joy

3 Ways to Happy

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Drawing Practice #54

“Happiness is a choice.”

-Shawn Anchor

Three ways to become a happier person:

  1. Practice gratitude on a daily basis. Write about three things/people you are grateful for every day – and don’t repeat journal entries.
  2. Accept what is – don’t fight it, don’t worry about what might happen. View reality as beautiful.
  3. “The final habit is the most powerful that we’ve seen so far. For two minutes each day, start work by writing a two-minute positive e-mail or text praising or thanking one person you know. And do it for a different person each day.” (Shawn Anchor, Washington Post)

Anchor strongly believes that you must take responsibility for your well-being and contentment in life. Of course, clinical depression is a real thing. You may need medication, but the medication should be a stepping stone to getting yourself in a state where you can actively work to be happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy, Busy Bee

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Drawing practice #50

Feeling stressed and anxious about the holidays is a choice. Yes, it is.

Don’t succumb to the pressure to buy.

“This year, shoppers plan on spending $660 on average for the holiday season. 27% report they did not create a budget at all and 24% say they overspent last year.” (USA Today)

Create a budget. Stick to it. If anyone has a problem with it, it’s exactly that – their problem.

Focus, instead, on expressing love for friends and family. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. That is the true spirit of the holidays, no matter what your faith.

Here is an interesting graphic from USA Today:

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No Mud, No Lotus

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“Without suffering, there’s no happiness. So we shouldn’t discriminate against the mud. We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness.”

THICH NHAT HANH

Thich Nhat Hanh goes on to say that we are so afraid of facing our suffering (worrying, anger, despair, fears, loneliness) that we go look for something to eat, or drink or watch TV. And many people do all of those at the same time. Even if there is nothing interesting or satisfying to watch, we are afraid to turn the television off, because then we will be left to face our suffering.

But it is necessary to face it.

It makes you stronger.

It makes you lighter.

It leads to happiness and nothing else will.

How to be Fully Present

You don’t have to be “moody.”

You don’t have to be ultra “proud” of your children, your spouse or your possessions.

You don’t have to react to everything…or anything.

You can choose to live within the band of happiness no matter the context or situation.

The next time something great happens, say, “thank you.”

The next time something “bad” happens, say “thank you.”

This is how to be fully present and truly happy all of the time.

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Sunflowers

Sunflowers are my new favorite flower. I just learned that they are “hyperaccumulators”! They absorb toxins and pollutants so well that thousands were planted in Chernobyl to absorb radiation. They were also planted in Fukushima to clean up that toxic spill.

The trick is to harvest and destroy them before they produce toxic seeds that birds could eat. sunflowers

Lion

#1: When your computer breaks down and you have to type and publish your blog on your cell phone, ROAR like a lion.

#2: When the bonus they promised to deliver in December gets postponed to February, ROAR like a lion.

#3: When Pinterest tells you that someone in Russia has hacked your account and you can’t reset your password (see #1), ROAR like a lion.

#4: When you start to feel overwhelmed, anxious, angry or depressed, ROAR like a lion.

Or…close your eyes, breathe deeply and know everything is fine.

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It’s That Time Again…

Holidays. Busyness. Stress.

Don’t forget that stress and complaining are choices. Complaining is a form of denying reality*. It also makes you sound like a victim. You don’t want that, do you?

Below are my drawings for today. They are incomplete. I helped my daughter learn how to drive today. Someone honked at her loudly as she paused at the red light, uncertain if she should go or not. She got stressed.  And then we went out to help her buy her boyfriend a birthday gift. She worried it wasn’t enough. I assured her that her thoughtfulness in choosing the gifts was what really counted.

I am now at my other daughter’s high school concert. When all is said and done, I will have been here with her for six hours.  I didn’t get to complete my drawing or get my workout in or get any holiday shopping done. Oh well. But I did get to have a wonderful lunch with her between two concerts and talk about everything she wanted to share with me. We ate and talked and ate and talked and then we had enough time to buy makeup from Target before going back for her final performance.

It’s all good. I’m grateful I can do these things – be completely present for each of my daughters…and be completely present while I draw my funny-looking lizards.

*Eckhart Tolle

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