PadawanOfHappiness

I am cautiously optimistic about 2021 and I am looking forward to the year.  One thing that I learned in 2020 is that perspective and attitude can really help you navigate challenges.  It doesn't make them go away but it certainly can help your mental and emotional health stay on a more even keel even tending towards positivity and happiness, but it does take work. Keeping a positive attitude is work and can be compared to exercise, the more you do it the easier it is, mind you it isn't necessarily easy just easier.  With that in mind I had an epiphany this morning while staring at my coffee mug and realized it can pair with one of the songs I was listening to last night and thought it should be my theme song for the year. Last night during my dance party I was listening to 'Higher' by Gloria Estefan and thought this is a great song for 2021.  The chorus goes like this: Just understand, don't get me wrong You got to live your life, live it right Or you'll go bac...

I absolutely love the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft.  They had asked for success stories for Walk 20 in 20 and this is mine. I had proposed this challenge to my sisters late in 2019 and we all agreed to give it a go.  So starting on January 1st we all started and we checked in with each other via text each day. I walked outside and inside, when it was hot and cold, raining or snowing.  I walked to relieve stress, I walked to clear my mind, I walked to get some time alone.   I walked the rehab/nursing home halls while visiting my aunt, I walked the hotel halls with my sisters when we gathered for her funeral. I walked the neighborhood of my Mom's youth when I visited to help her deal with her sister's estate.  I walked my current neighborhood and the neighborhood my childhood.  I paced inside my house if the weather was too horrible or I simply was so busy I didn't have time during the day. For the first 2.5 months I...

Image by Blue Shutters Web Design A common theme I see on social media and with talking to friends is how all the days just blend into one another with not much to distinguish them so is it a work day or weekend?  It can be hard to tell.  Also who missed trash day because those days are blending? Our daily patterns help us make sense of the world and keep track of days.  It helps give us something to look forward to, 'I cannot wait for the weekend I am going out with my husband'.  The monotony of everything being the same can be really numbing, which is part of the reason I love vacations they break the routine.      But don't get too excited I as much as I believe in breaking routines every so often, I am an even bigger advocate of schedules and routine.  Your schedule and routine can be as structured or unstructured as you need it to work with your personality. Where I Am Coming From I have worked from home since 2017 (Ok in 2017 I was goin...

Prior to listening to episode 284 I felt that so many in the world (including myself) were going through some form of Obliger-rebellion since obligers are the largest group of the four tendencies in her frame work. Rubin has found that most people fall into the Obliger category. Rebels tend to be the smallest group.  Source Business Insider I feel it because even with the controlled opening of my state it is still so restrictive, the rules are changing, and you are almost always being judged.  While some people will find you lacking and others will approve your actions, the end result is that it is exhausting.  So exhausting that I really want to give the big old 'bird' to everyone and everything just because I am stretched so tight that I am ready to snap at any moment. Obliger-rebellion occurs when Obligers meet, meet, meet, meet expectations, and then suddenly -- they snap . They say, "This, I will not do!" and they refuse to meet an expectation. This refusal ca...

One thing that Gretchen Rubin has talked about on her IG Live chats is that she has put her clipboard down.  I can relate to that a lot and I am an Obliger.  I have a crazy need to have schedules and know what is happening and when it is happening, it makes me feel centered and safe.  I do happen to schedule my spontaneity as weird as that sounds, but it works for me. I also know that it does not work for Mr.Padawan, in fact, it stresses him out and is overwhelming.  And for the little Padawans, it is a mixed bag.  I decided to put the clipboard down so to speak and let things just run on a loosey-goosey schedule, using our previous schedule as a guide but not stick to it. Well, that ended up backfiring on me in the most unexpected ways.  I kept letting dinner slide a bit later, which is not late at all by most people's standards but late by ours.  Well, the kids noticed they were not getting the same amount of play time after dinner with their D...

It is ok to not to want to transform your life right now. It is ok to take on a project right now. It is ok to putter around and do a little bit here and there right now. It is ok to sleep a bit more. It is ok to sleep a bit less right now. It is ok to be happy, sad, mad, frustrated, angry, annoyed, tired, anxious or any other feeling at any point in the day and then move on to the next emotion like you are riding a roller coaster. The post that prompted the "It is ok" statements above was something I saw on Facebook over the weekend, which I posted below. I had been contemplating that on my walks over the weekend because at the start of this whole sequester deal I was very gung-ho and ready to tackle so many lingering projects.  I even had a huge burst of activity in the office but since then the inertia has hit, Gretchen and Liz were talking about it on today's IG Live so I am not the only one feeling this. For now, I am ok, with just puttering and mak...