In the book Star Girl, the title character had a miniature wagon into which she would place pebbles representing happiness. Every time she was happy she placed a pebble in the wagon. Every time she was sad she took one out. I love this idea.
Spend the afternoon with a loved one.
Pebble in.
Get to work late.
Pebble out.
Start a new book.
Pebble in.
Lose a favorite scarf on the train.
Pebble out.
There is no chance of me keeping up with a literal happy wagon. The closest I get is making happy lists (I highly recommend doing this when you're having a bad day. Sit down with a pen and paper and start listing off things you have to be happy about. Once you start it's easy to fill the page and soon you'll feel better). What I like best about Star Girl's happy wagon is that it requires her to pay attention to what makes her happy. If you know what makes you happy you can take steps to fill your happy wagon often.
This is a new concept to me. It wasn't until recently that I began to notice how much my own actions effected my happiness levels. On days when I oversleep, get to work late, eat ice cream for dinner, and neglect my chores to lie on the couch and watch TV, I am unhappy. When I lose my temper, break something through carelessness, or forget my loved ones, I am unhappy. All of these actions rob my wagon of pebbles.
To fill my happy wagon up I:
drink a cup of coffee slowly in the morning.
nurture a balcony garden.
make time to see/talk to friends/family.
eat a healthy diet of whole foods.
run (a newly discovered joy-giver)
cook food.
talk about food.
think about food.
spend time with Kenneth.
The top photos of me are, in my opinion, unflattering. But I love them. I love them because they are pictures of me in one of my happiest places doing some of my happiest things. I love spending time in the kitchen. In this case I'm chopping up dark chocolate to make grain-free chocolate "chip" cookies with Kenneth. Looking at these pictures, remembering the fun evening baking with my love, fills my happy wagon to the brim!
drink a cup of coffee slowly in the morning.
nurture a balcony garden.
make time to see/talk to friends/family.
eat a healthy diet of whole foods.
run (a newly discovered joy-giver)
cook food.
talk about food.
think about food.
spend time with Kenneth.
The top photos of me are, in my opinion, unflattering. But I love them. I love them because they are pictures of me in one of my happiest places doing some of my happiest things. I love spending time in the kitchen. In this case I'm chopping up dark chocolate to make grain-free chocolate "chip" cookies with Kenneth. Looking at these pictures, remembering the fun evening baking with my love, fills my happy wagon to the brim!
What fills your happy wagon, friends?
I love this post! Getting calls from my best friend fills my happy wagon ;)
ReplyDelete