Happiness is...

"Clownin' Around"

Hi everyone!

Y'all will be happy to know that today's word is "happiness" :-). The above picture is from a program I did last summer - we were talking about ways to feel refreshed and renewed about your work. A clown nose always helps, right??

I've been seeing articles recently about how happiness is a choice - something I've always told my workshop participants (and a few others, LOL!). I once saw a little notepad in a gift shop that said, "Whoever said money can't buy happiness is shopping in the wrong place!" While it made me smile, it also made me think about how many times we DO think money will buy happiness. Or maybe we think being with the right person - or having the right degree - or living in the right neighborhood - or having the right job...will bring happiness. All too often, if that's what we think, we will soon be sorely disappointed.

Happiness comes from within, of course. It must. If we depend on others for our happiness, it's really too much pressure to put on anyone. If we depend on money or things, the "shine" usually wears off pretty quickly, doesn't it?

This morning, I read an article about a couple who built their dream "cabin." It ended up being 10,929 square feet (!!!) on hundreds of acres. Nice cabin :-). But throughout the article, they kept protesting that it wasn't about the size (but the size kept coming into the conversation), it was about the quality. Hmmm, I think you can have quality in a little less than 10,929 square feet. At one point they admitted that, just like they did in their smaller home, they still "live" in basically 3 rooms - the kitchen, great room, and bedroom. Wow. Kind of says a lot about what brings happiness, doesn't it? I picked up another magazine just a few minutes later and read about a couple who lived in 128 square feet. WHOA! Talk about extremes!

Maybe what I'm saying is that often, a "happy medium" (get it? "happy" medium??) is all we need. My home is not 128 sq. ft. tiny and it's nowhere near huge. That makes me happy. It's big enough to operate my business from and still hold a husband, a BIG dog, and a little cat - and we're all happy. But I know I would feel absolutely claustrophobic in 128 square feet (not to mention having to go to the gym to shower - yikes). And I would be strained to the limit trying to care for 10,929 square feet - of course, I'd probably be paying someone to do all that "care"...but just thinking about trying to manage all the logistics makes me tired!

And what I've slowly come to understand is making me happier these days is my decision to simplify. I say "slowly" because dropping everything to "clean house" would not make me happy. I need to do something so significant at my own pace. I like the idea of de-cluttering, but throwing away just to lighten the load isn't the answer for me. I need to give it some thought. What brings me pleasure? What do I need to do my work well? How much storage do we really need - and why?? How much is too much of anything?

The question becomes then...what makes you happy? REALLY happy? Isn't it great to know there are no right or wrong answers to that question? It's all about you. The secret is that you need to know yourself well enough to come up with an answer. Do you?

Let me know what makes you happy!

Blessings,
Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com

Clutter be gone!

Well, how did you do with saying adios to some tolerations this past week? I did indeed come up with a couple more - 3 to be exact - and it feels good. Still have some others hanging around but my awareness is there, so hopefully I'll be able to work on those things over the next few weeks.

And there's that word again - awareness. Are you aware of any clutter in your life? I'm not necessarily talking about physical clutter, although I do occasionally have a sea of that around me when I'm working on several programs at once. So yes, let's try to whittle that down a bit, too. I just finished assembling paperwork for taxes (eeeek!) and that relieved some paper clutter quickly.

But what I'm really talking about is "mental clutter." I have a bit of that happening right now - irritation about a situation I got myself into and now have no control over. It's cluttering my mind and I am working hard to "sweep it out." I've made some progress, but I'm not quite there yet. Frustrated thoughts still "clutter" my thinking now and again...

Even good "clutter" like preparing for upcoming workshops, having a stack of books on topics I really want to read, "things" I would like to do in the next couple of weeks - can cause some stress that we aren't even aware of.

Then there is the clutter of "noise" in life - I read quite some time ago that one of the reasons the "younger generation" seems angry or depressed is because of the constant noise in their lives - and much of that is negative noise...loud music with negative lyrics, negative verbiage on TV and video games... do you need to soften the "noise" in your life?

So maybe for you it's visual clutter, physical clutter, mental clutter, "noise" clutter, or whatever...my challenge to you this week is to try to reduce some of that clutter (I will never tell you to eliminate it because I don't think that's possible!).

How about it? I will if you will!
Blessings,
Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com