It's lovely to find a day within the week for a quiet day at home. I find the sound of the laundry running relaxing. I open the windows to let the morning light in and find myself camped out on the couch surrounded by pillows and snoring dogs. It's simply the best moment of the week. The only thing that would help tip this day over the happy breaking point would be a mug of tea. However, I don't know if I could find this comfy spot twice, and I don't want to risk it. If lightening doesn't strike the same spot twice, I can hardly imagine this spot I've wedged my butt into would also present itself twice.

I have no inspiration to write. Which is why I'm doing it anyway. I've been doing a lot of reading lately (read as 2 books in the last couple months - hey, it's an improvement), and they are on the art of happiness and such things as that. And one basically talks about us doing the order of things wrong:

We think we can do something
We find inspiration
We make a masterpiece

But the reality is, we just have to do it. Then the inspiration comes. And then the masterpiece - or rather bits and pieces of crap that eventually can evolve themselves into a masterpiece if we give it enough time or patience.

Who exactly has either of those? Or both of them at the same time? They seem fleeting.

But since I have neither, I will write. It will be what it will be! One must start somewhere.

Wait: to cross the ocean, it must start with one paddle

Okay, so I never professed to be utterly deep or theological. There are many quotes out there, and after that little motivational quote I came up with, I realize I won't be joining the ranks of them.

Life can be pretty boring. (now I'm changing topics. Stay with me. I don't know where I'm going, but maybe you do.). I have been realizing the mundane things of life as it's slipping through my fingers.

We have laundry, dishes, work. Then we have what we do after work; tv, video games. Then in between there we manage what we got from working; money managing, paying bills. And then we do it all over again.

All. The. Time.

Over the past couple weekends, when I have time off, this has been so blatent to me. Sunday night I look at the time. I don't want to go to bed because the next day it starts all over again. Wake up early. Shower. Get daughter to school. Go to work. Pick up daughter from school. Make supper. Clean house. Try to relax. Fall asleep on couch.

That sucks. So I'm trying to figure out how to fit something else in between those things. Or take in what I have to work with and make them more exciting. More...happy. Hence the book reading.

Now all of this isn't to say I don't have fun. I do manage to fit in dates with friends, dates with hubby, family gatherings...but there's gotta be more, right?

What I'm discovering is there is a serious mind shift that needs to occur. The more I read, the more common themes I'm finding about finding satisfaction within life. And I want more than that. I want absolute peace, and to find a place where I'm 100% confident in myself, my faith and my path where I really and honestly don't care what anyone else is doing or how they feel about my path.

I won't tackle that anymore today, but I will just state some of the common themes within the books I'm reading to guide you toward your own journey of happiness (if you are indeed on that journey as well)

- Change your thinking. Change your daily patterns of thought from negative to positive. I've been reading Christian and non-Christian books to get a well-rounded perspective of this and it's such an obvious one (that we all know), but we don't do it. We let little lies, and untruths lead us throughout the day, beat up on ourselves, and essentially tie us down. Start catching the little buggers ("I'm too fat to wear that", "I'm always broke", "She has more luck than me", "only good things happen to other people"), and imagine yourself deleting them (I seriously drag those suckers to an imaginary trash can in my brain). Then replace it with something positive. Not only will your outlook become brighter the more you practice it, but I think you'll be amazed at how many opportunities you have to right your thinking (and how negative you are/were). Circumstance is only 10% of your situation. Attitude is 90%.

- Address your subconscious thoughts. Ok this one requires a lot more than a single paragraph, but I'll make it simple. Your subconscious thoughts are your underlying belief systems that you operate under. Let's say growing up your dad grumbled about money and how hard it was to make ends meet. Your childish mind had no filter, so it let that belief form that money is hard to get and there's never enough. Fast forward to your adult and conscious mind and your daily struggle with money. Guess what, you can't seem to make ends meet and you're reliving your father's struggle. Why? Because you believe that money is hard to get and is never enough. You don't think this on a daily basis, but you believe it deep down. Start addressing your subconscious. Sit down and look at the areas of your life that are a struggle, and think about what you actually believe about those things. Write them down. Replace those belief systems or they will keep tying you down.

- Forgive. Get over yourself and forgive. The best forgiveness quote I have ever read is this one:  "Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past" - Lily Tomlin. In my life I have found that I have forgiven a lot of really big offenses, but it's the small ones that I like hanging onto and bring up and nursing. It's those little ones that I like to continue to bust open to feel the pain again and again. Oh my word. WHY? So whether they are big or little ones, forgive. If you need to find a therapist to discuss them with to help get to the root, do it. Whatever it takes, just do it.

- Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. You, your neighbour, and Oprah. We all have the same amount of hours in a day. Start finding and setting aside the time to do what you find important. You don't get to bank them, you don't get to return them for a happiness refund at the end of your life. You have to use them, or they expire. Figure out how to use them wisely.

- Be thankful.


I will leave you on that note. Being thankful is the best note to leave on.