Happy Secret – Better Work
I watched Shawn Anchor’s “The Happy Secret to Better Work” TedXTalk and thoroughly enjoyed it, it’s fast, funny and thought-provoking. (The second half is better than the first in my opinion.)
My favorite gem: “90% of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world, but by the way your brain processes the world.”
Oh, and also, I’ll paraphrase this one: people think, once I have success I’ll be happy. But once you get a good grade, get a promotion, get a raise, your idea of success changes and you have to get a better grade, another promotion, another raise. You literally can not achieve happiness that way. Instead, start with happiness and let that guide you to success.
Train you brain to be more positive, their studies show it takes 21 days. So, I’ll be adding three positive things about my day to this post everyday for the next 21 days (journaling is another way to train your brain, and that’s what this blog is.)
Day 1 (May 10)
Some together time with the boyfriend;
Feeling less sick than the day before was a relief;
Successfully accomplishing KCTL site tasks.
Day 2
R liking my redesign of ISO made me feel good;
Enjoying simple household chores (sweeping up, emptying the dishwasher, hanging laundry);
The dog on the subway, and two more while walking on Bedford.
Day 3
(All KCTL-tennis related)
Having a kid follow my instructions and do really well;
Showing the kids how to start a game (choosing p/d and spinning the racquet) and having the long-time instructor be like oh yea, we should be doing that, watch Heather;
Seeing that the kids have made vast improvements from last year, and knowing that the kids struggling today will be so much better by the end of the season.
Day 4:
Oh, the smell of fresh, green, real grass. Love it;
When the sun shines between the clouds into those ‘God’s Rays’ right before sunset when I’m out running;
The rush of new knowledge (I’m taking a jQuery class) and getting it.
Day 5:
This one is tricky. Not a bad just not a lot of overwhelming joy.
The white flowers in the trees at McCarren;
Running with NBR – the view of Manhattan;
How kind the woman at the pharmacy is.
Day 6:
How everything looks better in the rain;
Breaking through a wall (figuratively, not literally);
Unexpected connections with old friends.
Day 7: (May 16)
Unfortunately missed this day.
Day 8:
Not giving up and sprinting .5 mile to make it to class on time
R’s monthly metro pass!
Opening up immediately to someone new
Day 9:
I can feel my horizons broadening
Didn’t just run today actually pushed myself – hit a 9:00 pace! Never done that before.
Spent my transitional moments (walking/subway) wishing everyone I passed personal happiness and contentment
Day 10
Fresh from the oven cookies goopy with chocolate;
Anything and everything x-men;
Planning to talk at a happy hour recruit volunteers – taking this off M’s plate.
Day 11
The patience I’m gaining from the meditation/Buddhism classes;
Looking and feeling super pretty in my dress and boots;
Selling my very first item on Etsy!
Day 12
Yoga is always good;
My new co-working space is better than the old one;
Did some nice logo work.
Day 13
Tough day… start fresh tomorrow.
Day 14 (May 23)
Still the same. try again tomorrow.
Day 15
The feeling when you come out from the fog;
The Avett Brothers music makes me feel like I’m 14 again;
30×30 Update: #11 Down
11. Hang my artwork in a gallery
After a lot of hard work, many reprints, endless hours cutting mat boards and a lot of manly assistance from R, I currently have 20 photos hanging at The Yard. Not technically a gallery, but for all intents and purposes, this counts.
I am incredibly stoked and proud of myself. Anything photo related means a lot to me because if one day I had a million dollars or only six months to live, I’d pack a car and photograph until my heart’s content. It’s the dream I’m too scared/hesitant/whatever to go after.
Here are some quick shots of the photos.
Best Evah
My sleep’s been messed up lately, and I spent most of the afternoon sleeping. And while, it was good to get some rest, it was bad in that it made me feel like I lost my day, and I was having trouble getting started. Then in the evening, I found out some info that made me really sad, for reasons I’m not going to get into.
But lo and behold, R was already on his way to my apartment to drop off some dinner, completely his own idea. A done up veggie burger and sweet potato fries, lentil soup, string cheese (I’ve been on a crazy string cheese kick lately) and desert – raspberries and dark chocolate.
The tears immediately ceased when I realized that I have the best possible person ever in my life.
How to be Convincing
“I’m 65 percent yes.”
“Then I’m 65 percent happy.”
“Damn, good answer.”
LA was good to me.
Had a fantastic day.
Today I was reminded why we go through all the suffering and pain of a heartbreaking break-up — because it is completely worth it. No matter what this thing is, and it might not be anything more than what it was today, I got something back today. Something that was taken from me last summer. And that is the feeling that love is a wonderful thing. That it is a worthwhile thing.
So I don’t forget all that is possible in a single day:
french toast with jam
skipping train rides
venice beach
watching the ocean waves
venice canals and brightly colored houses
picking flowers, jasmine
parking ticket
roller coaster on the pier
the bubble man
losing a sweatshirt
missing the tar pits
driving around for the hollywood sign – squeaking when i finally saw it!
uruguayan (?) music in the car
artichoke hearts
pasta and wine, wine, wine
Daily Delight #34
Getting my photography on. View more photos from today at ISO: Adventure.
9th Grade – Memory #2
No daily delight today, but I was reminded of something hilarious.
As is normal during the holidays in a small town, I saw several people I haven’t seen in a while. And I was explaining to a friend’s new girl friend that yes, I knew her boyfriend and friends from high school, but really, didn’t know them until college. And without missing a beat, her boyfriend says, No we’ve been online buddies since 9th grade. And suddenly, something I hadn’t thought of in practically a decade came rushing back to me.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh. And nodded my head to let him know I remembered. See, back in 9th grade, I was advanced in the online world – I had been building webpages and IRC chatting for a few years by then – and so when everyone in my school found AOL/AIM, I naturally, went along with it to test the waters. I chatted up a lot of people under various aliases just because I was curious what they had to say, what secrets they would tell, who they were when they didn’t think anyone was looking.
I chatted up T even though I really didn’t know him (we went to different middle schools), and nothing too exciting or embarrassing happened in our conversation. In fact, he made a good impression on me, he said something about how he’d much rather have his grandparents around rather than have their money – don’t ask me how this topic came up. Goodness, I might even still have the transcripts from our conversation. Note to self: check old computer.
But the really funny part to this story, was while we were chatting, I’d give him clues to who I was but never actually reveal it. And I told him that we had a class together, maybe I even specified which one – social studies or american history or global history or something like that. And the next day in the middle of that class, he just stood up. I mean the teacher is at the front of the classroom lecturing about one country invading another, and T just stands up and starts scanning everyone in the class.
I was sitting next to my then-best friend and she knew what I had been doing to him, so we had to do everything possible to not completely lose it. Because it was the funniest thing ever – him just standing there looking over everyone, actually turning left to right – to the point where the teacher stopped and asked him if he had a problem/needed something. It was just hilarious, in that silly, giddy-secrets-girl kind of way.
I’m super glad I saw T tonight and was reminded of this.
Happiness
We should practice by showing one another love and helping one another. It is a mistake to pursue happiness and to seek to avoid the suffering by deceiving and humiliating other people. We must try to achieve happiness and eliminate suffering by being good-hearted and well-behaved.
Preach it Dalai Lama.
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