Happiness Project Update: March

Things are moving along nicely...I've gotten almost fully prepped for my tax appointment so it won't be freak out crunch time before that! I'm liking finishing unfinished tasks and plugging away at the decluttering project. I've added some lovely touches to a few rooms and my office and I'm finally feeling both spaces are really mine.

What didn’t work: I didn’t get the basement done yet. I gave myself two months for that, but only made it there a few times. It will take a handful more sessions to get it done. My new goal is for that to be done in six months or less. I’ll pepper in a few days a month to do it. Part of my happiness project after plugging away into March I know now needs to include listening to my natural rhythm of how I work best versus forcing myself into a frustration pattern. I like to float back and forth between projects with concentrated efforts for a time, then a rest, and then back to concentrating again, but maybe on something else…depending on how I’m feeling. This is similar to the movement work that I do; there is movement and attention and then a rest and then movement again. If I’m trying to gather energy and I can’t focus it just breeds more frustration and I like to stop before I get to that point. I often like to shift my focus of what I’m working on intensely to another project. I know this about myself so I’m going to do follow and honor this.

I’m reading “the life-changing magic of tidying up” by Marie Kondo and I’ve decided to implement her idea of organizing and de-cluttering with includes groups of items versus working on room by room. Although as I continue the decluttering I will be implementing the Feng Shui room by room, as planned. It’s just the process of the decluttering will be different compared to how I was planning. Going through and decluttering in one fell swoop, as Marie recommends doing can take from 6 months to a year! Well that is good because this project was planned over a year. It also takes the pressure off of thinking I’m going to slowly. When one is running a business being marketer, scheduler, manager, problem solver, and therapist there is a lot to be done outside the home! Speaking of that…I’m going to put my wipe board to use for business projects that need to be handled. In the process with my coach I’ve numbered work projects in order of importance. My happiness project vaguely stated that I’d work on one unfinished task per month. And some of those will take however long they take, but having them written down and removed from a list I can see will I’m sure put me at ease as it will be out of my mind and then I can plug away at those projects.

Part of my happiness project for this month was nurturing relationships and I was able to do that for a special trip to take my aunt out to visit my cousin in Ann Arbor. We had such a delightful time and I’m already planning a trip to go visit an out of town friend next month. This month I’m also taking some time off to spend a day with my sister who is coming into town from Nashville. It’s the people that make our lives brilliant. Our ability to be present fully and enjoy those moments is what matters most. Things and projects will always be there, and relationships need tending just as projects do. So I’m happy to be taking some time to be with my special people, versus just business projects.

Movement Awareness Break: Interlace your hands and notice how you cross them. Try it the other way. Doesn’t one feel more familiar? Our movements are habitual and automatic, but we can open up the potential connections by playing with habits like these. Try crossing your arms one way and then the other. Usually one feels more natural just like interlacing your hands. Try some activity with something changed, for example you may try stirring something with your non-dominant hand. Have fun with it.