Put a Smile on Your Face

I was originally planning to bring you Part 2 of Empty Pockets tonight, but I had another thought that doesn't seem to want to go away, so I'm going with that one. And that thought is: smiles. Yes, I've been thinking about smiles. More specifically, the causes of them.

When reading or listening to advice in many, many areas, you will hear "keep a journal" over and over again. Trying to lose weight? Keep a food journal. Trying to control anger? Keep an anger journal. Trying to get in touch with this, that, or the other part of yourself? Keep a journal. Well, today it occurred to me that if I'm trying to focus on what creates the most happiness in my life, perhaps I should keep a smile journal. What made me smile today? It seems to me that documenting smiles allows you to focus and reflect on what actually makes you happy with the added benefit of getting to smile about the same things all over again. Now, of course, this is about real smiles, not fake smiles or "just to be polite" smiles.

So, here's the "for example" bit:

As I was hugging my husband before he went to work today, I told him that he smelled good. He immediately exclaimed, "That's because I'm made entirely of pickles!" How could a person not smile at that?

My step-daughter is working at cleaning out and simplifying her bedroom. The amount of enthusiasm and zeal she has for separating toys into different bins for keep, Goodwill, and trash is enough to make The Grinch grin. She gets particularly excited about being able to take lots of stuff to donate to other kids. She makes me so proud I could pop!

My husband was reading a book to my step-daughter (at some point I might start using these people's actual names) tonight and they both fell asleep in her room. I stood at the door to her room and just watched them and listened to their little snores. Super-contented smile.

Is there any doubt that my family brings about a great deal of happiness for me? Of course, I was already aware of that, but paying attention to my smiles just for one day certainly reinforced the notion.

So, what did you smile about today? Really....I wanna know. Don't be bashful - leave a comment. :)

So, Whatcha Want?

Yesterday afternoon I wandered onto my porch to water my little "garden." As I watered my precious petunias and peppers, I listened to the thunder of an incoming storm and pondered my self-imposed to-do list when it occurred to me: I didn't want to do any of those things on my list. What I wanted to do was lie on my porch, stare up at the sky, and watch the storm roll in. And if a nap happened...well, that was okay, too. So, ignoring my dog's confused stare (he was doped up on Benadryl anyway...that's a story for another day) and the vague nagging sensation that a neighbor may misinterpret this as a "fallen and can't get up" situation, I snuggled down into the jute rug, threw my arms behind my head, and stared at the clouds.

Now, why am I telling you this? Because it brought something into sharp focus for me: I don't know what I want. I don't know what I want to do with my day tomorrow, where I want my life to go, what I want to be when I grow up... I have spent so long doing what I'm "supposed" to and what's "expected" that I have lost track of what I want. I know exactly what I don't want, but when I shed that, what do I want to be left? I'm like an escaped prisoner who stops, looks around, and says, "Okay, now what?" So, given that, I've decided to focus on where I want this path to take me. I do know that watching the clouds roll in while surrounded by my plants and my slightly stoned dog fits firmly in the "what I want" column in life.

So, what do you want?