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Happiness Project: the mental reset REFLECTION

October 18, 2020

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. As I mentioned last week, I took it upon myself to consciously do something every day that made me truly happy. It was honestly a lot harder for me than it seemed. I thought to myself, “I must do something at least once every day normally, right?” And I was wrong. I’ve fallen into a routine of doing things that I knew I should do, but didn’t put my full effort and heart into it. Cheesy, I know. But by doing these tasks with the full intent of doing it to make me happy gave me a different perspective when actually doing it.

At the beginning of the week I was stressed out by the pressure of finding something out of my ordinary patterns to make myself happy. I caught myself trying to do the most extravagant things, but realized that wasn’t the point of my personal project. I didn’t get a chance to journal like I told myself I would, but I do remember what I felt and thought during the week. My job called for me to work overtime this week (4, 10 hour work days…), so I didn’t get as much time outside of work as I would’ve liked to have. Nonetheless, I did my best to stick to my Happiness Project. On Wednesday I actually took a nap after work to treat myself because I was so tired. That counts, right? Anyway, here’s how my week went!

Monday

On Monday I thought about going to the beach after work, or driving to a scenic spot to read, or stop by the grocery store to bake something at night, but I realized that was too much to start off my week. I already know myself, and if I were to start off that big I would’ve wanted to top it every day after! So I decided to find a quiet place to take my lunch break outside, and finish the show Emily in Paris. It’s a new show on Netflix, and I was totally hooked on it. If you’re into “girly” shows, drama, fashion, and a bit of marketing (um, YES), this is totally the show for you.

My lunch, YETI, and Emily in Paris on my iPad

I usually eat lunch with a few of my coworkers, but I decided to shut my brain off for an hour to enjoy some time to myself. It was peaceful, and just what I needed to start off my week. It may seem small, but the hour that I took to recharge helped me to power through the rest of my day.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I had a dreaded 10 hour work day. When I got home I was in no mood to work out, and after dinner I just laid in my bed for a good 45 minutes scrolling through my social medias. Then I remembered my project! It was so easy for me to fall into my lazy routine and stay in my lulled mindset that I carried over from work. I got out of my bed and opened up my brand new dotted journal. I am a total journal hoarder. If I see any cute journal, I’ll probably find a reason to use it. I’ve always wanted to get into bullet journaling, but I know it takes a lot of time and hard work. I love the creativity and concept behind it, so I took the time to start my November spread!

I only got through the cover page and month overview, but it was so fun to make. I missed being creative and doodling, and this was the perfect ease back into it. I broke out my Prisma Color colored pencils, pens, and got to doodling. I thought that going into this I would’ve been critiquing my own work the whole time, but for once I wasn’t. I was mindful of how this made me feel, and so happy to be doing it.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I felt like my body went through a rollercoaster. I was exhausted from work (yet another 10 hour work day….) and knew I needed a nap afterwards. When I woke up, I had a short burst of energy and decided to do a quick cardio/ab workout. The workout and music really lifted my spirits and was just what I needed. Working out is usually part of my regular pattern, but some days I feel like I need it more than others. Even by doing a quick 25-30 minute workout, I feel energized and accomplished.

I treated myself afterwards to Haagen Daz Mint Chip ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. That combination is so nostalgic to me and a combination that I’ll ALWAYS get if it’s available. YUM! How can someone eat rainbow sprinkles and not be happy, right?!

Thursday

On Thursday, my boyfriend and I decided to eat out and support a local restaurant. We dined in at Chez Kenzo, a local bar/restaurant that has a little bit of everything. They have Japanese dishes, some Italian/Japanese pastas, tapas plates, and some awesome cocktails. We were just in time for the tail end of their happy hour, so we treated ourselves to $3 Kirin Drafts and $4 fruity cocktails. The cocktail that I got was a sake cocktail called “Sensy” that had dekuyper watermelon and apple pucker, peach liqueur, and cranberry juice. It reminded me of one of the push-pop flavors I used to eat in my childhood.

Alongside that, we got omurice, fried rock shrimp, and crab meat pasta. SO YUMMY! The omurice is one of our favorite dishes there. The scrambled egg on top is so delicately soft, the gravy is savory without being over salty, and the bits of bacon in the rice add just the right amount of crunch and fat to the dish as a whole. The rock shrimp dish was good, but I think I could pass on that next time. But the crab meat pasta is my new favorite pasta that they have! The spaghetti pasta was perfectly al dente, and there was a good amount of crab meat mixed into the flavorful tomato sauce. I’m definitely getting that next time. It was a great deal at $18 for a pasta to feed the both of us. To finish up the meal I finally got to try deep fried ice cream! The coating around the scoop of vanilla ice cream reminded me of a churro, and I was in heaven! The fresh fruit on the side was a nice cut from the sweetness too. Overall, everything was delicious, and I had a great time. Eating out and having a date night was definitely a happy moment of my week!

Friday

Finally Friday… Phew it was a long week! The last day of my 5-day happiness project. My Friday nights are a lot more mellow now than what they used to be like a few years ago, but I enjoy them just the same. On Friday after work (my last 10 hour work day… FINALLY), we went to the nearby Whole Foods and fought the crowd for the $6 cheese pizza deal. Yup, you heard that right! If you’re an Amazon Prime Member you can get a whole cheese pizza for $6! We also picked up some prosciutto di parma, genoa salami, and jamon from the charcuterie counter. Our friends told us about that, and it’s such a game changer. Instead of buying the pre-packaged meats, it’s so much better (and cheaper) to order it from the deli counter freshly sliced! At $20/lb., we ordered a 1/4 lb. of each meat, and it all came out to only $15! We also got crackers and some pieces of cheese from the “Under $5” cheese bin at the cheese counter. I love looking through that basket because it allows you to try other cheeses in a small portion, and at a reasonable price. I picked out an aged gouda, mahon spanish cheese, and a truffle infused cheese. All pieces of cheese were under $5 as well! Our favorite was the aged gouda, which was surprising to us. The texture was like parmigiano reggiano (some grit, salty, creamy), but was sharper and creamier.

We enjoyed our spread of Whole Food goodies with a bottle of our favorite 19 Crimes red wine, and a white wine. Overall, a great moment of happiness for my Friday.

If I’m being honest, this week was exhausting. It was nice to consciously make the effort to do something for myself every day. This made me realize that I don’t do these types of things enough. I think that moving forward, I will incorporate more of this mentality into my daily life rather than following my same routine every day. Telling myself that this was my ‘treat of the day’ brought me into the right mindset to fully enjoy what I was doing. I think that this little project of mine came at a good time because being told that I needed to work overtime was not a good feeling on my end. Without my efforts to pursue happiness, I think I would’ve had a really rough week. It gave me something to look forward to, and in the moment it was just what I needed. What I learned from this experience is to trust my intuition more and do what makes me happy. I’ve neglected some parts of that this year, and I hope to rebuild what I can to do more of what makes me happy. Until next time!!

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in Just a Thought # happiness, happiness project, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, lifestyle, lifestyle change, mental health

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