The Road Less Traveled: Follow up

The Road Less Traveled: Follow up

I wonder some days, what it might be like to take a different road at my stage in life.  If I didn't have to pay for my home, for example, and lived in a small motor home, I would have enough money for gas and traveling.  I could take my laptops and air-card, do my work on the road.  Visit people, see places. Wear sweats.

Why do we oftentimes think the road we are not going down is more inviting and rewarding?   I am reminded of an Oprah page I saw on Facebook today: Be happy for 30 days.  I did a search online and came up with some simple advice, copied & credited below.


Because most of my life has been filled with optimism and delight, I like this person's advice. (yes, I had a previous dark side-so I can identify...BUT ONLY UP TO A POINT...with the angst and drama in young women's lives today.  My simple advice?  Get the hell over yourself and start thinking broader - move on.  Life is a lot more fun and rewarding when you climb out of your wee little microcosm of "me-space".)


From Chief Change Optimist & author,  Ariane de Bonvoisin's blog: http://www.first30days.com/


Top 5 Things to Do
If the idea of being happier seems too impossible to wrap your mind around, step back and reconsider. A positive frame of mind can make all the difference. Here are the top five things you can do to enjoy your journey to happiness.

1. Train your brain.
Happiness is largely dictated by your habits. Years of negative reinforcement may have led the brain to think unhappiness is the norm. You can break that tendency by creating new rituals. Start by becoming aware of your current habits and noting the negative ones. Then try to consciously change them into more positive ones. Be forceful if you have to and don’t give up. Progress comes through repetition.

2. Be grateful.
Experts agree that taking a few minutes a day to note what you’re grateful for is a great way to start on the road to happiness. If you focus on the positive things, rather than complaining about the negative ones, you’ll develop a much broader spectrum of appreciation in your daily life and enjoy it more. It may help to start writing a few items down each day in a gratitude journal.

3. Do what makes you happy.
It may sound obvious, but so many of us neglect the things that we want to do for the things we think we should do. Or, we spend time obsessing about things we can do nothing about. Make a conscious effort to incorporate more of the things that make you happy in your life. Do you enjoy eating lunch in the park? Does the feeling of sand between your toes thrill you? Do you like to read a story to your children before bedtime? Well, then do it and do it often!

4. Hang out with happy people.
As the saying goes, “You are the company you keep.” If you want to enjoy happier living, then surround yourself with positive, happy people who will support you in your quest for happiness. Do your best to avoid negative people who will only bring you down.

5. Don’t beat yourself up.
Everyone makes mistakes but it’s how you deal with these mistakes that really makes a difference. Don’t let setbacks bring you down to the point where you consider giving up. Instead, acknowledge the error and quickly move past it. On the other hand, when you experience successes, pay attention to what you did right so you can repeat it.

SHOULD my BLOG have a new theme?

I wonder if I should have a (strong) theme like some people do.  They write about home cooking; living off the grid, poetry, writing, movies ... mine is just about me and what I think some days.  A rambling series of semi-motivational blogs, personal goals and a few rants.  WHAT could be my theme?  I love project management, but thousands already do a fabulous job writing about PM.  Movies or books?  The same.

But...no one else writes about ME.  My family will need "something" for my obit one day - and not many know what I really do.

So, I will add the 2012 "Women in Business" article about myself.   Nicely written by Marie Nitke, editor of the East Otter Tail Focus (regional newspaper).   I probably should mention I have NINE, not eight grandchildren.  My error.  I have lived in several other places too: Washington, Oregon, California.  We have owned lovely homes in Washington, Missouri, Michigan and Minnesota.

I love Otter Tail County, MN.  Wouldn't mind going somewhere else in Jan-Mar though, if Bruce could also go.  That will be a topic for a future blog.

Enjoy Each Day...Don't let yesterday use up too much of today

I have heard great quotes through the years, but as I grow older---living in today means more and more to me.  Enjoy each day, don't sweat the small stuff, etc.  It makes my heart ache to see young women agonizing over mistakes made, over drama that I wish they would address, think logically about and get over it.  I do not think men go through the same self-demeaning agony women do!  What a waste of time.

• Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.  ~Cherokee Indian Proverb

• If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying.  It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.  ~Dale Carnegie

• Don't keep making the same damn mistakes and imagining a different outcome!  That's a good one too.

• You can't wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.  ~Pat Schroeder