The Happiness Project:: PLAY :: October

One of my favorite quotes from The Happiness Project is "It is easy to be heavy, hard to be light."  Gretchen writes that laughing & being silly is judged harshly against being serious & stone faced.  This month, I want to give in to the lighthearted things in life.  

1)  Stop Doing

Enjoying "play" this month will require that I not do some other things.  Mainly waste time.  So I will be tracking my wasted time spent online, on Facebook, on my phone playing Solitaire and doing other non-fun things.

2) Start Doing

In addition to eliminating things from my days, I will be adding some things I do enjoy, like going outside, running & laughing with my kids.   I'd like to play more games, do more crafts & let loose a little more often.

3) Enjoy Hobbies

I have made a goal of reading four novels this month.  I also want to continue working on my cross stitch project.  And I'd really love to get my blog caught up.  I have fifteen drafts currently sitting in my folder.  I've been working on it!

The four books I'd like to read are:

Big Little Lies

The Night Circus

Unconditional Parenting

Outlander

And for fun, here are the titles of a few blog posts I have in the works:

What Battling Anxiety Looks Like

Peaceful Parenting

My Giant Wyatt

Reasons to Trust

Novels 2014-2015

4) Figure Out What I Like

Gretchen says that it's important to recognize what you like, as well as what you don't like.  So this month I will be paying close attention to what makes me feel happy and what doesn't.  For instance, lately, when the kids are out of control and I'm feeling really grouchy, I have found that plopping down with a colorbook and fresh box of Crayola's can change everyone's mood.  Who knew coloring would be among my favorite activities?

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So here's to a month of fun.

"There's power in looking silly and not caring that you do."

-Amy Poehler

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