Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Happiness Project

I am one of those people who sees something and thinks "what a good idea" and goes out and buys it without really thinking about it which leads me to the Happiness Project.

I got an email from Kikki.K, a stationery store, that stocks really lovely things just made for me.  Anyway this email was talking about the Happiness Project which comes from the title of a book and Kikki.K offers all sorts of yummy things such as:

  • Weekly Goals Pad
  • Quote Cards
  • Happiness Journal
  • Food and Exercise Journal
  • Happiness Project book
  • Happiness in a box
Following is a link to the website so that you can see what I am talking about if you are interested.


The Happiness Project

As I read the email I could feel the cravings begin.  I downloaded the offered first chapter of the book itself and thought this sounds like a great thing to do.

And then commonsense kicked in.  Whoa, I don't need any of these things to be happy.  I would be making someone else happy buying them but they wont change a single thing for me.  I dont need special, and oh so pretty, pads/cards/journals to help me be happy.

Nevertheless, I actually went to the shops yesterday with the thought in my mind that I would at least buy the Food and Exercise Journal.

Had a few errands to run first and all the while running through my mind was the thought "why do you need a special book to record what you eat".  I am really crap at tracking and lose interest after a few days so from past experience it would just end up another book that I have bought and don't use.  It always becomes too hard.

The good news to this long and rambling post is that I didnt even go into the store.  I bought two blouses instead.  Cost a lot more money but I needed them and they made me happy. And they weren't black (I am trying to stop buying black clothes). LOL.

So I've realised something - I don't need to waste my money on pretty journals etc to work out how to be happy.  If I need to record things, a cheap exercise book will work just as well and there are so many inspirational quotes on the internet for free I really dont need to buy specific cards which I would probably forget to look at.

Anyway, the rest of the week in a nutshell:
The Fitbit Zip, as mentioned in last weeks post,  is a wonderful little gadget.  I have managed over 10,000 steps on a few days and have just passed the 50km mark.  But it has made me realise that after entering in all the relevant details, even on the days I manage 10,000 steps I am not burning enough calories.  What I am achieving is better than nothing but it is not enough.

I went back to the gym on Monday for the first time in over 5 months.  After the girls had picked themselves up off the floor I went and did 20 mins extra walking on the treadmill and some lateral pulldowns.  Wasnt sure I should be doing weights but just felt I needed to start somewhere as the "fatback" is really irking me.  Anyway, physio on Thursday said I can go back to doing weights but to start slowly so that is what I am going to do next week.

Went and saw Les Miserables this week. Hmm what can I say.  I dont quite believe Hugh Jackman was nominated for an Oscar for this role.  Lovely man that he is I'm sure, he just didnt cut it as Jean Valjean for me and what can I say about Russell Crowe.  I heard someone yesterday describe him in this role as having perfected single every song in one note and this was true.

The movie went for nearly 3 hours and I felt slightly bored for the first 90 mins and Jess was definitely restless next to me.  The pace picked up when the young people arrived with their revolution.  Sacha Baron Cohen and Helen Bonham Carter were excellent in their roles as Thenardier and his wife.
Daniel Huttlestone who plays the street urchin, Gavroche, was excellent too.  Slightly strange were to cockney accents some of the cast used since this was set in Paris.

Anyway, glad I saw it, cried at the end but wouldnt go out of my way to watch it again.

Quickly, for some reason lost 500g this week.  Probably just water.
Have a great weekend and week ahead.  Only 2 weeks holidays left now.  Just flying by.



8 comments:

  1. Hello, and happy new year, may it bring you all your heart desires.

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    1. Happy New Year to you too Margaret.

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  2. You are so right about not needing things to make us happy :) Just loved your post about it.
    Where did u get that nifty gadget.......I think I'll look at getting one when i come over. Might make me more accountable with walking/steps. I have had numerous pedometers but all, apart from one, have been useless. The one that was ok, I can't find. Probably in a safe place........and that could mean anywhere LOL
    Hope you are enjoying the weekend.......not long to go now and I'll be over LOL :)

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    1. Hi Jenny, I bought it online from www.fitshop.com.au. I am sure that you can buy it from places like Rebel Sports etc or maybe even Dick Smith. It comes with a little dongle (dont you just love that term) which you plug into a spare USB port on your computer which co-ordinates everything.
      This is the best pedometer that I have ever owned and like you I have a drawer full. LOL.

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  3. It's true - no matter how many journals / note pads / pretty paper you have, they won't make you happy. I too can be a bit of a stationery whore but have also realised that it isn't any good having all the tools if I don't use them ! So much so, this morning before I left for work I dusted off my Exercise Journal and promised myself to fill it in tonight for this coming week.
    Thanks for the review on the fitbit - on the weekend I was tossing up between buying a HRM or a Fitbit - haven't made a decision but good to know that you are so happy with yours.
    Have a great day and take care !
    Me

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    1. Hi Linda, dont know whether I am too happy with the Fitbit. It is telling me things I dont really want to know.

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  4. Happy New Year to you too Julie! I'm also a sucker for pretty stationary, cards, notebooks etc. Have to slap my hand away from picking them up and buying when I have stacks at home, neglected! Hope you achieve happiness without them. It comes from within anyway "they" say!

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    1. Oh Molly I have drawers full of the stuff. Cant resist a new pretty notebook with fresh clean pages. Unfortunately that feeling passes all too quickly and into the "special" drawer it goes.

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