Wednesday and Happiness

I just finished an amazing book. It's called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I loved it so much that I got upset when it was over. I wanted more. I read the last chapter on a plane last week, set the book down on my little tray table, and, with tears in my eyes, looked at the woman sitting beside me and said, "Damn, that was good."

The Happiness Project is a "memoir/self-help" book about a woman who spends an entire year trying to make positive changes in her life. If you haven't heard of it, look it up! And if you like the idea of happiness, read it. You won't be disappointed.

One of the things the author talked about, which I loved, was her twelve commandments. These were principals she directly or indirectly established about what was going to help her be happy.

These were hers:
1. Be Gretchen
2. Let it go.
3. Act the way I want to feel.
4. Do it now.
5. Be polite and be fair.
6. Enjoy the process.
7. Spend out.
8. Identify the problem.
9. Lighten up.
10. Do what ought to be done.
11. No calculation.
12. The is only love.

She describes these commandments in greater detail throughout her memoir. And they all work well for her. This was so inspiring, I decided to start a list of my own commandments. I don't have twelve yet, but I'm slowly working on them.

Mine:
1. Act the way I want to feel.
2. Believe you can do it.
3. Celebrate the small victories.
4. Chill out.
5. Let your failures motivate, not discourage.

Yes, I stole my first one from Gretchen Rubin herself. But I couldn't help it - it just struck such a chord with me.

Even though 80% of the time, I have my head on straight about my healthy new self, there are sometimes that I revert back to my old self. Pizza at 1:00 am? Why not? Mint chocolate chip ice cream? Sure! It's low-fat, right? I need to learn to act the way I want to feel.

I want to be skinny. I want to be healthy. I try to keep this in mind. When I go to grab some finger food at a party, I try to think what would the skinny-me eat? When I'm trying to talk myself out of going for a run when I don't really feel like it, I try to think the healthy-me would do it, anyway.

She speaks about acting happy to feel happy. And I think there's truth in that, too. We humans are such mental creatures. I know that I can convince myself to hate something, love something, laugh at something, no matter what it is. And I often do it without even meaning to.

This journey to healthiness isn't just about my physical ability. It's just as much, if not more, about my mental ability, too. My mental ability to believe I can accomplish something. My mental ability to not let the bad days ruin everything. My mental ability to say No! when I really want to say yes.

Today is Wednesday. And I'll be posting my weekly weigh-in either tonight or tomorrow morning. And, regardless of what happens, I am going to act happy, feel happy, and celebrate the small victories. And if I don't get the number I'm looking for, I'm going to chill out and believe that I can do it.

Happy Hump Day, everyone. Let me know if you have any commandments of your own.