Journey to Enjoying Life

When I last wrote, I listed six tips to enjoying life. They included:

1. Appreciate Beauty
2. Connect With Nature
3. Laugh
4. Have Simple Pleasures
5. Connect With People
6. Learn

It's been a few days since I assigned myself the task of applying some of these tips to my life, and I must say it's been a fun experience. By no means am I perfect at any of it, yet, but I am trying to keep myself open to the items on the list.

I think the easiest on the list for me has been task #1 - Appreciating Beauty. All I have to do is think, "What would make a beautiful picture?" and I seem to be able to find many beautiful things. This week, the autumn colors in the leaves really drew me in. Since Monday, I wanted to go out and take pictures, but until today, I had not been able to get out and explore. Today, I spent about 30 minutes out and about with my camera, and this afternoon, I had fun playing around with the pictures that I took. In doing this, I also worked on task #6 - Learning, because I used Google Picassa for the very first time. My pictures turned out great!

I also am working on task #5 - Connecting With People. For me, this is one of the hardest. I like people, but I am a home body. I don't like to go out a lot. I didn't used to be that way, but with my health the way it has been in recent years, I have become more and more that way. But, on Saturday night, I went to a high school band review. I also had my mom and my grandma over for lunch, today. Additionally, I volunteered to babysit my friend's two young children (2 1/2 and infant) for a few hours next week, so she could have lunch with her mom. Tonight, I will be going to a volleyball game at the school, where I used to work. This may not sound like a challenge to many people, but for me, this is progress.

Task #4 - Having Simple Pleasures - has been interesting. I've been trying to save money, so instead of getting coffee at my local donut shop each day, I've been making it at home. The nice thing is that I've been able to share it with my husband. We don't necessarily have coffee together, but it's nice to be able to bring him a cup and let him feel loved.

I've also ventured into doing more cooking. I know how to cook, but when I work outside of the home, I'm usually too tired to cook. This week, I've used new recipes to make a great macaroni and cheese with a turkey breast, baked pork chops, and French Dip sandwiches. I have a new chicken breast and pork loin recipe to try later this week. I learned (Task #6) the real way to chop an onion, though I almost cut off my finger! I have found that I'm actually good at cooking. I still have to use a recipe, but at least I haven't burned or ruined anything!

I would say that Task #3 - Laughter - has still been my biggest challenge. As I relax in life and begin to unwind, de-stress, and find myself, I think I will find my laugh. I laughed a lot during my trip to France this summer, but I hadn't laughed for years before that, nor have I laughed much since I got home. I'm working on this one... I just gotta find it!

Where are you on your journey? I'd love to hear and support you on your trek!

Until next time... keep making lemonade!