is big for me because exercise used to be the only thing I’d wake up early for–I’m not naturally a morning person at ALL.  But I am well aware that having that time and developing that pratice will serve me and my family much better in the long haul.

What is a hole in your happiness list that you are currently working on?!

Other ladies are sharing their lists today (although I’m sure they are much less wordy than me–I have held in a lot of words the last few months!).  Check them out below, and if you’d like to participate in a similar series then sign up on Madeline or Kiana’s blogs:

Madeline at CaseyLand

Kiana at Glitter and Donuts

Britt at My Little Sunshines