As most of you know, I’m teaching a happiness workshop this fall. In fact, it started last night and we will be meeting together, exploring what happiness means to us for the next 8 weeks. I am thrilled to be on this adventure!
For the past couple of months leading up to last night I spent a lot of time reading and researching to see what the “experts” can tell us about happiness. One of the books I came upon is called, The Happiness Project written by Gretchen Rubin. In it she describes how she spent a year doing a research project in her life, planning various activities and behavior shifts each month to increase her level of happiness.
One of the truisms she discovered during this year of exploration is “the days are long but the years are short.”
I really resonated with that.
Sometimes a day can feel interminable, never ending especially when I’m stuck doing things I don’t particularly love like housework. But when I look back to even this past year, now that it’s September, I think, “holy smokes, where has the year gone?”
After reading that line, I’ve decided to really make an even greater effort to enjoy my days, relish them, fill them (as much as I can) with all the things that make life worth living.
Things like:
Appreciating the sunny day
Noticing the flowers blooming next to my car
Bending down and taking a few moments to pet my dog
Relishing time spent with loved ones
Carving out an hour to be creative – in whatever way that is- dancing, collage, beading, cooking
Calling an old friend
Because I don’t want my year to end only to feel like I haven’t fully lived it with passion, determination, fun and caring.
The days are long but the years are short.
So even if the day seems long, what can you do to bring some sunshine into it?
Can you take a 5 minute break and listen to an uplifting song? Can you smile at a stranger for no reason? How about waving at the mail carrier or picking up a chocolate or some flowers for your honey?