Happiness Project

I am inspired this morning by Gretchen Rubin's post 30 Tips I Use to Make Myself Happier, Right now.

My 30 Tips:

1. View the photos of my niece, Ashley and Beverley
2. Do 10 minutes mindfulness exercise
3. Go for a swim
4. Go for a walk by the Marina Bay
5. Open my financial planning and check my balances
6. Write my diary
7. Go to bed and sleep 10 hours, things always feel better in the morning
8. Go for a cardio - treadmill run, outdoor, body balance, or gentle yoga
9. Smell something good 
10. Eat delicious food with wonderful wine
11. Read some of my poetry collection that Edrina sent me
12. Go hiking
13. Make myself a hot caffeine-free tea
14. Allow myself time to do something totally useless like playing clicker game
15. Make plan for the future: plan a trip, plan a brunch with friend, checkout an investment
16. Reminisce about my happy moments, my area of refuge. When Handy got married. When mom and dad accompany me to Sydney for my surgery. When we took a family holiday to Maldives. When we saw the majestic Manta-ray. When I attended bizapp party in bright blue dress at Bellagio.

Her list is the following:

1. Do ten jumping jacks.
2. Go outside and look at the sky.
3. Pet my dog Barnaby. Then…
4. Text a photo of Barnaby to my family.
5. Re-read a few chapters of a children’s or YA book in a series I love: Graceling, Harry Potter, Narnia, Melendy Quartet, etc.
6. Enjoy a beautiful smell.
7. Do a small good deed for someone else.
8. Clear some clutter (I can always find some).
9. Look for a beautiful color in my surroundings.
10. Call my sister Elizabeth.
11. Take a minute to be grateful for some basic aspect of my life: elevators, space heaters, Wikipedia.
12. Send a family update (to learn more about “update,” listen to episode 2 of the Happier podcast).
13. Clean off my desk.
14. Copy some quotations into my giant trove of quotations.
15. Look at my TimeHop app.
16. Make sure I’m not cold, hot, thirsty, hungry, need to go to the bathroom, or experiencing mild discomfort: in other words, treat myself like a toddler.
17. Re-copy my to-do list, so it’s fresh and clean.
18. Go to the library.
19. Watch an episode of The Office (American version).
20. Make the positive argument.
21. Randomly read a few pages of Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary.
22. Make myself a cup of coffee.
23. Make a plan for some future fun: plan an outing, make a date with a friend, add a book to my library list.
24. Re-read Winston Churchill’s eulogy for Neville Chamberlain.
25. Tackle some small, nagging task that’s been weighing on my mind.
26. Move with more energy, put a smile on my face. When I act happier, I’ll feel happier.
27. Plan to go to bed early. I always feel better in the morning.
28. Hug a member of my family (whoever’s available).
29. Allow myself to do some quick research on a subject that has been fascinating me, but is unrelated to my work.
30. Listen to Nina Simone sing “Feeling Good.”