Lists make everything easier

Gretchen made a list. Of things to remember. Her “secrets of adulthood”. My list is very similar but I have taken some away, and changed a few to apply to me.

My list:

1. People don’t notice your mistakes as much as you think

2. It’s okay to ask for help

3. Not all decisions have to require deep thought or extensive research

4. Do good, feel good

5. Be nice to everyone… even the cleaning lady

6. Bring a sweater

7. Stop procrastinating! You can get much more accomplished if you do a little each day

8. Turn your computer off every night, it needs to sleep too

9. If you can’t find something, clean up

10. Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy

11. It’s okay not to be good at everything

12. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough

13. What you do everyday matters more than what you do once in a while

14. Don’t let perfect be the enemy

15. What's fun for you may not be for someone else

And the Twelve Commandments:

1. Be Natalie, and no one else

2. Let go of the past

3. Act the way you want to feel

4. Stop procrastinating

5. This too shall pass

6. The journey is better than the destination

7. Don't let others bring you down

8. Stop complaining

9. Lighten up

10. Do what ought to be done

11. Be here now

12. THERE IS ONLY LOVE

These are essentially things I will to work on…everyday. Things I will strive to remember above all else

next step...monthly resolutions.
I won't actually start MY project until I'm done reading. but this is my start :)

to start

I’ve never been a reader. I just never enjoyed it or got into it. I found out about eight months ago why that might be. I was diagnosed with ADHD and it all made sense. After being put on medication, I decided to take a literature class called “Gender and Disabilities” and for the first time in my life, I was actually retaining what I was reading! It didn’t take reading a page 3 times to understand what it was saying. After the class ended, I found myself wanting to read.

           

I went to Borders one day and looked around for anything that looked interesting. After about an hour and a half I had found DOZENS that I wanted. I narrowed it down to two, finally. One of which I knew as soon as I saw I’d be walking out with. “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin. I bought the book and immediately started reading.

The book is about her happiness project. A wife, mother and writer who was in fact happy, but knew she could be happier. So for an entire year she set out to make herself happier by changing things in her life.

Since I started reading this book, I’ve taken notes. I’ve made adjustments to her project (which is what her intentions for writing it are) to fit my life. I decided I was going to do my OWN happiness project, but I wanted to wait until I finished the book. Now, jumping ahead a little, I got to the chapter with one of the sub headings “Launch a Blog”. So, here I am. And now, I think I am ready to start my happiness project early.

This blog is about MY happiness project. One year. 12 months. 365 days. to change a life.