Making Happiness

Lost my calendar book on my desk again. Did my first 24 minute walk today. I wanted to run, but my back is really hurting, top to bottom. My legs feel great as does my neck and shoulders. At times like this, usually because of stress and diet, my back just hurts. I am not taking Ibuprofen these days because I want to have a good read of what's going on in my body. I just keep telling myself that if I take it slow I am going to get over the "sore back" hurtle and I will be able to start running. It's the bounce that is unbearable.

So this morning I found a great quote. It really articulates what is going on for me right now. Sometimes I just type phrases into the Google bar and see what comes back. I was looking for TV work and then I typed something about happiness. Here's what I found.

Finding happiness is like finding yourself. You don’t find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Self-actualization is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings YOU the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run.

David Leonhardt

This is from a site called Half heartedly. I really liked it. There were a number of interesting things on the site. This though, really spoke to me. As I was walking I thought I am making happiness. That made me smile.

The best thing about this blog is the encouragement. Thank you to everyone sending comments here and on Facebook. I had hoped that having this blog and really naming my goal would be like something that happened for me when I was on my high school swim team. I wanted to do the 100 meter butterfly at event we were having at the school pool. Can I just say that I know how to do the stroke, and that's about it. At the time I did not have the stamina for it. Anyway the coach said I could, so I went for it. I was hurting after the first two laps (four total for 100 meters). At the third lap I felt like quitting. After the turn into the fourth lap, I could see the other swimmers were getting out of the pool. And I will admit, I was ready to give up, but then my teammates were cheering me on. It was some serious burn down that final length and I kept thinking that I could just stand up, but then I would take a breath and see my teammates cheering. I managed to finish and in the end it was the cheering for me that really kept me going. Right now it's that same moment. Life, running, making changes, it's all hard, but the kind words and encouragement really help.

Awakening Joy quote: Feel your feelings (without getting lost in the story).