Gratitude

Meditation:
I know I meditate and think about gratitude a lot, but I think it is such an important part of being happy.  Another friend of mine said "if you lack happiness, you lack gratitude".  Many of us have so much to be thankful for and it is the act of taking those things for granted that makes us unhappy or lustfully wanting more.

Reflection:
I have been watching a lot of movies lately.  Today my coworker and I talked at length about the recent Prometheus movie.  It was entertaining, visually beautiful, but overall confusing. 

We exchanged theories about character motives, movie plots, and general reasons for production.  Overall, it was a fun exchange to have.  Not to mention, it kept us having our noses to the grind stone for that lovely extra five to ten minutes.

Gratitudes:
1) Glad my parents stayed until Monday
2) Glad I had someone explain the SB1070 ruling for me.
3) Happy that this will be my last full week of work.

Exercise: GYM!

Good Deed: I have been trying to spread the joy that is this live puppy video to as many people as I can.

The white puppy, that my friend Nura refers to as "Snowflake" is currently missing from the screen.  But I suspect she is napping out of view. Don't worry, I'm sure she is still there.

Brave

Day 11 (Passing the half way mark for the 21 days)

Reflection:
My parents are in town for the weekend, and I know I wrote about this yesterday but I am SO thankful they are here with me.  Their love and support is endless, energizing and encouraging.

Today, I was feeling a little woosy, so what is a better cure than seeing sweet sweet puppies, drinking a big cup of water (with a straw) and watching a movie at the movie theater?  Answer? Playing with puppies, and drinking water and watching a movie ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! (Okay, we did the former rather than the latter, but still!)

So based on the title of this blog (and the picture below) you can guess what we went to see today.  (Yes, I am a child, and yes I love cartoons and mystical promises and magic and happy endings.  I get way too much complication and grey in my life to have it in ALL of my entertainment anyway.)

Though I was not as taken by this movie as movies like UP or Wall-e, it was a visually beautiful movie.  Best of all it was great to sit there with my parents and watch a movie about parents understanding children and children learning to understand their parents' best intentions.  All-in-all, I love the theme of mutual understanding and washing away the divisions brought on by pride or other secondary emotions.

Gratitudes:
1) SOOOOOO thankful for my dad and the wonderful and beautiful wisdoms he brought to me today and every other day of my life for that matter.
2) I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful for 35th chances.
3) I am thankful for the loving environment I have been blessed with.  I cannot imagine a world without loving family, friends, and partners in life.


Exercise:
Laps around the mall? (You can imagine I'm one of those old people who wear tracksuits to the mall and just walk laps together... don't worry, this might actually happen when I am older.)

Meditation:
I have been met with so much bravery today.  People to show me the power of forgiveness and hope.  People who against logic and prudence have gone beyond their comfort zone to hope for a better world.  So today, I focused on patience and perspective.  Find out what really matters for me, and what I can do to break out of my comfort zone to ask for and achieve.

Good deed:
Spending time with strangers and providing a shoulder and open heart to receive their stories.

Side note:

I realize that the language I use and the energy I give off greatly affects my internal energy.  Which is why, publicly I have decided to give up swearing.  (Unless it is a positive exclamation.)  I think exclaiming profanities in the negative degrade my mood that much more.  I use to not swear at all, and I don't think I ever got that angry.  So we are going to try this and see how that works.

Day 10

This one is going to be a little short because it is late, but I want to get this in before day 10 is over.

Gratitudes:
1) My parents were here to hold my hand through life stuff.
2) I got to talk to someone I've miss quite a bit.
3) Google hang out is awesome.

Meditation:
Family is beautiful.  Either by blood or otherwise, family is awesome.

Reflection:
I am so thankful my parents were here today.  It was the perfect day for them to come in, because I don't know who else is around that would have been able to sit with me for hours the way they did.  They are beautiful people and I am so blessed to have them.  I am also just thankful the wonderful people who showed their love for me in texts and phone calls.  Thank you for loving me. There is nothing like it in the world.

Exercise:
Golfing? maybe?

Good deed:
We bought a bunch of food this woman was selling, because we knew how much she was struggling to sell her homemade food.

Happiness

Thanks Nura for sending me this link to live video of puppies.  AWESOMENESS.

Seriously. awesome.

Speed bumps/ brick walls

Day 9

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, so if you'll permit me, I'm going to post this stuff a little early. No one said this process was going to be perfect and smooth. Sometimes you hit speed bumps. I think my gratitudes will be important for today.

1) I'm glad I have a job that pays for most of my insurance and I'm thankful that it'll be around for the month of July (don't know how good grad school insurance will be).
2) I'm thankful for the support of my family and friends who stick around through thick, thin, grumpy, insecure, moody, sick, crazy, and silly.
3) I'm thankful for these cheap laughs and smiles from buzzfeed.com, check out the links below (Oh! and it will be Friday!)

Like this one about puppies keeping cool in the summer.

Or this one with tiny adorable animals that will fit in your hand.

Then there are the sleeping puppies.

 

Exercise? brisk walk? I'm really not meeting the bar with this one.  We'll see if I'll be physically able to swing something Saturday

Good deed? Trying to help pay for someone else. (I do this a lot, we'll see how long we can keep it up!)

Meditation: health should not be taken for granted

Reflection: brief but great conversation with a supportive friend.  It was nice of him to check in and to make me feel like I was important and special in some capacity.

I'll be a bulldozer for this brick wall then the rambling will start up again. Promise. :)

The Horizon

Day 8!

Gratitudes:
1) My friend, Tarreyn, mentioned my project on her blog, Tarreyn Land. (Isn't she beautiful?)

2) I finished painting my shoes. (Let me know what you think.  Shoes a child would wear? How bad would it be if I wore these?)

3) I made some strides for my finance project.

Meditation:

(HAHA! I searched google images and evidently there is a movie!!!)

Sometimes I find myself chasing the horizon. Funny thing about horizon's though, you can never really get there. I've been incredibly lucky with opportunities and resources in my life.  I have had wonderful people to help motivate me and walk with me on my journey.  I have a terrible habit of dismissing my accomplishments and the things my various communities have help me achieve. Thinking about it now, it seems like a disservice to these friends and mentors.

(If you want a visual of what a horizon is with math)

So I need to realize that being happy and proud of my accomplishments doesn't mean I will stop striving.  Contentment with progress doesn't have to be complacency.  Instead, it will give me more motivation to keep going.  So, today's goal: appreciate how far I've come from when I started.

(I'm not going to lie, I picked this picture because it has a puppy)

Good Deed:
It is weird how quickly I can get wrapped up in my world and forget to reach out to my friends and family living afar.  So I made it a point to send my cousin in Vietnam an email.

Reflection:
I wrote about Chi Hieu in another blog a while back.  I wrote her an email about my life, what I was doing, and the HUGE life change I was going through. I thanked her and her family for being so supportive and nice while I was over there.  She responded enthusiastically, and told me my Vietnamese writing wasn't too bad.  (That is a compliment in my book, because oh boy I haven't read or written Vietnamese in a while.)

Exercise:
GYM!

Randoms:
Thanks to Tarreyn for this picture and the link!

For some good vibes check out this series "21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity".

Reinforcing my Zen bubble

Day 7

Meditation:

How do I reinforce my zen bubble.

Something occurred to me recently.  After this 21 day reprogramming of my brain, if I don't do something to maintain it I could accidentally reprogram my brain for negativity again in another 21 days.  How do I avoid that?  I don't think that this can stop after just 21 days because it is like a diet, if you go on a diet you might lose weight, but if you go back to your normal food, you'll gain all your weight back.  So how can I make sure that these changes are sustainable? Or in other words, how do I reinforce my zen bubble?

My brainstorming has come up with the following solutions:
- Continue with 3 gratitudes and exercise daily. 
- At least once a week journal a good happening
- Do a good deed/random act of kindness once a week
- Meditate or do yoga once a week (or both! - time to live it up)
- Smile at myself in the morning - more on this in a bit.

Hopefully this will help me build and reinforce a robust zen bubble.

Reflections:
I started thinking about reinforcing my zen bubble yesterday during a stressful day.  I was trying to coordinate with my roommate about electricity and internet and we just weren't seeing eye to eye.  Clients at work were starting to get antsy and I had no idea how to deliver the work we promised since management was tied up with other pressing clients.  Managers were contacting me from different directions (office phone, chat, email, cell phone... It was really a recipe for destroying the fragile zen bubble I had been cultivating.

So I stopped and put my head in my hands at work and took 10 deep breaths.  What was really happening?  Why was I feeling stressed, uneasy, and frustrated?  (This was me trying to harness Ricard's examine your anger exercise.) 

First, I wasn't sure how I would get along with my roommate if we were already disagreeing.  That would be a year of my life in an uncomfortable living situation.  So my solution, get to know her and find common ground.  But table that for later that night.

Second, I had no idea how to approach the issue with this client.  So I reached out for help.  My coworker helped me problem solve and before long all the ringing, pinging, and dinging stopped.  Even though I can't say that my frustration completely dissipated I had a clear enough mind to ask for help and to get what I needed done. For that I am truly thankful.

By the end of the night I was calm and at peace again.  I realized that I don't always have to be okay, it is okay to not be okay.  But it is important to get the clarity to do what you need to do and to address the problems at hand. (Another interesting blog to check out, click here for link.  Thanks Miriam for share this one.)

On top of all of this (sorry for the rambling, I'm almost done...) I was brushing my teeth this morning and I noticed that I was grinning at myself making sure I had brushed well.  Then I laughed because I thought I looked funny.  But it was a great way to start the day.  I have read that people who kiss their significant others in the morning before work, have more positive days.  I can't do that, so I can at least start my days off with a smile.

Gratitudes:
1) I am glad I had a good conversation with my roommate last night.
2) I reconnected with a good friend of mine over dinner and drinks
3) Everything seems a little more manageable today. (This is a HUGE step for me. YAY!)

Exercise:
I woke up early and got my heart rate up.  Jumping jacks and other cardio.  I might still try to hit the gym tonight, we'll see how wishful that is when 5pm rolls around.

Random Act of Kindness:
I spent extra time and care responding to emails this morning.  I was sure to continue to express my gratitude and admiration for the lovely people I have in my life (at least the ones in my inbox). Today my inbox, tomorrow the world!