Super Bowl XLVIII

The Super Bowl is a game with halftime spectacles and office betting pools.
At our house we even watch the expensive commercials instead of fast forwarding.
We look for media blast updates to figure out the last two weeks of drama.
We gather together with friends, family and other fans.
We eat decadent food and sometimes drown our sorrows on each play.
We yell, cheer and groan as the game goes on.
And that game can be decided by inches. 

Does the Super Bowl have anything to do with happiness?

The Seattle Seahawks have a new game strategy 

that has power to change the world.

The Seahawks meditate.

Their coach, Pete Carroll believes his players should quiet their minds and focus on the now moment, and he expects them to follow the mantra which includes positivity of thought, words and actions.  Their quarterback regularly gets out a yoga mat and has a list of goals on his locker.  The Seattle experiment for a kindler, gentler team also includes a team chef who feeds the players organic fruits and vegetables and free-range chickens.  There are meetings with nutritionists and sleep experts.  It seems mental health is just as important as physical health.  Wow!  Happy players make for better players.

Is having a quiet mind and positive thoughts as important as lifting weights and performing on the field?  Is this team winning and succeeding  because they know life shows up according to your thoughts?

The Denver Broncos have more experience with Super Bowl time.   Denver Coach, John Fox has given his players a couple of days off to rest and just live.  They don't have to show up for Super Bowl practice until Thursday.  They will be rested and confident.

Will the rest and past experience be an advantage over meditation for them?

The odds makers are busy figuring out and predicting who will win.  I say it is 50/50.  
Somebody will win and somebody will lose. 

And how much money will the winners and losers earn?  In 2013 it was $88,000 for the winners and $44,000 for the losers, plus any contract stipulations.   In addition to the Vince Lombardi trophy, the winning team also receives a ring that is worn with pride.  It doesn't seem right to call the team that doesn't win-"losers"...after all they have beat 30 other teams to even be in the Super Bowl.  Perception.

Because of all the distractions during the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl it seems like meditation, visualization and rest will be needed.  It is probably not easy to keep calm.  I do have a bit of advice for Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks, from a quote by Buddha, though it is probably a little late.

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, 

for people will hear them 

and be influenced by them for good or evil.

-Buddha 

Breaking tradition this year, I will not be watching the Super Bowl.  Instead I am attending the I Can Do It Conference.  I will be learning about meditation and focusing on how your thoughts become your life.  Organic vegetable and free-range chicken are sure to be a topic at this Mind-Body-Soul Retreat.  As happy players make better players so happy people make a better world.  Be happy on Sunday, either meditating or cheering your favorite team.  

Enjoy the game!

Note* If you win the office football pool be sure to pay it forward and buy coffee for the car behind you, bring a homeless person a meal or something that speaks to your heart.  Happy football pool winners can make the world better.  

Winter Blues

Blue Monday/Saddest Day of the Year 

is 

January 20, 2014

I didn't even know there was such a day on the calendar to be "celebrated", though it is in Wikepedia and has a formula:

where weather=W, debt=d, time since Christmas=T, time since failing our new year’s resolutions=Q, low motivational levels=M and the feeling of a need to take action=N_a. 'D' is not defined in the release, nor are units.

The date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.  

I am not sure of the formula or if it is even a real date.  What is real is that we sometimes suffer from winter blues.  It really does have to do with the sunless days of winter, the cold temperatures, the overdue bills and a release of mayhem after the holidays.  The regular football season is over so I know that is an influence for my husband and many other people too.  New Year's resolutions are probably a factor of disappointment in there too.  It is not as easy to maintain the drive and enthusiasm to continue as it is to begin.

So what is the antidote for those winter blues?

As a student of happiness I have been searching for the answer.  Being happy all of the time is not realistic for most of us.  Happiness is a worthwhile pursuit year-round but during these winter months it is especially important.  Most of us experience more happy moments in a typical day than unhappy ones.  This is the challenge while living life amongst daily chaos and the routine of everyday happiness.  

Notice little things that you might normally take for granted. 

Make a list of things that make you happy and add to it every day.  

Write down your happiest moment each day.  

Post a happy quotation.

Take a picture of a smiling person.

Hug someone.

Sing a song.

Stand in the sun.

Draw a heart in the frost on the window.  

Be in the moment, now.

You can also sign up for emails at the website of Secret Society of Happy People.  It is the 13th annual Hunt for Happiness week.  They have a special week of fun activities planned to help get you through those winter blues.  And keep on the look out for me, I might be surprising YOU!

Hunt for Happiness website for fun activities

It is a good week to snuggle in and put things in perspective.

It doesn't have to be the saddest day of the year.

You can beat those winter blues.

Make the effort to be happy.

Ask yourself:

What changes can I make to live a happier life?

What can I do right NOW to be happier?

And 

then 

just 

do 

it!

Right Size

Every year I choose a new theme and word.  
It serves as a gentle nudging and a reminder.  
It keeps me mindful. 
It guides me to where I am going. 
It is prompts me to do what I want to be doing. 

Last year 

my 
word 

was 

MORE.

It was a cry from my soul for sleep, calm, quiet, peace, me time, reading, self-care, creativity, exercise, healthy food which all leads to MORE happiness.  

It was a good word.

This year my word is ENOUGH.

It is about balance, just right, not more. 

Enough time to be, to hear, to listen, to do nothing, to do everything. 

It is about being healthy,  having abundance, savoring peaceful moments, living a purposeful life and some YIPPEE moments!  

And that spells 

HAPPY.

My theme last year was a question-How Can I?

How can I live my best life?

How can I get through this stressful week?

How can I support my family?

How can I make a difference?

Every week I would brainstorm and come up with what I wanted to concentrate on.

This year 

my theme 

is 

Right Size. 

It is about creating a life that uniquely fits and satisfies me with the greatest amount of joy and contentment with the least amount of stress and worry.

I plan to go through every cupboard and closet in my house.  

I will be ruthless and get rid of clutter.  

I will clean and shine.  

There are many papers, knick knacks and memorabilia to delight and decide on.  

It is a big job.  

It is not easy.  

I started in the kitchen and have accomplished 3 cupboards so far.  

Those cupboards are amazing.  

They have what we need, not more or less.  

They are shiny.  

It is enough. 

When I thought of this word I was planning on figuring out what rooms for what month and a method for daily progress but that was last year....more.....this is enough.  I do it when I can and it is enough.  

The Right Size theme is for my life.  

Clutter, body, time, Happiness Whisperer, activities, reading, wasting time and rest. 

I do enough.

I have enough.

I am enough. 

  

  

Habits of a Happiness Whisperer

I do not make New Year's Resolutions. 

Mostly I am always striving to live my best life, well except for when I am not mindful.
Being mindful connects me to what my best life really feels like.
I can trick myself into believing homemade macaroni and cheese is my best life.
I can fool myself into eating chocolate but know it is not the best thing for my life.

You can go ahead and have a little mac and cheese or chocolate but I am an abstainer not a moderator.  This is a concept from Grethen Rubin and her book,  The Happiness Project.  I do way better not eating chocolate than eating a little bit.  It is easier for me to have none than some.  I can manage to say no but not stop.

The year invites new.....the beginning of the year is a time for a fresh start.  

Wipe the slate clean.

Every year I like to celebrate and release the year.  A circle of completion.  I grab a notebook and write what went right, what lessons did I learn, what dreams came true, what did I let go of, what made me happy, what did I discover about myself, what am I proud of myself for, and of course what am I grateful for. By looking back through the year I can look forward to figure out if there needs to be changes in my daily life.  Each daily moment leads to how my life goes and it is about living my best life.  It is much easier to go moment by moment than worry about a resolution. If I don't keep up the resolution, then I will feel guilty and regret that I am not a strong minded, with mighty willpower, PERFECT person. Sometimes it is easy to give up my best life for one that is just ok.  Much less effort but not nearly so satisfying and fun.

This year I have come up with 14 Daily Habits that are my Routine in 2014. (Notice the catchy rhyme)  I have made a checklist that will keep me focused on what I know helps me live my best life.  One of the items on it is floss.  A friend questioned me and was confused because she knew that flossing was something I already do.

 Routine in 2014 

is not a new list of what I can change, 

rather it is a list of 

when I do these things life works out best for me.  

Every day I post a Happiness Whisperer post on Facebook, that is on the list.  Since I shop at Target, I have included a habit to check MINT, a financial storehouse where all my records are in one place.   Gratitude is a necessary way of life for me. Sometimes in the busyness of life it is pushed to the back burner or even forgotten but it is really important to be thankful for my life and the blessings that I have so it is on the list of Daily Habits.  A new habit is Right Size which is my motto for the year.  It is a reminder to say no when I need to, to tidy hotspots of clutter, to declutter every day and make my home and life the right size.  (More on this in a later post)  

These are just a few of my daily habits that make my life work.  It is a visual reminder to strive for habit and not perfection.  I have my checklist on a piece of binder paper for now.  I am working with it this week to see if a word needs to be changed, like exercise is maybe going to be Move or Movement. Exercise could be 10,000 steps, the weight lifting gym, a Leslie Sansone walking video or a walk around the block so I am not feeling like it is the right word.  Maybe.  When I have it nailed down and I am sure of the words in my Daily Habits-Routine in 2014, I will get creative and transform it into a computer document to be printed every week. 

I know you want to know, will I still be doing this checklist at the end of the year?
Not sure, but I will still be trying to live my best life.
So hopefully I will stick with this non resolution way of greeting the new year.
And not feel guilty if I don't.
I will still be flossing for sure!
And feeling very thankful for having the habits of a Happiness Whisperer.

Write a list of habits that make up your best life 

and 

make them routine in 2014.