5. Look up.

5. Look up.

Number four has two parts.  The first is to remind myself to not focus so much on the task at hand. I know, I know... it seems completely counter-intuitive to tell myself to "be present" and then include this.  Yes, I want to be present in the moment, yet I also don't want to become some consumed by the task at hand that I forget to look up and see the stars.

The second part is that over the past several years (or so), I've had an internal battle with myself about things like faith, God and religion.  It's not really a secret to anyone that I have my issues and my doubts about things, wherever they may have come from, this also reminds me to thank someone up there/out there.  Whether it be God, the universe, karma, or any other force unknown... 

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.” - Henry Van Dyke

Oz

I am interrupting my happiness project lists in order to say I will be gone for awhile... in Australia!

4. Slow down.

4. Slow down.

For me this is all about taking the time to slow down and smell the flowers, so to speak.  Or notice the color purple.  Or any of those things I never take the time to do because I'm in such a hurry to get from point a to point b.  So this is my reminder to take a deep breath and slow down.

"Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you." - John De Paola

3. Just breathe.

3. Just breathe.

So this one is coming quite a bit later than I had intended after a crazy 10 days, but this one goes along with "Be present." This is to remind myself to take a deep breath and remember that everything will be okay when I am feeling frantic, stressed out or overwhelmed.

"There are no solutions, no easy answers, you just breathe deep and wait for it to subside." - Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy

2. Be present.

2. Be present.

Now I am the first to admit that I'm not always in the present moment so this is to remind me to pay attention.  The moment is fleeting.

Lately I've become fascinated with the ancient Greek concept of Kairos (καιρός), or the supreme moment... an undetermined moment in time when something special happens.

If I'm not present, how will I recognize that moment?

1. Always shine.

1. Always shine.

My number one person commandment.  My version of "Be Gretchen."

I understand that saying to "always shine" is not quite the same thing as telling yourself to always be true to yourself... but in a way, it is for me.  It reminds me that there's that inner fire I've been missing that should always be shining and showing the outside world who I am.  And if it's not shining, it reminds me to "fake it till I make it."

Now to end with an often mis-attributed quote I love from Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Happiness Project

I can't sleep again... that seems to be the norm these days.  But at least I'm able to be productive tonight.

Right now I'm researching food and healthier lifestyle diets.  Today I finally lost my 10th lb and am back to a weight I haven't been since college.  My clothes fit, I feel better, I look better... it feels good.  It took me about 6 weeks (a little over 1.5 lbs a week) and it was definitely a struggle because of my shoulder.  My shoulder, neck and back have been bothering me a lot lately so I have tried to chance my eating to account for lack of exercise.

(source)

I also feel like my own personal happiness project is starting to get underway.  I came up with 16 personal commandments which I'll try to outline here over the next few weeks.  Each of them is important to me for different reasons and each say something in the person I think I am and the person I want to be.  That's as far as I've gotten... and it's even taken me several months to get this far.  Maybe I'll re-read the book and progress further in my own project with resolutions and secrets of adulthood, but for now I feel that this is enough.  Just reminding myself of these... it changes me.