Day 99: Be Happy on Purpose

“If you want to be happy, you have to be happy on purpose. When you wake up, you can’t just wait to see what kind of day you’ll have. You have to decide what kind of day you’ll have.” ~Joel Osteen~

I know Joel Osteen is a tv preacher who takes people’s money so he can live in the lap of luxury (please, don’t send him any – support your local church or other charity), but he’s a charismatic speaker and every now and then I come across one of his quotes and they make so much sense. Isn’t your day that much better when you roll out of bed with a smile on your face and keep it there all day ? Those are the best mornings ! For me I think the change in seasons has given my mood a huge boost that will last until the snow flies again. So buckle up, because I’ll be spreading the joy for a few months !

It’s Friday … so how can you not be happy ? If you work weekends your “Friday” might happen on a different day of the week but the feeling has got to be the same ! I’m looking forward to NOT hearing an alarm at 5:30 am tomorrow but I’ll be up relatively early because I’m going shopping with my mom and my older sister. There’s a little dilemma there because I’m going to be out when my morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and probably dinner roll around. It’s nothing I can’t manage – I plan ahead and will pack my lunch bag with what I need. We’ll probably eat lunch out but you can always find a salad in a restaurant and Nutrisystem is not so restrictive that you can’t eat out. So I’m not worried about it. It’s all about making sensible choices.

Today I was thinking about what I do that makes me happy. I really don’t have any hobbies, although I used to be pretty crafty. I did macramé at one time. A large hanging item I had made years ago was discarded after the fire. I remember putting in a lot of hours to complete it, as it was pretty intricate. I never properly displayed it, which is sad after all that work. I don’t think macramé is a “thing” these days. I also used to make beaded dolls. I ordered kits through the mail and would sit for hours stringing beads on straight pins and sticking them in doll shaped Styrofoam pieces. They were capped off by a plastic doll head on a pick. I had a lot of them but they were discarded years ago. I made some beaded Christmas ornaments too. Most of those are gone as well. The thing with styrofoam is it seems to dry out and shrink with age and the pins start to fall out, so you’re better off making beaded items that use nylon thread. The beaded dolls also had fabric and ribbon on them and that discolors with age, so they get pretty ratty looking. I can tell you what I do for relaxation today .. I play Farmville on Facebook. I guess you could call that my guilty pleasure ! I got hooked on it when I was being treated for Leukemia back in 2009 and the rest is history. When you’re stuck in the hospital for 30 days at a time and the tv sucks, you find something else to pass the time ! It’s hard to believe I’ve been playing that game for almost 10 years ! It’s been 9 years since I completed my cancer treatment ! I don’t spend a lot of time on Farmville during the week so it’s mostly a weekend thing. The best part about it is a good deal of my favorite FB friends are fellow Farmville players. I’ve “met” a lot of really wonderful people via the game ! I used to play several slot machine games on my laptop and my phone too but I got tired of chasing free coins so I deleted them. I used to play Words with Friends but that became too stressful so I deleted that too. I’m a little competitive ! I still play games on my phone but they’re pretty much puzzle games so they are no stress, no competition and just a source of relaxation. One thing I always wanted to do is make jewelry. I do like sparkly things ! I used to order catalogs from jewelry supply companies but I never invested in anything. I worried I wouldn’t be creative enough or that I’d buy a bunch of stuff and then lose interest. I think gardening will be a good interest to have because it will get me outside in the fresh air. I don’t plan on filling my garage with gadgets and chemicals so I won’t be out much if I don’t have a green thumb.

Looking out my kitchen window last night I could see some daffodils struggling to come up ! I’m not really sure what I’ll do with them after they flower, other than let them be mowed down, because the area they are in was graded and is no longer intended to be a flower bed. I guess at some point I should dig them up and either move them or discard them. It was a little cloudy when I left for work but the sun came out around 8. Temps were in the 40’s and with a predicted high of 65 I left my winter coat in the car and wore my ginormous hoodie. I really hope I find something new to wear tomorrow ! Our sunny day didn’t last but the weather stayed relatively mild so I’ll take it. Went to my mom’s for friday night pizza so the car got a free shower in the driveway !

Breakfast today was a repeat of yesterday – a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll with French vanilla coffee. My 2nd cup was toasted coconut. My morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 220 calorie chicken fajita melt. The melts are basically a hot pocket with a lot less fat and calories. I had raw carrots with it. It was nearly 70 degrees when lunch rolled around and I was tempted to go outside for a walk, but I didn’t. I really should have .. so next time it’s this nice I am going ! I hesitate to walk around downtown because of the transients and other unsavory characters, but I used to go out a lot to get lunch so what is the difference ? There’s enough people on the street in Armory Square during lunch hours and I wouldn’t be carrying a purse or anything like that. My early afternoon snack was yogurt (80 calories) and mixed berries (90 calories). I saved my Sargento Balanced Break (180 calories) to have with my pizza. I had 2 strips of sausage pizza and I guesstimated the calories at 300. My evening snack is going to be another 1.8 ounce 150 calorie chocolate cupcake. That puts my calories for the day at about 1324, so even if my pizza was a little more than 300 calories I think I’m fine.

Today was supposed to be the closing date for my office, but the date was moved out to 6-28. A couple people left today and a few more are leaving on 4-19 but most are staying until the bitter end, me included. Can’t really say what’s going to happen to me yet. If I have a job when the dust settles we’ll be moved to different office space or perhaps consigned to working from home. I wouldn’t mind working from home but I would miss the daily interaction with a select few of my colleagues. I’m going to miss an awful lot of the billing associates when the time comes. I’ve worked with some of them for the past 34 years so this is like a family breaking up. I guess that’s Corporate America for you – they only see the big picture, which is dollar signs.

All in all today was a great day. I’m looking forward to a day out tomorrow and I gave myself the night off from the treadmill since I didn’t get home until after 10, I have to be up early and I’ll be out all day. I’m ok with that, because I relaxed my exercise goal. Life happens and although I will exercise every day that I possibly can there are going to be some days where it’s just not possible. Today is one of those.