The Happiness Project :: ATTITUDE :: January

For January my Happiness Project goal area is "Attitude".  This has been a great goal to work on the last three weeks, as my dizziness seems to have returned after a short respite.  I think it's related to my eustachian tube dysfunction, but I'm not sure, and nothing seems to be helping.  So getting through each day with a good attitude has been challenging, but necessary.

In her book, Gretchen Rubin says, "It is easier to complain than to laugh, easier to yell than to joke around, easier to be demanding than to be satisfied."  I both love and hate that.  I love how true it is, but I hate how it describes me.  I want to change it.

She suggests we act how we want to feel, find things to be grateful for and have a mental place of refuge since we naturally focus on the negative.  For me this is especially important.  I use my memories of summer as places for my mind to settle when I get weary.  She also encourages laughter, positive reviews of those around us, and reminds us it is easy to be heavy, hard to be light. 

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"If you don't like something, change it.

If you can't change it, change your attitude about it."

-Maya Angelou

I cannot always choose how my children behave. I can't always choose the life circumstances I am presented with, but I can choose my attitude in response to those things.  I can choose to be content, despite the miscarriages.  I can choose to be content, despite the fact that we're pinching pennies.  I can choose to be content, despite where we live or anything else life throws our way.

When I find my shoulders tight up near my ears, my jaw clenched and my brow furrowed, I remind myself that my attitude is mine and mine alone.  I breathe, slowly loosen my shoulders and unfurrow my brow.  I release my jaw and put a smile on my face.  I find that happy songs tends to help, so January has been a month of music.

My favorites:

Taylor Swift:: 1989

JJ Heller:: I Dream of You

Dierks Bentley:: Riser

Lady Antebellum:: Own The Night

(+ Bartender, which is now my children's favorite song. Hilarious!)

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