The Art of HAPPY

Another meme I saved on my phone (the quote avalanche cometh!!)

This is a SIMPLE thing I did every day and forgot I did it.  Finding, revisiting an inspirational one-liner.  I like quotes A LOT.  I have them everywhere ... workout room, bedroom, closet, phone, a book in the bathroom, a notebook full of them.  All around me, yet I forgot them, became blind to them.

This might seem trivial.  They're kitschy and corny - overly simplified and overly generalized snippets on life.  But they work for me .... actually, really well.  So they are back in my life (and back on this blog).  A one-line pep talk for the day.

I feel good about my direction.  I also know this is the honeymoon phase ... I'm excited, motivated, relieved, inspired, energized ... today.  The honeymoon will pass and I need to hunker down for the long(er) haul.  Something will pop this bubble and then the real work begins.  That's when the ROUTINE takes over and sees me over the hump.  Please remember this future-self!

I noticed that while I was in working hard on HAPPY, I wrote a lot more posts like this ... and a lot less of the here's-my-day posts.  It's like a little therapy moment for ME.  I still like to write about my day (and I will), but I need to include more "thoughtful" posts too.

Another kind of odd thing I remember about my HAPPY quest, is I need to remind myself to "act" happy.  That's a Tony Robbins thing.  Your physical self is a direct link to your emotional self.  Hold your shoulders down, mouth in a frown ... and you feel sad.  Perk up, smile, pep in the step ... and you feel better.  My default lately has been in downer position.  When I perk up my body, I feel better.

It's really personal for me to write about this quest for HAPPY.  It seems pathetic (given my privileged, good life) to have to work at being HAPPY.  I have absolutely no reason to feel anything but great -- yet I don't. What a first-world problem!  What a spoiled problem!  It's embarrassing.  And extra embarrassing since I spent months "fixing" it only to end up having to "fix" it again.

But I have no choice.  My default settings are not enough.  I got a taste of something better and I want it back AGAIN.

Onward and upward ...