Thirty Days, Thirty Ways to a Happier You

Hi Everyone,
Today I'm starting a new feature.  While on vacation last week I had time to think about what makes people happy. I've decided to compile a 'lesson plan' for happiness that works for me. maybe it will help you. I don't claim to be a mental health expert, just a person who has survived some pretty strong challenges in her life.
Hope it helps you too.




 WEEK ONE –BE KIND TO YOURSELF AND TO OTHERS

Day One –Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others.
Decide today to be kind to yourself. Be gentle, forgiving .Acknowledge that you are human, we are human and when we make mistakes, and we will, we must forgive ourselves.. Learn from it and MOVE ON.
Recently when driving to Okaboji I got impatient with a slow motorcycle ahead of me. I followed him for several miles on a highway just itching for a chance to pass him. I was fifteen miles from my destination and I wanted to be there. Now.
I passed him going 80. As soon as I did I started berating myself. You know’ the dialogue “What if you hadn’t made it…and that was really stupid”. I came up to a stop sign and the cyclist pulled up behind me. I hadn’t saved any time at all.    
I resolved right there to stop calling myself stupid and be kind. My internal dialogue went something like this “Okay, that wasn’t a good idea. Thankfully no one was harmed. Next time don’t be in such a hurry. Pass when there are better conditions.”

This week’s assignment: When you find yourself being negative-stop. Talk to yourself and others kindly and gently.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy New Year!

Today I'm beginning a daily post called Thirty Days, Thirty Simple Ways to a Happier You. Please take a look and comment. I'd love to hear your ideas. I'll be adding a comment each day through the month. This past year I’ve found myself dragging through the days and exhausted by the time evening rolls around. I teach middle school full-time and write fiction part-time. I wanted more energy and enthusiasm to write for an hour or so evenings and not have it feel like another job.   As a teacher I’m always giving out tasks. It dawned on me that I should be taking on some assignments too. The following is my opportunity to help myself. Perhaps some of these ideas may benefit you. I’m not talking about major, too over-whelming-to-even-consider tasks. No, these are easy things that won’t cost a lot of money, time or effort but added together I hope will really make a difference in my life and yours too. I plan to keep a simple journal (read spiral notebook) as I go throu
Read more

Lessons Learned--Grace's Secret: A review

A review of my latest book, Lessons Learned--Grace's Secret has been submitted to The Daily Nonpareil. You can read it below!  "...you know that you can't change the past, only the here and now." Grace Freeport is a well-respected school teacher in the frontier town of Omaha.  She thoroughly enjoys working with each of her thirteen students but her past still secretly haunts her. On a typical November day in 1874, the school day begins as usual.  However, the weather quickly changes with a little snow, and temperatures are plunging with the wind accelerating.   For a classroom with children, the weather can be frightening, and when their teacher steps outside to access the weather, the impending storm is terrifying for everyone. Fortunately yesterday, Grace had taken the precaution of running a clothesline from the school to her home.   She is well aware of storms in the plains and knows how quickly a blizzard can become dangerous.   Leaving a note of their lo
Read more

A Fabulous Friday and a Surprise!

Image
Hello! I wanted to write a brief post to share with you one of the happenings in my middle school History classroom. This past week, I shared with students the story of Henry Box Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom. In the photo below, the tape on the floor represents the dimensions of the Henry's box. Here, a student tries to become small enough to fit into a square the same size as Henry's box a cramped five feet, ten inches. Henry had a 27-hour journey to get to freedom. History comes alive in Mrs. Tweedt's classroom! Now for the surprise! My book, A Lady for the Lawman , has been chosen as a finalist for this year's Grace Award in the category Action/Adventure/Western/Epic Fiction. Wow! I am so honored and excited! You can get more details about the Grace Award and other books named as finalists here:  https://graceawardsdotorg.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/andthe-grace-awards-2015-finalists-are/ Happy Easter, ~J
Read more