Happiness

Over Christmas break I saw the author Gretchen Rubin on the Today show. She wrote a book called "The Happiness Project", which I have not yet read, but hope to. She was only on for a few minutes but her story got me thinking, and inspired. Her book is about researching and finding ways to be happier every single day. I believe what she did was pick a theme for every month and then she spent the whole month focused on that topic and trying to be happier. So, I started a list of possible topics for myself and themes for each month that I can think about and try to make my life happier! I'm not exactly sure how I'll execute it-I am a busy lady and I don't have time to revolutionize my life by any means, but I thought if I could pick a monthly topic, then at least I would be thinking about said topic all month and maybe I can squeeze some time in to act on it as well. So here goes, my themes for the year.
January-Health
February-Love
March-Organization
April-Environment
May-Creativity
June-Family
July-Patriotism
August-Outdoors
September-ME
October-Friendship
November-Gratitude
December-Community/Making a Difference

Of course if I see fit to switch any of these because it is more appropriate, I reserve the right to do so :)
I hope to spend some time blogging about some of the things I decide to do, and how they impact my life and my happiness.
I know January is already half over (what the heck?!), but I have been concentrating on my health since the beginning of the month already. I started back on weight watchers, and I resolved to take advantage of our brand new Rec Center on campus. I have been sticking to the plan and went to the gym three times last week, and four this week. I am so proud of myself. I am a total foodie, and even though eating right is really difficult for me and I really don't like to work out, I feel so much better after I do both of them. The goal of course is to lose weight, but even more than that, I want to establish eating right and going to the gym as part of my routine. At some point Rick and I will want to start a family and I don't want to be over weight and out of shape before doing that. It will only make it harder to lose the weight afterward. So I would definitely say that doing these two things-working out and eating better has made me feel better about myself, which always makes me happier. I hope to spend the next two weeks (and beyond) keeping up this routine, but also looking into other ways to get healthier (and happier too)!
That is it for now. I need to go make dinner. On the docket: Bbq chicken and black bean home made pizza. Yum!