Happiness Project Reveal!

Why do I need a happiness project?!?  Who doesn't need one, is the question!!  I'm all about enjoying life and remembering the happy times.  Life is just a moment, right?  Why not spend it trying to enjoy every moment, being positive and happy?!?  Of course the bad times will come, money will be tight, cars will break down, people will get hurt and die...but if we do the work to be HAPPY, the bad times may be just a tidbit easier to get through when they come along...

It takes a while to start up a Happiness Project!!  I got the idea of Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project where she spent a year learning how to be happy, appreciate life and love, etc.  She even blogs  about it!!  I loved the idea from the start.  I thought, "I need to do this!!!!".

Like I said in my earlier post on this book, it's not that I am not a happy person, I usually am very happy!!  But, I'm also anxious and grumpy and stressed out and stubborn and many many other things.  Sometimes, these things hurt my outlook on life, it makes me negative instead of seeing the positive.  Actually, sometimes I just ignore the positive and just want to be negative.  Not a good way to live!  I want to be a genuinely happy person, this means knowing what makes ME happy, ridding myself of needless regrets and guilts, and learning how to thoroughly ENJOY my life.  I hate how sometimes weeks will go by, I'll look back and think, "Where did that time go?  What have I been doing?"  I don't like walking through life with my eyes closed, I want to cherish and remember everyday, especially the GOOD in every  day!  There are many aspects in life that have an effect on our happiness.  I'm hoping to tackle most of the ones that effect me!

So, I am joining the masses on The Happiness Project in making my own "Resolution Chart".  Gretchen made one of these for her project, mine is done a little differently but if you read her book, you may see a lot of similarities.  Each month as a theme around which I am making my "resolutions" or goals.  These themes are specific to me, things that I know will help on my way to happiness!  In all of these, loving God is key, because honestly without Jesus, for me, there is no happiness!  I have a quote to go along with each month, something that will help me to remember those goals!  Here is what I have so far:

My 2011 Happiness Project
March: Be Organized: "Everything has a place" - March is almost over, but this month has been all about organizing!
April: Be Healthy: "Everything in moderation" - if I "give up" something, it's all I will want.  If I tell myself to exercise a hour every day, I won't!  Everything in moderation!
May: Enjoy Family: "Make memories"  My brother is getting married May 15th, perfect month to celebrate family and make wonderful memories!
June: Write a book: "Do a little everyday!" - by doing something every day, you get a lot done
July: Have fun: "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how!" - Dr Seuss, Cat in the Hat
August: Be a friend: "If you got a sandwich cut that thing in half.  Share it with a friend and have a laugh!" Jack Johnson meaning: spend more time with friends and have fun:)
September: Work hard: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart" - whatever I'll be doing then, I want to excel in it!  This is also motivation to PUBLISH the book I wrote in June
October: Enjoy home: "The most important work we do is within the four walls of our home" - enjoy home with family, enjoy home by cleaning and getting things done
November: Be Thankful: "Gratitude is the best attitude"
December: Relax and enjoy life: "Be anxious for nothing"

I'm still working on finalizing the resolutions and quotes for some months.  Each Month will have 8 goals to achieve, I have a chart (thanks to Gretchin Rubin herself!!) and each day I will put a check or an X if I did or did not achieve it. Some goals won't be accomplished everyday, and some will.  As long as I try to get each goal accomplished by the end of each month.

I'll be posting in the beginning of each month to list my goals for each theme!  But that's my Happiness Project for now!  Of course my reading challenge fits in here too, because reading makes me extremely happy!!  I love books:)

A quote I love from Eat, Pray, Love by E. Gilbert:
Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

I'm linking up with a bowl full of lemons for Toni's "One project at a time" link party!!!