"Happiness is made of..." Episode 1: Doing What's Actually Important to You.

Hello you cuties! Today begins a special series on how to be happy called:

Happiness is made of...

Within the next little while, I will be publishing ten posts as a guide to happiness... for YOU. In these little diddies, I'll be naming and describing ten aspects of happiness with intent to give you a place to reflect and find growth.

Here is your part: as you read, open up that lovely little heart and mind of yours and ask yourself if these methods of creating happiness might liven you up more.

You’ve got to know that you are a beautiful work of art at all moments. Whatever lovely practices you add into your life are simply more strokes added to your canvas—If you don't have them, that's fine because you are already a masterpiece. You are a human being, the whole world lives and breathes with you, inside of you, and through you. What you are capable of feeling, creating, and becoming is enough as is. So don’t worry about becoming your absolute, loveliest, best self. Instead, know when you’re ready to add a few strokes to your painting; some new habits; some experiences; some talents; some love. These things are garnishes to consider adding in to the beauty you already have.

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Now here we go, this is episode 1: Recognizing Your Values and Creating a System of Life Around Them

Let's define values as "the lovely things you alone find important enough to give priority."

Some categories include:

*Health *Your own Joy *Your future *The front yard (@lawnmowerdads) *Religion and faith *Family *Fashion *Emotions *Money *Beauty *Romance *Knowledge *Serving others *and Experiences

The truth is that whatever you are giving time to right now is your value. You are proving that whatever your time goes to is your top priority. So think about this: there are two lovely you's. The first is who you are right now. Think about what time you wake up in the morning, what you have for breakfast, the outfit that you put on, and where you go from there. Now before me move on to the second you, give now you some love and a hug because they deserve it. Okay, second you is dream you, what you would tell Fairy Godmother if she asked you who you would like to become with one wave of her wand. Think about what time they wake up, what's on their plate, in their closet, on their agenda. The difference between who you are right this second and who you want to be in your wildest dreams is simple. It's your current set of values.

This is someone whose current value is maintaining the garden she started:

This is someone who wants to have a garden. But she doesn’t because her current value is chillin’

What I'm telling you today is that both of these are wonderful. It’s great to garden. Its great to chill. But when you’re looking to become your dream self, when you really want it, you've got to know this: the key to becoming your dream self is a two step process: recognizing your values and creating a system of life around them. You are taking the time to read this little message, so pause for a moment and take the time to do this: close your eyes and imagine your regular, routine day. Maybe it was yesterday, maybe you've been on vacation for a little while and your last routine day was a couple weeks ago. Imagine that you, in your thoughts right now, are floating at the top of the room, looking down at routine you as they went about that day. Start with the moment that you woke up and end with your eyes closing and drifting off to sleep. Now you know what your recent set of values are. You just watched yourself prioritize certain things.

If you find that you spend a lot of time surfing the web, eating fast food, doing laundry and dishes instead of painting, hiking, or reading, ask yourself why you do these things. Do you scour the internet because it's fun or because you're procrastinating? Do you eat fast food because it tastes good and it's a treat now and then, or because you're a lil too lazy to cook? Do you want to stop feeling so obsessive and take some time to do the things that you love? We are human beings. We have the ability to create the lives that we want to live, and for that reason it's important to build a routine of intention. Do things because they are fulfilling and lovely. Surfing the web isn't good or bad, none of these things are. They're simply what you make of them. If you love to surf the web because you learn so much about your passions, or it's restful for you, please keep that in your routine. Understand that concept, honey. Now make a list of the values and effects your now self and dream self have. Like this:

Now self -- stays up late and feels groggy/sleepy all day, spends hours on Tik Tok and feels like day is spent, works 25/8 and lacks a social life.

Dream self -- goes to bed early and wakes up refreshed with better health too, baby, spends fifteen minutes on Tik Tok and then decides to spend time with some hobbies, finds a way to work less and see people more.

Figure out what you are doing now that your dream self would do differently. As you're going throughout your day, ask, "Would a wealthy person do this?" "Would a cool dad wear this?" "Would a good friend say this?" "Would a loyal wife be the same way?" Understand that it doesn't make you a bad person for being now you. Someday dream you will be now you, and you'll have new dreams. Growth is continual and that means you are always good, at any stage, including the worst one. Also recognize that growth is not linear. It doesn't start at its lowest point with a two percent rate of increase. No we aren't interest darling, we are alive and much more dynamic. People fall and it's meant to be. Now that you recognize the values you hold now and the ones you want to prioritize instead, we reach step 2: building a dream system of life. To become your dream self, make small changes that raise you up bit by bit. Small habits build momentum. Big goals can be overwhelming and burn out, but when you break them up into itty bitties, you'll find that they are incredibly fun and satisfying to complete for their simple easiness, but big payoff. We aren't trying to be our dream selves just for a day, we are going to become them for good, so we want to do things the right way, the small way, the fun way.

To begin, choose one value, any of them, and one small aspect of it. If you choose health and exercise, a shift could be that you start going on short walks every now and then. Watch that ten minute walk one Sunday turn into twenty minutes, and then start happening on Tuesdays too, then include little sprints in the middle. This is the exact beginning of my Fitness Journey. It started with a walk. These small little dudes are called "Keystone habits". They inspire other changes. When you work out, you release endorphins and want to do something else that's good for you. You want to eat better, you feel happy and might be kinder to people, all sorts of things. Take into account also that you don't want to make yourself miserable. How are you creating happiness if you're also creating unhappiness? So start out slow and let things move themselves along. Just be consistent.

What you do now is slowly add in another small change and another. You'll find that it's simple, easy, and fun. All you have to do is get up and do a little thing. It'll starts adding up, and you will start naturally wanting to do more. Because you are a human being and you were made for this. Let it be fun. Teach yourself that like a flower, puppy, or buck, you were made to grow.

There you go, step 1 to making happiness. I chose this one to start with because learning to build habits is the basis of creating a life, and a big part of happiness is becoming dream you in your dream life. Circumstances can have a big impact on our daily happiness.

...but there's something even stronger than them...

Stay tuned for next episode of the "Happiness is Made of" series on Having a Positive MINDSET. I hope you enjoyed that little chat and feel motivated as ever. If so, please leave a like, subscribe for more if ya want some, and stick around for another episode!