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. :)

Take a Moment

One of my very most favorite things in the world is chocolate. Mmmmmm......chocolate. But it occurred to me recently that you would never know how much I adore chocolate due to the casual, mindless manner I have when consuming it. My nonchalant consumption of chocolate while on the go would indicate that I think it no more important than the randomly-sized, often confusingly squishy lettuce that comes atop a veggie burger. So I made the bold proclamation (to my husband who is contractually bound to listen to my nonsense) that I would stop being a negligent chocolate-eater.

Now I buy a highfalutin bar of dark chocolate and actually saaaaaavor it. Not all in one sitting, mind you....spread the joy over time. Now that I've chosen to be mindful of what I'm doing, I enjoy this simple pleasure so much more. Am I spending more now that I'm going with hoity-toity confections? Nope. I eat much less now that I'm paying attention, so it all balances out.

The moral of the story? How many things are we treating as side notes that are actually very important to us and could bring us simple joy if we would just stop to savor?

Quiet Time

Earlier today, my step-daughter and I were having a relaxing afternoon. She was reading a new book from the library and I was knitting away. The only sounds were the subtle clicks of my needles (I use bamboo to cut down on the clickety-clacks) and the occasional giggles of a nine year old girl enjoying a book. No TV or Xbox or chatter - just us reading and knitting. And it occurred to me that I was utterly content...quiet time is definitely being added to my "things I've discovered I truly want" list.

Just Say No to Farming

Okay, not real farming, obviously. What would we do without all the yumminess that comes from the farm? What I'm speaking of here is farming games. And restaurant games, pet games, egg games, you name it. I find that I often don't have time to do the things I want or need to do, so I've been looking at where my time goes. I found that I spend a frightening amount of time playing games on our favorite social networking site. So, I'm making another bold move....I'm going to quit playing all of them. They are a time sink and bring me little joy.

Now, I hear a collective gasp from the people who need me to be their neighbor, friend, employee, etc. in these games. Never fear! I won't abandon you by deleting the games...I'll just stop actively playing them.

This is just one of the ways I plan to free up my time for things that actually matter to me. I'll be telling you about more ways in the future. :)