Runners take your mark!

I'm getting down to the last couple days before my year of happiness-finding begins! So today I have my 12 areas to work on and my 10 rules.

Resolution Calendar
August: Perseverance
September: Marriage
October: Faith
November: Home
December: Learning
January: Attitude
February: Health
March: Service
April: Friendship
May: Hobbies
June: Mental Health
July: Happiness


The 10 Lost Commandments
1. Ask for Help.
2. Do it Now.
3. Smile at Everyone.
4. Its never too late to learn.
5. Anger and frustration are never the answer.
6. Identify the problem, spend the time to find the solution.
7. Remember Eternity.
8. One task, one step, one day at a time.
9. Lighten Up. 
10. Act the Way I want to Feel.

Marriage, friendship, attitude, and happiness of my resolutions list and numbers 2, 6, 9, and 10 of my "commandments" come from Gretchen. Many of my other resolution categories are also inspired by her book and the things she works on.
At the beginning of each month I'll post the resolutions that I will be working on that month. Which means that in just 2 days I'll be posting August's and starting to work towards making each day a little bit happier!
So now that I have my plan its time to make a resolutions chart. Gretchen set up a website happinessprojecttoolbox.com to help people like me who are trying to do this on their own. I already have my e-resolution chart set up for the month of August on her website, but I haven't decided if I will also have a concrete version as a visible reminder.

IN OTHER NEWS
I filled Sean in a little bit more yesterday on my plan for the next year. His first review of my resolution chart list was a "*pause*.. well this is great but I don't think it's really possible." (To keep up with it all that is.) Perhaps I should have started my perseverance resolutions a few days early? By the end of our conversation though he decided that he wanted to do one as well. I believe he wrote down his plan for 2 months so we'll see if he does anything past that. In any case I became even more aware of how difficult it's going to be to support myself through this. A year is a long time! It's so easy to give up, and  I'm worried about the hurdles I'll come across and whether or not I'll even want to try to jump them (let alone if I'll actually make it over.)
One day at a time, right?

Its also hard not to want to start everything at once. As I tried to prioritize my list and which resolution category would go with each month I realized that everything was important. Which is why my list may be rearranged according to what I find needs more help as I go.
I think I have the idea right now that I'm going to forget about my usual habits and daily activities and only focus on this project for the next year. Which I also know is unreasonable and that I will probably get discouraged when this isn't the case. The trick to keeping many resolutions, I think, will be incorporating them into my daily life so that throughout the year they become my normal habits.

Goal for Today:: CLEAN UP THE APARTMENT! I have no hope of starting this project with a messy home and finishing up my painting projects is taking forever. So today they'll be getting finished and I'll be getting rid of/selling the random things in our place that I never use.


"Some people will tell you to let a smile be your umbrella. But some days only the real thing will do. But the realest, plainest things can be filled with your favorite kind of wonder."
-Jim Howard "ON THE BRIGHT SIDE"