{sweet spot}

Yesterday, my friend Katherine told me that whenever she is deciding whether or not to commit to something, she asks herself this question: Is this something I want to do? Or something I feel like I should do?

 

This question aligns with so many of the things I'm trying to accomplish: to be less busy, to stop shoulding, to make time for the things that bring us joy. But there is also something bigger it taps in to. Lately I've been performing a bit of a self audit. I've been making a list of what I love, what makes me happy and what moves me in the direction I hope to go. And then I'm taking the list of everything I do and seeing how they fit together. Does this event move me torward this goal? Does this project, charity, committee, activity move me where I want to go?

 

This is on the heels of a recent formula I heard about finding how to live a fulfilling, happy life. The formula is: 

Doing what you love + what you think the world needs = happiness.

 

 

 

 My brother, Duke, is the perfect example. He loves healthy living and believes in the power our physical health has on our mental health. He also sees a void in the world: people are undereducated, undermotivated and overweight. He took his love, found the gap in the world, and merged them. This weekend he will finish his Masters, and this fall will start his PhD in Sports Psychology. Every day, he's meeting with clients to help them understand how they can live a healthier life. He's performing research and writing dissertations. He's working with entire families to break the cycle of obesity. And I've never seen him this happy. He's living in his sweet spot.

 

 

Everyone should get to live this way!

 

Everyone should be able to do what they love to help make the world a happier, more productive place. Maybe it's your job. Maybe it's your extracurriculars. Maybe you're lucky enough to have both of your happy worlds in one!

 

For me, the formula is helping me keep my activities in check. It's reminding me that just because I can do something, doesn't mean I should. Some things move us forward and others bog us down. And when we can figure out which are which, that's when we're really living in our sweet spots. That's when we're really flying.

 

 

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Chucktown Weekend

 

Our girl Katie is getting married next month, so last weekend we headed to Charleston for her bachelorette party. I'd never been before (love!) and was so happy to have a full weekend to celebrate her soon-to-expire-singleness.

 

Her sister did an amazing job planning a weekend full of activities, but my favorites had to be morning yoga outside, Saturday night out in Charleston, and of course, plenty of typical bachelorette games that need not be photographed.

 

 

 

Katie, thank you for letting us come together to celebrate you! We cannot wait to do it again at your wedding next month!

 

 

{our happy beach house!}

taking back lunchtime.

I'm a big believer in the idea that we have to create our own happiness and that if you dislike something you should change it. 

And I really, really dislike making my lunch every day. I dislike it to a degree of ridiculousness that is so extreme that I can counter it only with a ridiculous solution.

I used to make my lunch for the next day right when I walked in the door after work. First thing: purse down, wash yesterday's containers, load up tomorrow's.

But then I got to thinking.

You see, I feel the same way about picking out my outfits for work, so instead of doing it during the week, I pick them all out on Friday afternoon when I get home. It sounds crazy, right? And here's the thing: it is crazy. I will not deny it. But I love it when Monday morning rolls around and my outfits are lined up at the end of my closet, ready to go.

So if it works for my outfits, it could work for my lunches, too, right?

And so, we got to this: 

Organized chaos at its finest. First, I gather the troops: food, Rubbermaid containers, knives, lunch bags. Everything I'll need.

And then, I get to cutting and filling and lunch making. Every time I'm done with something, back in the fridge it goes. It's like a real life check list, unfolding before my eyes. 

Then I throw it in the fridge and bam. The weekend is only just beginning, and all of my least favorite weekly tasks are checked off. What could be better than that!?

And, that, my friends is how I took back lunchtime happiness. 

{PS: If this behavior surprises you, read this post. It'll all begin to make sense. #owningit}

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celebrate we will

Last week I went to J.Crew to look at a belt we got my mom for her birthday. And when I say look at, I really do mean I went there to admire it, because I couldn't justify buying it for myself. It was out of my budget.

When I got there, though, the belt had been marked down from $65 to $29. It still felt like a lot for a belt, but considering I loved it so much that I went there just to look at it, I thought it was worth it in gas alone.

[I'm a dangerously excellent justifier, if you ever need help in this arena.]

But then when it rang up, it was only $12. I was so happy.

I looked at the cashier and said, "Is today a holiday!?"
And she said, "No, but we're trying to make it one!"

I loved this. And I decided that sometimes, it's just a normal Wednesday. But sometimes, we make our own holidays, and pretend that even just a normal Wednesday is special. Sometimes I think I get in a rut of waiting for life to start: when I have more money, when I live near my family, when I meet my husband, when I am a grown up.

But today is today. And we're only guaranteed this moment. So, yes, we can - and should- be excited for what the next phase will bring. But we can't wait for it. Because it's the first day in May, and it's almost Friday and it's spring. Today is ours. It's a new-belt-wearing, ice-cream-deserving, go-for-a-long-run, kind of day. And to me, that's a celebration at its finest.

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