The Application Of Happiness Theories

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

They work. Seriously, I’m telling you and I’m not even trying to sell you something.

I’m practicing and using some of the theories and I want to keep practicing and getting better at adapting and staying on the path of happily ever after.

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling it, as happiness can be an elusive thing. It’s here and it’s gone and it’s back again. I was just feeling kinda blah in the moment and wanted to snap out of it, especially since I was giving a presentation on happiness tonight. I looked at my notes with the list of 5 things you can do in 21 days to feel happier, and I did the first thing on the list, which was to write down three things I was grateful for that day, kind of as a test.

As I started to write, I started to smile. I felt joy as I sat for a few focused minutes to think about what made me happy yesterday, and started seeing my joys on my screen. Writing down one thing lead to another and another until I had 8 things in less than 5 minutes. And to think that 5 minutes before that, I was feeling dread, with not even a blog topic in my head. I looked at my list and felt happiness, instantly. A handful of you even took the time to “Like” my post, which made me thankful too. This gratitude practice is a miracle thing that we all can practice. It’s free and doesn’t take much time and puts us on the right path.

Tonight I’m thankful that my Happiness program was well received and I loved the interactive dialogue and sharing and connections that we made. Their big A-HA moment was seeing that no one listed material things on their happiness list. I loved this! We learned that most of us experience happiness through shared experiences with family, friends, and being of service to others which makes sense! The number one predictor of happiness is having good relationships. We talked a lot about being aware of our expectations and how to focus on our gifts instead of the gaps. We talked about adapting and accepting whatever life gives us and redefining ourselves as we go through life. I learned a lot tonight and was thankful to be invited to share the Gift of Happiness.

In closing, I’ll share a quote from Lincoln that was shared by one of the ladies tonight, who always heard this from her smart and positive-living mama as she was growing up:

“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”

So true. Let’s be mindful and choose happiness. Go ahead. You can start right now. 😉

nAMaste

1Sep2015

Love this Life – Living it Up – Doing What I Love

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

What do you love?

I love to be busy, yet not this busy. I had a productive and satisfying day and I am exhausted. You’ll see why and I’ll probably exhaust you just by reading this crazy list. Maybe just skim it – it’s kinda long! Below are some of my different made up titles. I don’t use them every day, just today happened to be on fire.

Alarm Clock Sounder – Roused the kids up bright and early. They have their own alarm clocks, but for some reason they don’t always react to them. And the train has been waking me up every morning at 5:17 am!! What’s up with that?

Breakfast and Lunch Maker – We don’t have time together in the evenings as frequently due to our crazy schedules, so this Fall I’ve started making hot breakfasts for us. It’s my moment to bring us all together and I don’t mind the extra work or dishes because it’s so worth it. Today we had hash browns, scrambled eggs, apple slices and bacon. I have a weekly rotational schedule and the kids were already reminding me that they’re excited for pancakes tomorrow morning.

Taxi Driver – 2 kids dropped off at high school, 1 husband dropped off at the train, and 1 child dropped off at the middle school, all before 8 am.

House Cleaner – Stopped back at the house to load the dish washer, scrub the pans and to start a load of laundry before heading out to exercise. It feels good to me when the house is in order.

Yogini – Picked up ML on my way to yoga and enjoyed a blissful hour of stretching and toning in a not-so-great-room-with-an-awesome-instructor!

Worker Bee – I got a new part time job!! I had my first “official” business meeting at a coffee shop today and it dawned on me, that I haven’t had a “real” or let’s say “paid” job in over 15 years!! Change is good.

Friend – We celebrated my friend’s birthday over lunch today. It’s great to have a flexible schedule and to have an excuse to stop what you’re doing to spend time with friends over good food. I also loved seeing my friends throughout the day and sharing moments in person, via text, and on the phone.

Shopper – On the way home from lunch, I stopped by the store to buy perishables for dinner tonight. Google Express is doing all the rest of my shopping and giving me so much time back!! I was in and out in 20 minutes, only having to buy the perishables and everything else was delivered to my door step. Have I mentioned how much I am loving GE? You have to try it if it’s in your area.

Chef – While I came home to squeeze in a bit more work, I also started dinner. We had stuffed baked potatoes tonight with proteins, veggies, and other savory toppings.

Life Coach – I spent a lot of time today coaching my kids on some important life lessons that weren’t easy to teach and take some time to practice. Being a parent takes lots of patience and open communication and repetition and more patience and practice and more practice. We’re always learning and failing and trying again, perfectly, imperfectly.

Taxi Driver – Round 3 – Did a 3rd loop around the city chauffering my loved ones back and forth to our nest.

House Cleaner – Round 2 – Came back home to clean up the cooking dishes and to sort and fold laundry before heading out again. It’s amazing what one can get done in 30 minutes.

Volunteer – After having very little sleep last night, and by the time 6;00 pm came around, I was exhausted. It took everything in me to rally and go to my event tonight. Once I got to the parking lot and ran into a friend, I remembered why I love to volunteer. I love my community and sense of belonging that volunteer opportunities bring to my life. I loved seeing my friends and having that time dedicated to working together for a common purpose.

House Cleaner – Round 3 – The evening house patrol involved the usual chores and involved all of us and gave us a few minutes to chat and connect. Even the evenings are busy for us.

BeLoveR – I loved kissing my little one good night, brushing my daughter’s hair and complimenting my oldest on his successes today. I loved taking this fun picture of my husband with our new fur baby that won’t leave his side while he works at night.

Today was good. I am done. How was your day? I hope you lived it up, laughed out loud and loved yourself and your one, beautiful and maybe messy life. N-Ahhhhhhhhh-ma-ste!

2Feb2015

Happy Hours

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Have you heard that helping others can increase your happiness?

The magic number seems to be 100 hours per year, which amounts to about 2 hours per week. Who knew that helping others could enrich our own lives?

Are you volunteering or helping someone other than your immediate family? If so, how much time do you spend being of service?

This has been a question I’ve been noodling on for awhile and am using as a guide as I’m always trying to maximize the Happy Hours in my days.

When I felt like everything was ok in my life and still felt like I was missing something, it was Susanne who asked me how I was being of service and how much time I was dedicating to this part of life. She loves to help youth and seniors and spends a fair part of each week helping others and she told me how helping others really made her happy. Her face would light up when she’d share stories with me. She inspired me to think about how I was spending my time.

I belong to a Christian’s women’s group that runs a thrift shop. All proceeds from sales goes into an endowment fund, from which scholarships are given to women pursuing higher education goals. I love being part of this volunteer organization and believe in the mission. I started volunteering one day per week for an hour or two, helping out with donations. I love going to the shop and seeing the ladies who work there regularly, and feeling appreciated for my little Happy Hour of service.

Recently I joined the board of directors, who make decisions about running the store. I have been working on a strategic change project that has been taking a lot more than 2 hours per week. I love being involved and using my business background and interest in change management to help lead the change and “working” with a team. As I share my time, I feel helpful and happy to be making a difference. I think this is an example of how helping others can actually make you happy. I feel thankful for the relationships I am building and for the difference I am making. Happy Hours well spent.

Life is good.

8Apr2014

Moms Helping Moms

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

For now, I am content still staying at home and being the primary care giver for our children and supporting our community.

Yesterday I took Juliana out of school mid morning for a doctor’s and orthodontist appointment. Today I took Christian out of school to get braces. Tomorrow I’ll be there to pick up Charlie right after lunch, after his early dismissal. Even though they don’t need me as much as they did when they were little, there are so many times that they still need assistance and support or food, and I enjoy being there for them when they need it.

This afternoon I was home, vacuuming out my car when I saw April and Kristin down the street with their hazard lights on. I walked over to see what the matter was, and April had rescued a dog that was wandering alone in the middle of the road. She asked me to take the dog, as she was helping another mom by caring for her kids this afternoon and had to rush off. I took the dog and Kristin drove home to find a leash. I then gave Kristin the dog and wrote to our neighborhood group about our find in hopes of finding the owner. Later in the day, someone knocked on my door looking for their dog. I called Kristin and she told me that another mom/neighbor was at her house watching her son and could let me in to get the lost dog to return to the owner. All of this happened within 90 minutes. Women helping women. I LOVE THIS!

Today I drove Charlie to his baseball game that began at 4:30 pm, and then rushed back across town to pick up Juliana from her tennis practice and made dinner before heading back to the ball field to enjoy watching Charlie play. I’m the team mom so also had to bring cold beverages for the boys. Jeff joined us after getting stuck in traffic on his late evening commute. I was thankful that he made it in time to at least see part of the game.

Most days I have a few hours to workout, manage the household and volunteer before picking up the kids from school. Today I was happy to help a friend by watching her baby while she worked from home for a few hours. This was one of the highlights of my day.

I love babies and I love helping other women. If I were to pick my ideal job, it would be to work part time to support working moms and moms with new babies. I’d love to be able to take the edge off by being the fill in nanny when the nanny is sick, or to help do the grocery shopping or run errands to support the double parent working families and the moms who don’t feel like they get a break. I was there before and always wished that someone could come save me at least for just a couple hours each day so I could think or take a shower, uninterrupted. For now, I’ll just enjoy the volunteer opportunities and being home when my kids are home.

Life is good!