Tag: happiness

Hail to thee, Date Night!

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Before Maya came along, every weekend night was “date night” … whether it was a movie, dinner, a drive to walk around a Lake Michigan beach town or a day-trip to Chicago, or even just a late-night jaunt to Target … any time we had together was “date night.” Of course, we completely took it for granted — the ability to just get up and go if/when we pleased.

While we try to go out at least once a month just us, it isn’t always easy. Sometimes our “date night” ends up being a work party or a friend’s birthday … but it’s still time away from home, without our little monkey. Continue reading “Hail to thee, Date Night!” →

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Discipline vs. Regret

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A friend linked to a blog post on Facebook and though I couldn’t relate to the feelings she has towards running — I’ve dabbled in running but never really with purpose or anything — I loved, loved, loved the quote at the bottom.

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is the discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” – Jim Rohn Continue reading “Discipline vs. Regret” →

Choose Happy

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This came through my Facebook news feed and my wheels got turning.

Contrary to what fairy tales and media influences might tell you, happiness doesn’t just “happen.” It’s a choice. A conscious decision.

A choice we make each day when we wake up; a choice we make when we decide how to react to certain information/situations; a choice we make before we go to sleep each night. Much of what I learned during my year of cognitive behavioral therapy was related to this: how we can control not only our actions, but our reactions to situations/people/circumstances.

And though it isn’t always easy, and sometimes it’s wholly appropriate to drown our sorrows in a bottle of Malibu rum (not that I’ve ever done THAT … haha — flashbacks to my earth-shattering at the time freshman year break-up …) or several pints of Ben and Jerry’s (did anyone else see this supremely awkward Daily Show interview with Robert Pattinson the other night?!) …  The thing is, we’re entitled to grieve, mourn, be angry … but when all is said and done, we can still choose the “happy route.”

Continue reading “Choose Happy” →

Wise Words from Dove Promises

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“Happiness is an inside job.”

How true it is. That’s what the foil wrapper of my dark chocolate Dove Promise said today. Genius, isn’t it?

(Thank you, Staci, for having them in your candy bucket today when I NEEDED chocolate!)

My husband has often said happiness needs to come from within; it can’t come from someone or something else. He should know — he’s one of the happiest people I know and he grew up in a third-world country under some very difficult circumstances and still came out with an amazing, realistic but optimistic attitude toward life. In fact, it’s one of the things I admire most about him.

Yet all too often we want someone or something else to be the source of our happiness … we want to blame someone or something external for our lack of happiness or our failure to be content with what we have … when in reality, it’s ours to be had. Continue reading “Wise Words from Dove Promises” →

“Half-Way” — I’m Really Kind of OK Here …

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This weekend I had coffee with a friend  I met via WW Online several years ago.

We’ve become good friends in real life and now that she lives here in the Midwest, we can get together in person more often.

Naturally, the conversation at one point or another turned to food issues and she said something that caught my attention.

We were talking about our old obsessive compulsive ways and how unhealthy it was to be so rigid and everything, and then she said, kind of wistfully, “… Yea but we were both thinner then.” Continue reading ““Half-Way” — I’m Really Kind of OK Here …” →

Right Here, Right Now

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untitledYou know how sometimes they say what you want is right in front of you, and has been there all along?

Well, it hit me this week that I’m blessed and I’ve got everything I could want right now in life.

And instead of dwelling on something harmful, I’d rather focus on the good.

In spite of tough economic times and hardships all around, I feel seriously blessed.

I have a beautiful family, amazing friends, the most incredible husband, a house we own with a beautiful creek in the backyard (and a new stove coming next week!), a fantastic and fulfilling job and career in PR, a car I own, education/degrees that can never be taken away, travel experience I wouldn’t trade for anything, my health and fitness, and sometime in 2010, maybe even a little one (we’ll see!)

Things really are amazing, and they’re right in front of me. Why is it so hard for me to see it, when everyone else can?!

I wish I knew. Perfect Girl syndrome tends to rear its ugly head, but right here, right now, I’m shoving her away. There’s just no room for her at this table. Continue reading “Right Here, Right Now” →