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Friday, March 29, 2013

There is no better time than March 29th to share my 2013 resolutions.

I wrote down some resolutions at the beginning of the year.  I've intended to blog about them, and I even sat down to write the blog post at least once.  I got bogged down, though.  I could go into the history of each resolution and why that particular goal was added to my list.  I could.  Did you know that my Myers Briggs Personality type is ESFP (Extorvert Sensing Feeling Perceiving)?  That translates to, truthfully, a pretty short...wait, what was I saying?  So I have to find a short and sweet point to make in a blog or I lose interest.
That said, I will just list for you my resolutions in no particular order of importance.
1.  Learn to have the mental capacity to process my everyday life without feeling bored.  Boredom leads to escape tactics.
2.  Keep my business light, free, and fun.  Take projects that inspire me.
3.  No Mountain Dew.
     I'll stop to say this about Mountain Dew.  I love it.  There were days when I would wake up not thrilled about the day but remember that a cold Mountain Dew was waiting for me in the fridge which would help me get out of bed.  I could (and did) drink Mountain Dew morning, noon, night, and midnight for awhile.  It refreshed me like a cold glass of water should.  While I still drink other sodas, I don't find them as addictive.  I haven't had a Mountain Dew except for a reprieve I gave myself from Christmas Eve until New Years Eve since 2011.
4.  Encourage my affection for D'arcy.
5.  Continue to be inspired by others and embrace differences as opposed to comparing myself with others and finding someone superior.  Inspiration was my word for last year.
6.  Journal more.    Guess what?  These resolutions were written in my journal.  My journal has no rules and no format.  Whatever I feel like writing or listing either big or small is allowed.  I'm not even obligated to date the page.
7.  Speak and write out my thoughts of respect and appreciation for people.  If I'm inspired by them in a big or small way, I should let them know specifically.
8.  Connect with people outside my social class without having the specific goal of serving them in some way.  


In response to goal number one, I was enticed to read the book entitled "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin after my friend Christie pointed it out to me in Barnes and Noble and said it was pretty good.  I'm not a big self help book reader, but I was able to enjoy this book because it was personalized.  It's her story about a year in her life when she tried to figure out how to be happier.  Remember that I told you I was a ESFP?  Well, I found this written about ESFPs.
             "ESFPs love to talk to people about people. Some of the most colorful storytellers are ESFPs. Their down-to-earth, often homespun wit reflects a mischievous benevolence."
I put that in there because if a self help book feels more like a memoir than I'm 99% more likely to read and enjoy it.  I included the second sentence because I just like that description "a wit reflecting a mischievous benevolence".  Stephen rolled his eyes and chuckled last night when I read that to him.  
Anyway, there is a lot to think about and absorb from this book.  I wrote a few of my favorite thoughts in my journal.  Yes, I did.  So here are just a few.

"A happy atmosphere isn't created by the absence of nagging and yelling but also by jokes, games, and tomfoolery."
"People who enjoy silliness are 1/3 more likely to be happy."
"What did you like to do when you were a child?  What you enjoyed as a ten-year-old is probably something you would enjoy now."
"Sing in the morning.  It's hard both to sing and to maintain a grouchy mood."
"Money might buy some happiness.  Could you hire a teenager to mow the lawn?  Eliminating conflict is a high happiness priority; spend money if it can help."  (Stephen, do you remember that year when we were both working and together making six figures?  And do you remember every six months when I would instigate a horrible fight because you didn't put up the garage door opener that we had purchased for our new house?  Yeah, this thought might have applied to that situation since hiring someone would have cost, what, a $100.  Sigh.)
"Arrival Fallacy is the belief that when you arrive at a certain destination, you'll be happy.  This is a fallacy because, though you may anticipate great happiness in arrival, arriving rarely makes you as happy as you anticipate."
"Remember birthdays."
"Don't gossip."

Here are some other thoughts that I'll paraphrase.
The process might be more fulfilling than the completed task.
Take your play seriously.
Ask for help.
Stop seeking out gold stars even if they mean so much to you.
Stop eating fake food.

I thought it was interesting that in the August chapter entitled "Contemplate the Heavens" she talks about her deep interest in St. Therese de Lisieux's autobiography "Story of a Soul", a book I just attempted to read that struggled to hold my interest.  I've been to Lisieux and when a friend mentioned that she was entranced by this book earlier this year, I picked it up at the library.  However, Therese's story is pretty dull.  She lives, she becomes a nun, she dies of tuberculosis at age 24, I think.  However, one could also see it as she lives, she falls in love with Jesus, she dedicates her life to His service, she lives out his ways in so many small moments, she dies of tuberculosis.  I might have to try to read it again.

On a side note, she also mentions reading this book which was recommended to me by my friend Joy and loved, Expecting Adam by Martha Beck.

One of the ways I hope to process my everyday life without feeling bored this year is to blog more often.  I have no set amount in mind, just simply to decide to blog instead of watch as much TV.  It's, in my opinion, a better, more engaging, and more fulfilling way to spend my time.  So potentially, I'll be blogging on these resolutions more specifically.  We'll see, but for now I must go read a chapter of Anne of Green Gables to D'arcy (see resolution 4).  We could all learn a little about being happy from Anne with an e.

  






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