What is happy, anyway?

This morning I sat on the sidewalk as I often do watching my kids walk to their bus stop and noticed the crickets were still happily chirping in the tall weeds in the garden surrounding my tree. Yeah, yeah, I know. I weeded them once this summer...is that not enough? I suddenly realized that life is about what is happening right now in this moment. Every moment is significant in some way, to someone. The crickets were chirping because they need to chirp. The kids were walking to the bus because they needed to learn stuff. I was sitting there on the sidewalk with my coffee because, well, responsible adulting requires me to make sure my kids don't play hooky.

But, as I sat there, I realized I could be using my time more efficiently. Instead of just drinking my coffee, I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on the day before, and make a note of what I wanted to do better today. This entire silent conversation was prompted by the book I'm currently reading, The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin.

The basis of the book is, in the pursuit of happiness, to write a list of resolutions (there were 12) and to tackle all of them, one per month, over the course of the year. I'm still early in the book, but so far have covered Boosting Energy and Remembering Love. My takeaways from each of these chapters has been this: If we take care of ourselves both mentally and physically (getting enough sleep, reducing stress, etc.), and spend more time being intentionally nice to the people we love, we will in turn find more happiness. 

Some of the methods that stuck out to me were decluttering the space we live and work in to
1. reduce that overwhelming feeling of needed to clean
2. focus on true, important tasks at hand
3. eliminate the need for material things to make us happy -- yes, even the things with sentimental value.

I have already begun what I'm going to call "The Great Purge". I started today by decluttering the junk drawer in the kitchen.  It's the catch all for things that don't make it to their true homes, or crap that I just don't want to look at anymore. I also started picking through some toys in the playroom that don't seem to get any use, and next...tackling the girls' rooms....gulp! This is no small task. I will be involving them directly in the decision making process on what stays and what goes. Ultimately, they will have to think about how often they use the item, what value it holds, and whether or not it still fits into their current trend or on their bodies.

I've already been consciously working on being a nicer person...for a long time. While I do spend a lot of time working on my own happiness, I spend a good amount of time making sure others have what they need to lead happy and productive lives, too. It's a proven fact that happy people are more successful, easier to be around, and are perceived as more confident, personable and even physically attractive. It benefits you and everyone around you to make it your personal mission to be happy. Trust me, people DO notice that change. My immediate goal is to speak more tenderly, show more love, maintain standards but lower expectations.

I'd be happy to recommend some great personal development books to anyone looking to sprinkle some happy on their life. The world will thank you.