21 day practice to lighten up the world

The 21 Day Practice to being Happy.  
with the goal to Lighten up the World...
 or at least make it a wee bit nicer

26 years ago, when Dallas and I got married, we were given two bits of wisdom for a happy marriage.  One was from Dallas's mom, she told us to be nice to each other.  The second lesson was from a class I took, that we are all responsible for our own happiness.  These tips may not seem earth shaking but wait...

When we are happy we are creative, full of love and compassion.  How we live touches those around us like drops of water rippling out on a still pond.  How we live extends well beyond ourselves.  Feeling fulfilled, connected and joyful spills out into our families, our companies and our world.  Being joyful and loving is not selfish but a means bring lightness to our world.  We can not give what we do not have.  What we focus our attention on grows.

Lately we have felt the pain and desperation of too many life ending tragedies.  Pain begets pain.  Innocent people die and more waves of pain spread. 

Sometimes it may seem like we are powerless for this kind of pain and violence in the world.  This isn’t so.

I think of each one of us are like drops of water in a pond.  We ripple out.  We connect.  We influence each other.  Now is not the time to sit back and wait for someone else to come fix our world’s pain. Now is the time to personally take action.  It all begins with each and every one of us.  We are all responsible for the ripples we send out every day.  "We are responsible for our own happiness."  We are responsible for our own actions.

It is time to practice what we most desire.  Love begets love.  Peace begets peace.  Joy begets joy.  If we want more love then we should give more love.  If we want more kindness in the world, maybe we can start the motion by being kinder to those closest to us.  Kinder to ourselves.

Our circles if influence are directly connected to us.  The more light we bring, the brighter our ripples, the stronger they flow.

21 day Practice of being Happy

For 21 days, every night, just before you go to sleep, write down at least three highly specific ways you showed and felt Love/Joy today.  What did you absolutely love about the day?  How did you show and give love? How did you receive love?  What touched your heart today?  What made you smile and shine?   What made your eyes sparkle?  What made your breath expand and your mind relax?  Did you have a moment of spontaneous joy or see beauty? Write it down.

 A new habit can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 -when done with intent and consistency.  Do this challenge with a clear intent and consistency.  Start with a solid 21 day practice.  Lets change the world one drop of water, one day, one person, one act of Love/Joy at a time. 

Resources and credit...

This 21 day practice- was created off a little article in the June issue of Natural Awakenings.  In an article on simple daily practices for a happier life by Judith Fertiq talks about Shawn Achor- and his book the happiness advantage. She quotes Shawn: "When the human brain is positive, our intelligence rises and we stop diverting resources to think about anxiety."  "Creativity triples and productive energy rises by 31 percent".   Shawn Achor suggests this 21 day happiness activity of writing down three highly specific, positive things about their workday.

The habit information about how long it takes to create a habit comes from Tom Corley's book: Change your habits, change your life. - great book!!

This work isn't my creation, I'm merely the messenger...
Happy travels into a lighter and brighter world...
                                    Denise