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the monthly newsletter

(If you'd like this newsletter emailed each month, be sure to subscribe with an email address on the home page!)

The Happiness Challenge can still be found in the January dates (21 days, "creating lasting positive change."  Based on the TED Talk by Shawn Achor.  Watch the video below!)
The happy secret to better work

January 21, 2016

1/21/2016

 
  • Three gratitudes: 1.—My family; 2.—My friends; 3—My job
  • Exercise: I went to the gym.  Yes.  That's right.  45 minutes.
  • Meditation: Prayed a rosary with special intentions for those who battle depression.
  • Random Act of Kindness email: A text
  • Journal about one positive experience in the past 24 hours:
Picture
Well, it's my last day of this challenge, and I guess my positive experience is right now, typing this final reflection.  What have I learned from the past three weeks?  Most importantly it's this:  the gift of observation.  On days when I dreaded the "positive experience" writing, knowing full well that nothing spectacular took place that day, I dug deeper.  The people by which I'm surrounded makes the digging an easy fix, but it's something I forget to do on a daily basis.  I hope this gift of observation is habit-forming.  The other thing I learned is that I really need to find time to exercise.  There's truth in the idea that exerting energy gives you energy, that exercise puts you in a better mood.  I know this.  I've been there.  I know how I felt, inside and out, when I walked regularly.  It was more than the physical health benefits, which were many; I just felt good... all the time. So, today I went to Walgreens and bought a lock (with a key, not a combination like the one in my dusty gym bag that sat for so long I couldn't remember the numbers). I went to the gym, swiped my bent up card with fingers crossed that it still worked, and I headed up to the lockers.  My old locker was empty, just waiting for me.  My old treadmill stared at me, like a mom running late with arms crossed across her chest and toes tapping on the floor.  I'm on my way, I thought.  

Until the weather warms up and I can get back to the walking path at my local park, I hope I can at least get reacquainted with that treadmill.

​Here's my Happiness Challenge Motto: Be grateful. Be kind. Exercise.  :)


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