happiness is a warm gun...

3 Things That Went Right Yesterday

♥ Mia called me from the airport: ) She will be a wonderful missionary!
♥ I laughed a lot with Momi and Seth and Clark and SOL
♥ Baby Sol
♥ Ate yummy Stake and rice with the people I love.
♥ I was able to meet up with Laurie Kruger my young women’s president!
♥ I cleaned houses and spotted 2 kinds of geckos Ive never seen before. (Uniquely colored geckos like cheetahs FYI) and made some money

3 Things That Went Right Today

♥ I took some beautiful photos this morning
♥ Brother Skaf seemed happy when I told him I would volunteer Saturday
♥ L & L said yes for me to have a bake sale Saturday
♥ I didn't get fired from my job
♥ Just checked my planner and my English paper is actually due next Friday not tomorrow. what a relief!
♥ My roommate Haley just called me. I love when my house is like a family,
♥ The boy sitting next to me is humming Amazing Grace. I love him and I love that song.


Life is wonderful. Today I was reading about simple things that studies have proven that make people happy. I know that "studies" may not always be accurate. But here are a few that I have put in to practice that I agree are great!

1. Write down at least three things every day that went right.

2. Use our strengths. I didn't know this but we are actually hard wired to "fix" our weaknesses. Which is good to an extent but studies show that we are happier and more productive when we are working on our strengths.

3. Write letters of gratitude. There are lots of people that are so awesome but maybe never properly thanked.


I’m going to add 3 simple things that make me happy everyday to this list

1. Take time out for you and write in a Journal.

I love to write in my journal and feel out of whack when I don't. Even if you feel you have nothing to say, you do. Sometimes I like to do a free write just to get out whatever it is lurking around in the back burner of my mind for days. I’ve found that I can spend hours organizing, making to do lists, even making money but it seems there is no replacement for not knowing ourselves.

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." -Laozi,

I read this in one of my favorite books "Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff". Not that we should be a hermit, but I do think its important to steal yourself away every so often, as its in those moments we are able to recognize the sound of our inner voice. Sometimes there's so much going on we cant even hear what were thinking. When my TO DO lists are especially long I just have to pause and think, "Am I living my life or is my life living me?"

One of my favorite books in the world, my Grandma Gladys gave me, "A Woman of Independent means" by Elizabeth Forsyth Hailey.
The main character Bess says, "Spend time alone. It is the constant ebb and flow from social to solitude that balances a man"

A side note: This is an awesome book! It’s written in the form of letters, from this revolutionary lady Bess who lives in the 20s but her ideas are so ahead of her time. She is independent despite what society might say and says, "just do, instead of waiting for something to happen, since the future is unknown".

She is always so positive and wise. When I read the book I was in high school and the woman Bess treats death like the enemy so she is always trying to live her life to the fullest. She loves life so much she hates sleeping. I felt connected with her from the start because shes always writing late into the night. When I was reading this I became a little of an insomniac too. The best books are those that change you.

2. Take time everyday to think of people you love.

There is this book called Messages in the Water. And it’s about this Japanese scientist who studies water molecules. It’s really awesome. He believes that water has a spirit and can sense good and evil. So he also believes we can send our love out into the world, through the ocean. (This is a wonderful phenomenon! As so many I love are far away!) Just thinking about the people I love makes me happy. And just like setting aside time for ourselves everyday, is important its important to think of all the people you love and why you love them. I don’t know why it makes me happy to do, it just does!

3. Learn something new everyday.

When I first started going to school here in Hawaii it would sometimes be difficult for met to just focus on my homework without getting too bored. So I had this idea to start a notebook full of stuff I was interested in. I labeled it "secular knowledge" and would research whatever I wanted. This was kind of my way of rewarding myself after staying in the library for so long. After hours of sitting my bottom would be uncomfortable so roaming the isles of the library looking up things I was curious about was very rewarding!



One more point of interest:

There are two kinds of thirsty I think. Just like there are two kinds of hungry. The first kind of hungry usually starts at the pit of your stomach on Fast Sundays, works its way up to your throat and makes sometimes embarrassing gurgling noises during moments of reverence. You try to blend in but your stomach is so empty it refuses to go unnoticed. And then there's the second kind where you are so busy you are totally clueless to the fact that your hungry, until you get hold of one morsel of sustenance and turn from into a rabid dog.

Anyway on being thirsty: The first happens after you've just gone on a run or had a rigorous workout, luckily this is a rarity for me. The second kind of thirsty is when your mouth is so horribly dry your tonsils feel sort of dried up, usually caused from a mouth gaping open in the night. This is the root of all evil for me. Every night I make preparations to avoid being a fish out of water-I go to bed every night with a glass of water. Often times the gesture goes untouched, but its comforting to know the elixir of life sits just a hand reach away on the nightstand.

Last night there was a series of unfortunate events. I woke up quenched for thirst and flailing my hand around in the dark I reached out to grab the safety cup. But alas- it was gone. Puzzled I thought how unusual, I must have forgotten it tonight. So then went to the kitchen to pour myself another. After taking care of business I climbed back into bed and my cup assumed its position on my nightstand. About to slip off to a peaceful rest of the night I felt something. My sheets were soaked! My first thought was "did I wet the bed?!" Shifting around some more I felt something hard- my cup!! I came to the conclusion I was sleep drinking! The original cup was under the covers and I was completely soiled, for some reason I didn't notice when I first woke up I was so distracted by dry mouth. It was unusual; I guess the moral is- Retire to thy bed early. I have been going to bed so late lately and I must be suffering the consequences of deleriousness.


However, there is a saying that I really like that is perhaps suiting, it goes something like,

"Why take just one sip from the glass of life, when we can drink generously from a cup overflowing?"