Having Fun

This month I am suppose to get serious about having fun. What is fun? What may be fun for one person may not be fun for another. I have also found that what I think is fun now is totally different now that I have kids. I relish in my quiet activities. I love surfing the internet and finding out things that I would have never know otherwise. I love it. I think it is very fun to cook. I actually really enjoy to go the grocery store by myself with Pandora on my phone and listen to good music while I search for what I have on my shopping list. It always takes me way longer than it should. I love to be outside. I love to sit in the sun and take in the sunshine. I love to garden. I love to take super long bubble baths and watch trashy reality tv on my computer. I love to run and listen to Sagebrush podcasts. I love to finish a peace of art. I admit I don’t always love creating it until I see progress and with pencil that usually takes awhile. But I do love it and should do it more. Same with ridding. I haven’t ridden my poor old horse in forever. I hate to get ready to ride, but I love it when I am doing it. It is nostalgic considering how much time I spent ridding as a kid. I love the summer. I love to hear my kids laugh outside. I love to eat ice pops all day with them under our big sun umbrella in the back yard. I love a good chat with a friend, my mom, my sister, or my hubby. Good conversation with someone that really cares. I love a good book. The kind that you can’t put down and the pages just disappear.  These are a few things really enjoy. This month I am going to try to do all of them more and really focus on only doing things I really enjoy. When there is an option the things I only kinda like to do I am going to have say no. This is about enjoying my time so I can truly say “at this moment I am happy.”  

Outward vs. Inward Happiness

Through this happiness project this year I have had a big ‘a ha’ realization about happiness. There are two big kinds of happiness. The first is outward happiness. This is the infectious laughter, the kind words, the always having something positive to say and refraining from the negative, a simple smile and so on. The second is inward happiness. This is the feeling of peace in a crazy world, the happy thoughts about someone you love, a place you are going, a sense of accomplishment, self worth and contentment. There are two kinds of happiness, inward and outward and the trick is to mastering both at the same time.  

Just because you are great at faking outward happiness doesn’t always mean you have it all together inside. We have to work at it. This was where I found myself at the beginning of the year. It seemed like I had it all together, but I needed a focus, a goal, something to bring my thoughts together and give me a purpose to bring more joy into my heart. God definitely helped with this. It gives me a sense of peace to hear encouraging words that give my little life reason. There is an energy that connects us and that is amazing and comforting at the same time. Even if you are not a church going person the acknowledgement that all our lives do fit together and we can all learn and grow from each other is uplifting and brings inward happiness. It has for me.

Focusing on things that need improvement in my life has also brought me inward happiness. That has been the purpose of my happiness project. I have had to focus on parts of my life and change my way of thinking.

Things have come full circle and it is outward happiness that has needed attention lately. You can be completely happy and content on the inside, but if you don’t figure out how to show it then what is the point? This actually can take some effort. Remembering to smile, to say positive things and not negative, and trying to laugh at the small things. I have realized my mood can affect everyone around me. The harder I try to let the happiness that I have inside show on the outside then the happier everyone around me becomes. I have realized that sometimes it is ok to remind the people closest to me to let their happiness show also. Their mood affects my happiness as well and I want it to be a positive change, not negative. Inward happiness you control, but outward happiness is highly influential. Surrounding myself with happy people makes me happier as well.

There are two kinds of happiness. My goal now is to bring outward and inward happiness together and be strong enough and smart enough to recognize when it happens so I can make it happen again.

Are you happy?