The happiness challenge. Day 12

Past the halfway point now! I think part of my issue with this is that I'm not so good at following instructions and my first instinct when I feel obligated to do something is to find a way to get out of it. But perhaps my lesson here is to learn how to stick with things?

So here we go:

Gratitudes:

• I'm grateful that for the past few years I've been sitting next to someone in the office who is genuinely the most happy and positive person I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I asked him last week if he was in a good mood and his response was "I'm always in a good mood". And you know something, it is absolutely true. I tried to think of a time over all these years where I've seen him in a bad mood and I really couldn't think of one! Mind you, this guy works crazy hours, is ambitious and motivated and generally does the work of several people. Yet he's always got a smile, joke and a kind word for everyone that crosses his path and has us all in stitches on a regular basis. Somehow he's worked out the key to happiness along the way and I wish I'd taken the time to observe and learn from him as he's someone I deeply admire. I'm really thankful to have met someone like him, there's so many days I'm not feeling great and then I have a chat with my fellow deskmate and his infectious happiness rubs off.
• I'm also grateful for one of our newer girls at work. She's been thrown in at the deep end and has calmly and resolutely put on the happy face and motored on through. She has become a real support to me over just a few short weeks and I know that she's going to be a powerhouse there after I leave. I always like to know I'm leaving things in good hands and her capable and happy nature are going to be a great asset.
• Lastly I am grateful for my friends who are going to great lengths to ensure I get a sendoff worth remembering. I leave Brisbane not without sadness and I think there'll be a few tears before kickoff to be honest. I feel very loved and supported by some amazing women who are absolutely my family, regardless of blood ties.

Journal:
So like a typical ostrich I'm trying to ignore the fact that I'm going to be homeless soon unless I pull my finger out and start making arrangements. Life has just been so chaotic lately and I feel the body and brain just needs a brief respite before digging into it with gusto. I'm not that good at making decisions these days, the Toowoomba project has been probably over a year in the making and now that I've done it, you'd think I'd be barrelling forward but I just can't do more than a brief plod each day. Oh well, I have a long weekend coming up and will try to make some headway then. Although with my dad and stepmother visiting, likely I'll be distracted enough to procrastinate..ha. I'm also looking forward to Mothers Day on Sunday, my gorgeous E always makes me a card and loves to go over to the shopping centre to pick me out a gift. I must say after some dubious offerings in years past, he's developing some excellent taste!

This post also cannot be complete without a reference to The Voice. The battle rounds were on last night and we were glued to the TV despite it taking more than 2 hours. So tired by the time it was done, and I truly don't know how E woke up this morning as his bedtime is usually around 8ish. Well worth it though, some of the pairings were so heartbreakingly good, I seriously don't know how the judges were able to choose. In most cases I think they got it right although on a few of them I bet they're kicking themselves for pairing up certain duos knowing they'd have to get rid of one.

So looking forward to doing it all again tonight.

Tweet of the evening: "Confucius say: two Maddens are better than one". Love it.

Meditation:
I vaguely recollect starting to drain the bad but not sure if I finished before I nodded off? Did feel slightly better this morning so maybe that's a sign? Work in progress.

Random act of kindness:
I offered to do a couple of things at work today as I saw someone struggling a bit, and for once I didn't immediately think, oh good, my random act of kindness! It's only now when I'm sitting down thinking about what I'm going to write that I remembered. Perhaps I'm starting to do these things automatically instead of overanalysing? Time will tell.

So it's been a bit of a reflective day today. I guess the nostalgia will start to build in the next couple of weeks as I get on the countdown to the Toowoomba project (not a tree change. Not).

Hope you're having a lovely day! Are you following the happiness challenge or have you done something similar? I hear the Laws of Attraction theories are quite similar and would love to hear from anyone who's experienced any of these.

xx