“Routine doesn’t deserve its bad reputation.”

Posted by random olio

I am in the middle of reading “Happier at Home” by Gretchen Rubin. You might have heard of her book: “The Happiness Project” which I read last year. “Happier at Home” brings The Happiness Project to her home, where she looks for ways to make her life happier with a specific focus on her home. She breaks it up into different areas she wants to focus on each month. One of the areas that resonated with me while reading over the weekend was her section on routine.

Usually I have a love/hate feeling about routines. Part of me loves the competition I have with myself to stick to a routine. Part of me feels like it makes me completely boring, dull, and unadventurous to follow a routine each day. I have quite a few routines. I have a green smoothie every morning. I eat basically the same lunch everyday. I go crazy if I do not get a run in each day. I like to stay up-to-date on my email as much as possible. An overflowing inbox makes me feel out of whack. For some reason these so-called routines that I have help me feel like I have just a bit more control over something in my life, when so many of the other aspects of life I have no control over. This all came into my thought after reading this quote from Rubin’s book:

“Routine doesn’t deserve its bad reputation. It’s true that novelty and challenge bring happiness, and that people who break their routines, try new things, and go to new places are happier, but routine can also bring happiness. The pleasure of doing the same thing, in the same way, every day, shouldn’t be overlooked. The things I do every day take on a certain beauty and provide a kind of invisible architecture to my life. Andy Warhol wrote, ‘Either once only, or every day. If you do something once it’s exciting, and if you do it every day it’s exciting. But if you do it, say, twice or just almost every day, it’s not good any more’.” page 147

In my own way my routine does bring me happiness. I can do these specific things in my life and not have to overly think about them. I do not have to agonize over what to make for breakfast or lunch. I feel so much calmer and collected after my run. These routines ground me. They bring a balance to my life and that makes me happier.

What do you think? Does routine bring you happiness, or does it feel like it drags you down?

What Makes You Happy?

Posted by random olio

Do you ever stop and think about what makes you happy? Is there something that brings a smile to your face throughout the day? Or even once a day?

Chris brings a smile to my face. When I think of him during the day, when I see his name show up on my phone. A text, or a voicemail. It is a reminder to me that he is thinking of me. I try to return the favor. It is nice to be thought of isn’t it?

Little babies that start laughing and cannot stop. That makes me happy. Laughter in general makes me happy. When you watch a genuine moment between two individuals, whether two co-workers are making a connection, or you see someone at the store helping another person.

Seeing someone passionate about something makes me happy. It could be when you hear someone sing and it sends chills throughout your body, because you feel the sound of the music and their voice together and it moves you. When you see a couple dancing, and you can see and feel their connection.

Smiles make me happy. You know the kind where their eyes are crinkled and you know that it is real, genuine happiness. When you nail it in a work meeting, or you someone else brings their game to the table and you are just in awe of what they are capable of and what you know you can learn from them.

Hugs. Hugs make me happy. They ground me. I love this quote from this recent Daily Om:

“Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the most serious challenges. They have learned to make time for those simple yet superb pleasures that can be enjoyed quickly and easily. Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes. The resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason to smile.”

laugh as we have always laughed…on side of Portland building

What makes you happy?

A Different Route, or the One you are On?

Posted by random olio

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Hope you had a relaxing, sun-filled weekend. We had some sun and some rain. The rainy day was good as it meant I got caught up on other things.

I was thinking this weekend about how we often do not know what is happening next. We patiently wait for things to shift, to progress and move forward, but it usually never happens on our own timeframe. Maybe it is because the person we are supposed to meet has to be in a specific place in their life, or we cannot move to our next job until the person in that position moves on to their next role. We do not see this until we are able to look back. Hindsight.

Last week I mentioned the book: “Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now” by Amy Spencer in the blog post: Make Room for Change. Amy says:

“When life sends you on a different route, it’s natural to wish things had happened as you planned. But maybe the route you’re on now is even better. Maybe the scenery is prettier on a side road, or you’ll learn things you couldn’t have on the busy highway. Maybe who you’re meeting and what you’re experiencing will ultimately bring you closer to true happiness.” Page 54

Sometimes we do not always know what good can come from following our intuition. Or, we do not completely understand why we have made the decisions we have, but as we move forward we see more clearly that it was the right decision. Over time, good things show up to us and we see more clearly the intuition we heard was directing us to take the right steps.

Have a good week!

Make room for change

Posted by random olio

Do you ever have a bad few days? Where something gets stuck in your mind like a bad rut and you cannot seem to get over it? Yesterday I was needing some inspiration so I went back to some ideas from a book that I finished a few weeks ago. The struggle I am having is with change and making the right choices. Sometimes we make choices we are not always sure or confident about and sometimes we make choices that we are confident about and then later question those choices. I remember an idea from “Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now” by Amy Spencer that I wanted to share:

“People change, wants change, needs change. And like a closet with only enough room for a certain number of clothes, we have to let some things go to let the new things into our lives. Don’t let a defeat beat you. See it as a sign of new things to come. Light your lantern, raise the flame above your head, and say good-bye to your struggle of trying so hard to make something work. Feel as free as a lantern floating into the night sky, ready to land at the dawn of something new.” Page 89

So…inspired by these ideas I am looking for new things to come. To let certain things go, and let the new in. I am going to try to let go of the struggle, the anguish, the frustration, and be grateful for the experience, the knowledge, the context, and the clarity it has brought me. If we never have tried we never know what the other side of the fence looks like, and we always wonder.

What do you do to be inspired when you feel in a rut or have a bad day or week?