Making Your Own Happiness!

For years so many people have told me that you have to make your own happiness. WHAT did they know? My surroundings should make me happy...and yet, they never seemed to equal happiness in my book, so as this year fell upon us I began to do a lot of reflecting. Sure, we had a huge transition this year, sure, we've had an addition to the child this year, sure, we've had a bit of heartache too...but it was time to stop blaming the situation and start improving myself.

The days of waiting for the opportunity to sit on the couch, eat bon bons and enjoy being a stay at home mom never came, so it was time to change MY outlook and to do so I needed to be happy with MY life. So we know, I am on a mission to change myself. In one way, I am chainging my body. Its working. Today was day 6 of workign out and I have lost 3.7 pounds. This is also my week for my lovely friend to visit from out of town (if you know what I mean). So I felt proud that I worked out on day one of my cycle and even more so that I continue to hold off my cravings and focus on the end goal. And it was also day 6 of no sweets! The cravings are less, though today I had some struggles with my girls and craved that chocolate that I did manage to leave int eh closet.

The other changes I am making are for my family. The internet, I talked about that yesterday. I am also helping my kids to focus on the good. We're talking more about God in our life. We homeschool and use a Catholic Curriculum paired with FIAR. I enjoy the process but its a lot more work than I anticipated. At the end of the day while eating, we talk about our day. We also go over our "Highlights"--where we saw God in our lives that day, and our "Lowlights"--where we wish we had been more like Jesus or felt more like we had God by our side. Its amazing the conversation its been sparking...and the feeling inside is something I have never felt as a mom before. Finally, our other big change is "Family Bedtime". Usually we tag team and put one or two to bed, however we're now reading together as a family every night, singing together AND praying together. Its amazing.

So, in the end, those folks that told me to "MAKE MY OWN HAPPINESS", they weren't just right, they were right on....I am truly happy!