goal tending.

I think most people must have some sort of space that inspires them. For some it may be a boat on a lake, for others it may be a mountaintop. For me, my “space” has always been the beach. I love the smell of the salty air, the sounds of the foamy waves as they crash to the shore, and the pale color pallet of white sands and a gray blue ocean. This calm and peaceful place always centers me, reminds me who I am, where I am, and where I’m going. I love the beach so much we even got married there at sunset (I didn’t plan the sunset part). So, it should come as no surprise that going on vacation to the beach would center me and remind me of who I am.

Vacations usually inspire me, regardless of where they are. I think it’s the break from reality that it offers. I’m not thinking about a to-do list, vacuuming, doing laundry, or running errands. On vacation I simply exist. We don’t really plan out our days; we just go with whatever we feel like doing at that moment. I think this break from reality really charges me and helps me think about how I’m doing in this journey we call life. I feel more refreshed and ready to go, which is the whole point of vacation, isn’t it?

I always read when I’m on the beach to pass the time. I have an e-reader but I felt wary about bringing it to the ocean so I picked up a book at Barnes & Noble called The Happiness Project. I have an ever growing list of books I want to read and this was somewhere on it, so I purchased it and planned to read the whole thing that week. Well, I made it through about 200 of the 300 pages, which is honestly remarkably slow for me (one of the perks of vacation). This book is incredible so far, though I’m still reading the end of it.

In The Happiness Project, the author discusses how she thinks she could be happier. She knows she is already happy, and there is no great tragedy going on around her, but she knows she could be a better citizen, daughter, sister, friend, employee, wife and mother. I identified with this sentiment, because while I am generally happy I know that I could be a better citizen, sister, friend, and wife.  So, the author sets small goals on a weekly & monthly basis. I recommend you pick up the book to know more about it, because this isn’t intended to be a book review, just a basis for something I want to do.

The author uses her small goals to make up what she calls her “Happiness Project”. My vacation thoughts combined with this reading had me thinking about doing something similar on my own. I have small goals I’d like to set and keep setting in the future. I think that these smaller goals that go under some overarching themes would certainly make me happier (though, like the author in this case I am definitely happy). I guess you could call it my own Happiness Project, but I am averse to being labeled or labeling things I do, so let’s just say I’m setting goals.

I will be mentioning these goals as I go along, because somehow writing it out will keep me accountable and able to evaluate my progress somehow.  I want to do things like go to bed when I’m tired, do more yoga, stop swearing, go to the dentist more, give more compliments, make smarter purchases, and not mention the socks. I want to do these things to help me stay centered, especially as many big changes happen around me. 

First up: more yoga. I picked yoga first because I feel great when I do yoga and I want to regularly have that sense of feeling so centered, peaceful, and energetic. Those feelings will give me motivation to continue on with my other goals, and other goals will probably happen naturally as a result.