happy friday!

friends, did you buy the book? did you read it? can you believe the first month of 2012 has already come & gone? are you feeling happier? how did january go? did you begin your 2012 quest towards happiness? did you start your happy high?

i am happy to report, i slept a little more than usual. and, our house is almost-in-order. this past week i tackled the kitchen – cleaned out the fridge/pantry/food cupboards, i re-organized my art cupboards.  i did the post-christmas clean-out! raided everyone’s closets, my oldest daughter has been begging for her own room since we moved here – so yesterday we were playing musical bedrooms – i am tossing, donating, and selling. since husband is out of town, i am planning a few final projects this weekend and then we’ll be organized for a few more months! it’s a lot of work, but feels so good!

i am still working on the walk*more goal. however, i did add a few walks to my regular work-outs this month, {woo*hooo!}

but, i’ll be honest, a clean-organized home makes me very happy. and these past few days i have a spring in my step because i am reaping the rewards of my hard work!

do you remember me saying that Gretchen Rubin was the closing keynote speaker at alt. design summit?!?

i was able to spend a few minutes chatting with Gretchen before she began, she is so lovely & radiates a genuine kindness.
she told the crowd to…

cram your life with things you love.

do you do that?

***

keeping with my first-friday-of-the-month-happy-friday theme, i will try to quickly discuss chapter 2 for february. this chapter is so good you guys! if you are married, and you own this book but haven’t read it – at least read chapter 2!

i don’t want to give-away everything in this chapter. so, i am going to only hit on a couple of my favorite parts in order to keep this short.

in the section of chapter two titled, “no dumping,” gretchen says, “I know Jamie {her husband} wants me to be happy. in fact, the happier i seem to be, the more Jamie tries to make me happy, and when i’m unhappy —for whatever reason—Jamie goes into a funk. so, as part of my attempt to be happy, I resolved, “NO dumping,” especially on Jamie. I would bring up my worries if I really needed Jamie’s counsel or support, but i wouldn’t dump my minor troubles on him.”

oh, man. this totally applies to my marriage. in fact, when i was reading this book, husband and I were traveling in the Philippines – i frequently read passages out loud to him. When this particular paragraph came up, i read it out loud to husband and he instantly cracked his sly smile. we are so aware of this. i don’t know why, but when i dump my minor troubles on husband, he spirals into an insta-funk. do you relate?

so, in this month of love that starts with our anniversary, i am going to resist dumping! {funny statement, yes?}

later in chapter two, gretchen quotes William Butler Yeats,

Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that, but simply growth.
We are happy when we are growing.

can i get an A-men?!? oh, i love that!

she continues,

Contemporary researchers make the same argument:
that it isn’t goal attainment but the process of striving after goals — that is, growth — that brings happiness.

hallelujuah! that is just beautiful. my soul leaps at those words.

growth.

i’m adding: push myself to grow this month.
my list for this goal is big. it makes me think of a quote i’ve seen lately…

***

to summarize –

january {i will continue to work on these}

sleep more
be organized
walk more

+ february:

no dumping
grow

what are your goals? in-between the Super Bowl this weekend or whatever you may be doing. take a few minutes to think about all of this – happiness, here we come!
xoxo.

see you monday – i’ll be posting my latest new-to-me goodies!

{images via, quote by me.}