The Happiness Project :: ENERGY :: April

For April my goal area was "Energy".  I have been feeling rundown, tired and anxious for spring, so I thought upping my energy would be a great way to start my happiness project.

My April Goals for Energy:
1) Go to bed at 9:00pm
2) Work out Monday-Friday
3) Organize the house
     -Sort through all closets
     -Pantry
     -Span order for fall
4) Act how I want to feel
5) Drink 2 water bottles/day
6) Write down what I eat

---

The month is nearly over, and while I have certainly not been perfect at any one goal, I have gone to bed earlier, worked out more, sorted through & organized a vast majority of our house, and am drinking at least two water bottles full of water each day.  Gretchen (the author of The Happiness Project) is a big believer in exercise.  She hates it, don't get me wrong, but she knows that people who exercise are healthier, think more clearly, sleep better and have a delayed onset of dementia.  She also touted a statistic that knocked my socks off-- One extra hour (just ONE extra hour!) of sleep each night does more for a person's daily happiness than getting a $60,000 raise!  On the opposite end of that, sleep deprivation impairs memory, weakens the immune system, slows metabolism and might foster weight gain.  Because of all the research cited in Gretchen's book, I copied many of her monthly goals because they just make so much darn sense!

She had a very moving quote in her Energy chapter of her book:

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,

the whole aim and end of human existence."

-Aristotle

I mean, really, what's the point of all of this if it isn't happiness???

----

These last few days of April I would like to begin writing down what I eat, just to take responsibility for what I put into my body; and I'd also like to work a little harder on acting how I want to feel.

Gretchen says that "we often feel because of the way we act" and not the other way around. This was inspiring to me because it puts me in charge of my emotions, which is kind of amazing.

This last one is particularly important keeping in mind what May's goal area is: Parenting.  Often in parenting, the easy thing is to be grouchy.  But if I can find my "happy" voice, turn on music, laugh, be in the moment... it changes the atmosphere of the entire house.  So trying to remember to "act how I want to feel" is going to be a big one in May.