52 Weeks of Happy: Week 4

Today’s 52 weeks of happy idea is really easy and incredibly cathartic. Are you ready?

Grab a blank piece of paper and write down all of your disappointments.

Try to think of every single thing you feel bad about. Don’t worry about being embarrassed or ashamed, this is just for you. Ponder everything weighing you down with regret and put it to paper.

Let’s do it together. Here are some of mine…

I’m disappointed that:

* Our house needs so much work and we can’t afford to fix it all the way we want
* I didn’t get to speak with a few people I loved before they passed
* I can’t always get the things I want done
* I have so many project ideas and not enough time
* I don’t always feel like I’m the best wife – (i.e, no time to make dinner, clean or take care of the house)
* Sometimes I don’t finish what I start
* I wish I would have started this blog when I first thought of it 4 years earlier, making it 8 years along today instead of 4
* I have several unfinished books I’ve written just waiting for me to edit and get them published
* There are certain tasks with running this blog I cannot stand, so I don’t give them the time they deserve. This disappoints me because I know I could do better.
* I often want more than I need
* Sometimes I get jealous and feel defeated when looking at or hearing about the amazing things my industry peers are doing

Alrighty then, those are some of mine. Do you have yours?

Good. Now take the paper and ceremoniously tear it up!

That’s right…rip the paper into tiny pieces and toss it into the garbage, letting all those disappointments fall into the trash right along with it.

Do you feel a weight lifted? Feels good, doesn’t it?

Part of living a happier life is freeing yourself of any disappointments you may have. Sometimes we expect too much of ourselves. Expectations in moderate doses are good. And passion as well as a tenacious desire to succeed are also valuable. But we often need take a step back and be proud of – and happy with – what we have done and what we have rather than regretting what we haven’t or don’t.

Once we do this we can truly be happier with how things are while still reaching for our dreams.

Living with disappointment is like having cement poured around your ankles then being dropped into the ocean. Keep your disappointments and you’ll surely drown. Let them go and you’re free to swim to the surface where the sunshine is waiting.

I’m heading to the surface, who’s with me?

Thanks for stopping by!

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