Happy People!

Remember I said I was feeling overwhelmed the other day? Why? A lot is happening in the next few months, and I ignored my schedule and work-related tasks during the holidays. As soon as I started putting things on paper in the form of a plan, the overwhelming thoughts were gone! 

Does it have to be an elaborate plan? No! You can type it out or write it on the back of a napkin, but if writing it out gets you back in control, that's all that counts. I have not completed the task, but I'm well on my way. 

Filing my email and attachments more logically and promptly is helping a lot because it's easy to find what I need. All is good! 

I had to laugh at Pamela's comment about Murphy. Yes - she is a beautiful dog. She's demanding, though, and constantly wants attention. Last night, I sat in a chair in the living room to read for a bit. Of course, she's right there asking for attention. And, well, I wanted a few quiet moments to read. So this happened. 

Yes, Murphy, you are the Queen, and I am your servant

Seriously?? I'm now sitting on the ottoman while she laps up the luxury of the chair, with her head on my knees. And she was quite content to lay there for a long time - quiet as a mouse! Sigh...... And I thought Lexi was the Princess!

We completed the 16th puzzle in the EXIT Games Advent Calendar last night. It took us two days to do it. I never said we were fast, and I think the overwhelming feeling of the previous week carried over to other parts of my day, preventing me from focusing like I usually do with the puzzles. The puzzle was tricky, as it involved going through all the "rooms" of the box we had opened - MULTIPLE times to get all the information. Then, we had to use logic to decipher the information, but we solved it without help. But it took both brains to get there! 

DH spotted this in The Globe and Mail on Jan 4. It's all about happiness. The article is called Pursuing Happiness and discusses twelve tips for cultivating happiness. Here are the tips: 

1. Stay curious about the people you love
2. Say hello to strangers
3. Take pleasure in achieving small goals
4. Forgive others - and yourself
5. Spend time with your own thoughts
6. Build up your happiness with practice
7. Find your happy place
8. Don't be afraid to knock on a new door
9. Share your happiness
10. When life is painful, maintain perspective. Today is not tomorrow
11. Pay attention to the view
12. Be shamelessly silly. Dance. Sing. Blow bubbles

What do you think? I love them all. Do I practice them all? I probably have difficulty with number four! And I absolutely love number twelve! 

I love this sentence from Number 12: If you don't have time for fun, "life just squeezes the opportunity out of you," Ms Foss says. "No one else is going to prioritize play for you because it's not productive in a capitalist economy, you know?"

Oh, how true. However, do capitalists not realize that happy people are more productive? Sadly, many people frown on happiness or are incapable of experiencing it, which is their loss. 

This next jigsaw puzzle is going to be tough. I accomplished only this much in 30 minutes—all the time I could devote yesterday. It's also a 500-piece puzzle that might take a "few" days to finish. Another US city—you can't tell which one from those few pieces. 

Slow progress on the jigsaw puzzle

I love my air threading serger (Husqvarna Viking Amber Air S600). I was serging the edge of a quilt this morning, and I knew the upper looper thread would run out. But I wasn't paying attention, and the next thing I knew, the serger wasn't sewing correctly. I think it took more time to walk to the cabinet to get another spool than it did to rethread the upper looper. No need to unthread the lower looper or the needles. Just insert the end of the thread into the air tube opening and push the button! 

Ran out of thread!

I was preparing to come upstairs when I realized I only had one sandal. Good grief—where's the other one?

Where's my sandal?

I checked under the table where the sewing machine is. It's not there. Oh yes - I was also serging this morning, and it was on the floor under the serger table. I take the sandal off my right foot whenever I'm sewing and don't even realize it.  

It's not under the sewing machine table

I saw this quote the other day and thought it was so true. It's all the more reason we must do whatever we can to preserve our abilities for as long as possible. That includes walking! It sounds silly to say this out loud, but we do not want to lose the ability to go to the washroom independently, especially if we are somewhere and they don't have support to assist us. So don't forget your Stand-up/Sit-down routine!! 

We can't turn the clock back and stop aging, but we can slow the process by caring for our bodies. I know that won't work for everyone, and some of us have limitations that can't be reversed. But we sure don't want to reach "that age" and realize we should have been doing more to stay mobile. The trouble with most of this is that it creeps up on you. One day, you can; the next, you struggle, and then poof - you can't! 

No decluttering thoughts today, but that doesn't mean you should be letting it slide! Grab a drawer - I promised pictures of my drawers in the kitchen. I'll do that later today so I can share them with you. 

Think about your happiness? Are you happy? What makes you happy? Lots of things make me happy, and since I know what they are, it's MY responsibility to keep doing them so I don't fall into the shadows of darkness. Thankfully, my brain is wired for happiness! 

On that happy note, I'm out of here! I have a lot of work to accomplish today, but good progress is being made. I have my list of three priorities, and I'm ready, set, go! 

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!