Wanna Be Happier??

I read Women's Health monthly and love all the interesting and creative articles. This month an article really stood out to me, and with Valentines Day here, I thought it came at a great time.

My personal life is amazing. But I'm having a hard time in my professional life right now—finding what I'm supposed to be doing, my new path towards nutrition counseling, wondering when I can use my PR skills here— basically trying to find happiness.

This Women's Health article help me to do just that. Titled Be Instantly Happier— it's an article I feel every woman should read.

The United States General Social Survey, a national poll that gauges social trends, women in this country have reported being less happy each year since 1972, and we're currently at an all-time happiness low.

"There are so many opportunities available to women now, but with that comes a lot of pressure to be fully self-actualized- to have the amazing career and family, and the ability to balance it all with ease. So you constantly end up feeling disappointed because you're not as happy or successful as you think you should be," says Ariel Gore, author of Bluebird:Women and the New Psychology of Happiness.

We basically already know how to be happy, we just need to tap into here. Here are a few suggestions.

The Joy of Simple Pleasures

Genuine happiness can be divided into two categories—moment-to-moment happiness (the small spurts of joy you get from every day occurrences like digging into a delicious dessert or receiving a compliment from your boss) and reflective happiness (see second blurb). "Humans are so good at rapidly becoming accustomed to changes, especially positive ones. But because we adapt to them so quickly, the high is short lived.

Small daily pleasures keep us emotionally afloat, balancing out life's low. All we have to do is notice, and appreciate them. Taking the time to stop and focus will help momentary pleasures sink it. Instead of stressing about what you have to do tomorrow, concentrate and the now. "

Couldn't have said it better my self.

Seeing the Big Picture

But savoring those moment-to-moment pleasures is only half of the equation. "Reflective happiness is the deeper satisfaction you feel when you examine your life as a whole and are content with the way it's going." I have been doing a lot of that recently. It's harder to when I see Chris doing something he is great at, and excelling extremely well— even garnering praise for his work. I honestly couldn't be happier for him and he knows that. I want to be making the same contributions to this as well. I think in some ways everyone feels like that too. I hope I am getting somewhere with my nutrition studying and counseling. I feel like I'm going in the direction God wants me to. Only time will tell.

When you consider the bigger picture, it helps you put a more positive spin on everything, including the stuff that is making you unhappy at the moment," says Elizabeth Lomardo, Ph.D. Looking at the big picture means being proud of your accomplishments and feeling as if you're working toward something meaningful. And that is exactly what I'm doing now. My nutrition studying will lead to my certification as a Health and Wellness Nutrition Consultant, which will (hopefully) lead to meeting my potential clients, which will (hopefully) lead to more and eventually I will be doing what I love—helping people find a healthy balance to their work life and eating right. What you pay attention to plays a huge role in how happy you'll be. If we take our "sad and low" points and the I-feel-sorry-for-myself time in our lives and use it as a chance to "reroute to a more direct path to where we want to go." Easier said then done right?

How to Boost Your Bliss

And we can't count out how genetics plays a role in our happiness. Scientist say each of us is born with our own personal happiness set point. This totally hit a spot with me. It can be as simple as on a scale of 1-10 (cheerful most of the time).

Have an attitude of gratitude: Take a few minutes out of your day to think about everything that has happened recently to make you smile and ask 'What am I thankful for?' I am super thankful to have a job right now in this economy and not completely hate it, I am thankful to have a wonderful husband who supports me in all my endeavors, my family who send us unconditional love... yea, if you start thinking in these terms, the little things don't seem too bad.

Banish the Comparisons: It's pretty simple."The irony is that in order to become less competitive (and a lot happier), you need to drop out of the race—meaning you need to start running at your own pace." If we're always comparing ourselves to others then how are we going to have time to be happy for US.

Find Meaning in Your Work: Experts say that whose of us who believe we're doing what we're destine to do feel more immediate and long-term happiness. Even if you're not jazzed about your current job, consider how your actions contribute to the common good.This one is a little harder for me to learn how to do. Because I know I'm not destined to do what I'm doing now (cross my fingers). I love working with kids, but I know what I'm good at— and that's public relations, event planning, marketing, and nutrition. I know God has a plan for me. He is certainly making me be patient, that's for sure. In the mean time, I know I am making a difference in these kids life and their vacation. I will take pleasure in that.

Hang With Happy People: "Happiness can spread from person to person to person in a chain reaction, through social circles. On average, every happy friend you have increases your chance of being happy by 9 percent." This one is an easy concept to grasp. But it's also harder for me to put in to action since we don't have our circle of friends that we had in Houston. Chris and I do a pretty good job feeding off the others energy—whether our happiness is at an 4 or a 10. We balance each other out well. What also works, is that we talk a lot about our friends and what makes us happy here. We don't dwell on the negative (what's the point?). We are living on one of the most beautiful islands in the world, taking full advantage of the opportunities we have that we know people pay thousands of dollars just to come here to do. Happiness is a big part of our relationship keeping us strong and focused on what we want from each other— and out of life.

When was the last time you were truly happy? Are you happy right now? What are you doing to make your happiness at a 10? It doesn't take a lot. Make the most out of your day with a smile on your face.

"Happiness is contagious, don't you want to put yourself in a position to catch it?"

Flyin' Hawaiian Time!

Last weekend we had the awesome opportunity to zip line with Flyin Hawaiian Zipline.

One of Chris' coworkers was shooting the photos for their website— they're just about 1 year old. So he asked if we wanted to be the "visiting white couple." Let's see: we can zip line for free AND get photos.... ummm yes please!

We had previously zip lined the Haleakala tour and honestly were not that impressed. It was our very first time zip lining so we were kind of expecting a lot but were kind of disappointed. We weren't that high, the lines weren't that tall and it wasn't that exciting. I feel bad saying that, but just telling the truth.

So, we were excited to be going to this one— it couldn't be worse than before. We definitely were not disappointed. It is Hawaii's longest and highest zip line.

Located in the West Maui Mountains, your canopy adventure includes 8 ziplines ranging from a 200 ft. warm up to a 3,200 ft. monster! With over 2.03 miles of ziplining excitement and exceptional panoramic views of The Valley Isle (Maui).

Flyin Hawaiian Zipline is dedicated to the enjoyment and preservation of Maui. All participants on tour are leaving a legacy that will grow and thrive long after they leave.

Needless to say we had a blast. The crew was energetic, lively and entertaining while also staying professional with the safety part. What I loved about this, besides the thrilling ziplines, was that the whole group we went with was able to plant a plant ourselves. They are very eco-conscious and wanting to get this certain plant off the endangered species list. By doing that, they are dedicated to learning about them and planting one each time a group goes up there. Pretty amazing.

The views from each different line were spectacular. The West Maui mountains, the oceans and the tropical plantations—we even saw whales out there.

After our thrilling adventures, we went over to Beach Bums "Hawaii's best barbecue" First of all, most places here, boast they are "the best" at whatever they are serving. But with us coming from Texas, you have to serve up something pretty spectacular when it comes to barbecue. Beach Bum's is actually quite good. I had their pulled pork sandwich— moist, tasty and their spicy barbecue sauce was the perfect compliment to it. Chris had their Chili cheese burger— you can't really go wrong with that.

These are two places we highly recommend if you're planning a trip out here :)

Pictures of this weekend to come soon!