How To Be Happy Today

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When was the last time you actually simply looked out the window? It certainly beats worrying about something that probably isn't going to happen anyway! This is the view I had from the second floor of our house last year. It was spring and the snow was melting quickly. The mist was almost magical! It would have been so easy to have ignored that view!

I'm reminding myself of the value of those little moments. Spring might be a long way off, but it's gently snowing at the moment and that is gorgeous too!

Now that Christmas is over, I often put out a puzzle to keep everyone busy for the month of January. And yes, I do decorate the house with lots of the little guys!

Well, you can stop looking right now, because if you are hoping to find it in a box, on your next holiday, right around the corner, you won't find it. And so many of us make that mistake. We go looking for it SOMEWHERE ELSE. And you are never going to find it because...

Happiness is already inside of you! It's as easy as thinking happy thoughts. It might seem too simple, but try it this afternoon. Head outside, breathe in the fresh air, listen to the birds chirping and I can guarantee that you will come back into the house feeling happier than when you went out!

Bass Lake Birdhouse

1. Really gooey brownies with ice cream
2. Rice Pudding made with oodles of whipping cream
3. Really thick chocolate milkshakes (that is just as good as dessert)
4. Hot Sugar Pie with Ice Cream
5. Apple Crisp straight from the oven... with ice cream again.
6. Chocolate Cake with tons of frosting! (from Hersheys)

7. Yes, I just added a new one and that would be hot chocolate... with cinnamon (which is really good for you) and a quick little squirt of whipping cream!

Okay I know... as a pre-diabetic, I'm not supposed to eat stuff like this, but every once in a while I allow myself one spoonful of my husband's dessert.

6.... I'm adding a new one. I just discovered sugar free ice cream bars! Now you might wonder why that is so unusual. Well, it's January, I'm in Florida and it's okay to eat ice cream when the temps are in the 70s ;) I could get very used to this place! At home it's -15 centigrade. That's cold!!!

7. I love muffins and I can have them if I control the sugar! I'm down to 1/4 cup and while they might take some getting use to at first... I love the other flavors that are suddenly coming through!

8. Strawberry Shortcake... especially from the Cheesecake Factory!

9. Creme Brulee... had this on Thanksgiving and it was AWESOME!

10. Fancy coffees are also now on my list. It's a toss up between Eggnog and Gingerbread lattes!

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu

It really doesn't take a lot. I'm quite happy with a good strong cup of coffee. Just something soothing about it. And these days, I'm drinking it black. I thought that adding Half and Half, which I tended to prefer over regular milk, was just adding to the build-up in my arteries, which I really didn't need. And oh yes, A nice glass of red wine is also something that I do find very relaxing later in the day.

So, what is making me happy today??

I'm going shopping today. It's Boxing Day and I'm ready for the sales!! Christmas was amazing btw :)

The day is shaping up to be one gorgeous day... going out for a walk. :)

Several friends who have realized the situation that I am in at the moment took time out of their busy schedules to offer me advice. There are some amazing people out there!

Went for a nice long walk all by myself. It was a quiet morning and I had the street all to myself. Very peaceful!

Heading back for a visit to see the family in Canada. Yes, that definitely makes me happy!!

What could be better than an afternoon of cheese and whole wheat crackers? Not only does it taste great, it contains vitamin B12, which can keep the worry tendencies in hand. How can it work such a miracle? It's the Serotonin and Norepinephrine that is produced by this combination. A little bit of happiness thanks to an afternoon snack.

If you have been following my so called life lol, you will know that I have been pretty much living with my dentist, periodontist, endodontist for the past couple of months. In a couple of weeks, it all comes to an end. I will have the last procedure done! My Root Canals will be history. And for that I am happy.

Have you entered anything in your Gratitude Journal yet today?? It's been gathering dust?? Actually I was just reading that you should try to write down the 25 most important things in your life if that is the case. Sort of reminds you of what has been going on in your life in the past few months that you can be grateful for!.

Photo Credit: Amazon

It is thought that puttering in the garden is a great way to relax...

... but it doesn't work for me...

... so if it doesn't work for you either and you've been wondering what on earth is wrong with you... NOTHING AT ALL. Some things are not going to work for all people. The trick is to find what works for you and then do it... a lot!

What you find relaxing is all that counts. Actually, I do find thumbing through a gardening magazine relaxing. I wonder if that counts??

Photo Credit: Amazon

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Did you beat yourself up over anything today? It's an easy thing to do but for just one day... to start, we are going to make today... BE NICE TO YOURSELF DAY. That means that you are going to get up and do something special for yourself. Take a bubble bath and NOT shave your legs. You might curl up with a mushy novel and read for the sheer pleasure of it... whatever appeals to you today.

Not sure what I'm going to do today! It's 7:30 on a Saturday morning and I'm the first one awake. I just might head down to breakfast. I'm kind of in the mood for pancakes!

Over and out ;) and sweet dreams. I have indeed been good to myself today.

I remember every bump we ever hit ;)

1. Have a few good friends. Actually the more you have, the happier you will be.

2. Do something that you enjoy. That sometime means making a list to refer to. I have about 123 things on my list to choose from. On any given day, one of them is going to appeal to me.

3. Learn something new each day.

4. Have a place in your house that is soothing.

5. Spend some time on your hobbies. Work shouldn't take up all of your day. This can be a tough one. I know this from experience.

6. Spend a little time playing every day. Playtime isn't just for children. :)

Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out

Take a little time and go and sit in a park. Now listen to all of the children laughing. I read somewhere that kids laugh about ten times more often in a day than adults do. That means that we used to laugh more often. We suddenly get serious in our old age?? I think that I'm going to try to laugh at least once an hour. Surely, I should be able to laugh that many times during a day. How about you? How many times did you laugh today??

Photo Credit: Amazon

Massage will take it all away. I can be feeling miserable but the minute my husband begins to massage my feet, it all just drains away. It also lowers your blood pressure which is probably a little high if you are stressed and here's something interesting... if you are relaxed, suddenly you are more creative. And that's always a good thing!!

I have always had a hard time with patience and the book that I am reading at the moment Tibetan Meditation: Practical Teachings And Step-by-step Exercises on How to Live in Harmony, Peace, And Happiness (Meditation) and it brought up the very topic in the chapter I'm reading.

Patience... I don't have any. I want things right now. I hate to wait. The same thing goes for my work. I want to see results. I especially liked this quote... "Without patience life is like tilling a field with no horse to pull the plow - the furrows are shallow and crooked, and the work is hard and frustrating."

It's obviously time to start learning patience.

1 cup skim milk
1 cup bran
*Place both together in a bowl and leave bran to soak up the milk

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
handful of chopped walnuts
*stir all to combine

Pour bran mixture into dry mixture and then add
1/3 cup of oil
1 egg
¼ cup brown sugar NOT PACKED
½ tsp vanilla

Stir all until batter is smooth. I don't like to bite into a lump of baking soda so I stir the mixture big time. Batter is NOT lumpy.

Spray/butter or use baking cups and fill 12 muffin wells until you run out of batter. Bake in a relatively hot oven (375 degrees) for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.

If it's warm enough (and I'm getting really tired of saying that), take a book outside and read. There is nothing more relaxing. A really simple way to let the rest of the world go by while you lose yourself in another world.

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

I love the scent of freshly laundered sheets and my laundry is all done for the day, fresh sheets and pillowcases on all the beds and tonight I'm going to curl up with a novel and then drift off to sleep. I just might add a glass of red wine to the list and really make it something to look forward to. Okay, maybe some chocolate too. I'm on a roll!

Amazing how much better you feel in the morning when you have slept a solid ten hours. Went shopping yesterday and I was in bed my ten. Mood... very good. :) And it is the weekend but I think that it was the fact that I got sooooo much sleep!

You have opened your Happy Door right? It's the door that lets all the good stuff into your day. I've written about it before on this lens if you are scratching your head. Go and take a look. :)

1. It was my birthday yesterday and even though I'm a year older, I don't feel it! I think that I've stopped aging. ;)

2. We have another house showing this afternoon... maybe today is the day. Have to be optomistic. :)

3. I'm having pizza for lunch.

4. I had a couple of spoonfuls of a Dairy Queen Blizzard yesterday. Doesn't get much better than that.

5. I'm going to put my feet up for a half hour this afternoon and read for the sheer pleasure of it. :)

6. I have one more... just spotted a book that I must have... Relaxing into Your Being

Apparently, everyone has one, but whether we open it is entirely up to us. If it's closed, the happiness can't get in. (My daughter likes to point that out to me whenever I'm in a mood) And it works. My door is always open these days. :)

I want you to spend a little time today thinking about things that you enjoyed as a child and DON'T let your subconscious ruining it by reminding you of little things that are connected. We really need to learn how to control our subconscious because it ruins things for us every chance it gets. Here's an example... I had a drop dead gorgeous boyfriend one summer and I have tons of great memories. But my subconscious immediately jumps in and reminds me of the fights that we had during those two months. Why do I need to remember those now?? We are talking about two 20 year olds and now NONE of it makes any difference. He went on to marry someone else and so did I. The only thing that I want to dwell on are the fun times we had.

*So be on the watchout for your annoying subconscious who wants to do nothing more than ruin stuff for us.

I was just reading that stress can manifest itself in an incredibly itchy scalp. I have had this problem for years and attributed everything but stress as a cause. Never occurred to me. So, I'm hoping that if I can control my stress, I cal also calm the itch! Sound like a win win situation to me!!

My expression started out today looking pretty much like that poor little dog in the corner. I'm tired, my back is aching and I feel simply horrid. I guess everyone gets days like that. But I'm not going to lose an entire day because of stress.

I need to do some big time relaxing today... to get my head back to where it needs to be. It would be really nice to be happy EVERY DAY, but yes, I do have my bad days too.

But I'm not going to let it get the best of me. I'm going to put my Ipod on and take a nice long walk. The sun is shining, the snow is melting and that's what I should be holding on to. Not the fears of what is coming next.

One of my other lenses (Staging Your House and Getting It Sold) talks all about what we are going through at the moment. In one way, I'm excited at the possibility of moving to another country and another part of me is scared silly.

Remember how you used to play with your sisters?? It's time to reconnect. Friends come and go. Your sister will always be your sister.

Give her a call :)

While I was growing up, my parents made all of my decisions for me and I was quite happy to let them. Unfortunately, now I find it very difficult to make a decision on my own. I much prefer someone (my husband) to make the major decisions. I'm only telling you this so that you don't make the same mistake with your kids. Let them make little decisions that will teach them that it is important to know the consequences, but to learn that they too CAN MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS. It shouldn't be something that they fear!

For some reason, it is easier to think of bad things happening than it is good things. For example, as I was coming up to my office this morning, I was carrying a cup of coffee. The first thing that I thought of was%u2026 what if I spilled my coffee on the carpet?? What a mess it would make and seeing that we just put the house up for sale, it's just one thing that I don't need to happen. Did you notice, I thought of something negative? Why didn't I think of something positive about the coffee? It would have been just as easy to think about something incredible like winning a gazillion dollars in a contest having something to do with coffee, than to think of making a mess. Seeing that it's my thoughts, it could have been anything at all. I chose negative. Do you see where I'm going with this??

So, today, we are going to day dream a positive WHAT IF%u2026 *What would it be like if (fill in the blank with something awesome) happened today? Now sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy your day dream.

When we are at our lowest, we usually feel that the world is against us. Nothing is going our way and we have nothing to be thankful for. Usually, that is the furthest thing from the truth. If someone/anyone stops to think about it, they really can come up with a list and it will probably be a lot longer than you ever imagined. You simply have to stop feeling miserable and take the time to think about what you have to be thankful about. So today, I want you to start your own Journal of Thanks and each day write down what you received.

There are going to be days when it is harder than other days, but that is exactly the time when you want to sit down with a cup of tea, sit by the window and simply relax and watch what is going on right in front of you. Before very long, what you need to be thankful for will suddenly be right in front of your eyes.

Do something completely different from your daily schedule. For me, it was an entire afternoon of gardening. That involved digging up one poor hibiscus that didn't manage the winter, moving one healthy hibiscus to a new location and planting two hydrangea bushes. Can't wait to see them in bloom. The card said that they are a lime green??

I'm exhausted but quite happy considering just how much I'm aching at the moment lol...

1. Today I thumbed through an old magazine over a cup of tea. Yeah, I have this bad habit of never throwing away a magazine, but there are times when they can come in very handy.

2. I spent an hour yesterday whipping up a batch of muffins that are incredibly low in sugar and I sort of cut back on the oil too. Didn't seem to make a big difference so I'm penciling that into the recipe. (Recipe coming next)

3. I'm going shopping today. It's my people watching and latte day.

4. I have been paying close attention to my posture lately and I have noticed a marked difference in my back aches. Imagination or can bad posture cause that much pain?

5. It has been a long miserable winter and I've been cooped up way too long. I'm going to bundle up and go for a walk around the block.

My daughter is designing me one GORGEOUS pergola. I'm REALLY happy that she decided to take landscape design in school! My garden is becoming quite amazing if I do say so myself. ;)

I don't know why this is true, but I did read it somewhere and decided to try it out. I had picked up this room fragrance spray from one of my favourite decorating stores. They were featuring this Kiwi Pear potpourri for spring and I fell in love with the scent the minute I took a sniff. And then I noticed that they also sold bottle of the fragrance for scenting the room. So what do I use it for?? Each Monday when I change the towels in the bathroom, I finish them off with a light misting. Now every time I go into the bathroom, that's what I can smell. And the minute summer arrives, I'm going to check out the scent that they have chosen for summer and treat my towels to a brand new scent!!

*And yes, fragrance can lift the spirits!

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. *Fyodor Dostoevsky

Okay, hand up... I'm guilty. I am scared to death to think of the future because all I see are the potential problems. Had a long chat with darling daughter today and we turned the "problem" around. Instead of the house taking months and months to sell, it's going to go within a week and we are going to have bidding war. We are going to receive more than the asking price. Yes, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. I've been reading lately that you attract whatever is on your mind. I'm going to start concentrating on what I want lol...

I'm altering books which is really quite naughty. I was taught never to fold a page, mark in a book or in any way deface it, but I stopped by DIMacdonalds lens of book altering and I was hooked. It's suddenly my little secret and I'm having the time of my life. Okay, I haven't cut up a book yet, but I am decorating some of the pages with water color pencils I know, I know I'm still a newbie at this so I'm going one step at a time. Part of me is still feeling incredibly guilty for doing it.

Altered Books
http://www.squidoo.com/altered-books

As I find really cool stuff, I will post it here. There's nothing quite like something absolutely free to create a little happiness. Hey, every little bit helps.

Rimmel Jelly Gloss

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
Helen Keller

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.

Robert R. Updegraff

It's kind a hard question to answer. To me, happiness is a state of well being. You have those little bliss moments that enables you to sit back and smile quietly to yourself. All is well with the world and you are at peace. :)