Day 11

Still tired.  Still here.The long, busy workdays I’ve been complaining about were all leading up to tonight’s very important board meeting.  I’m looking forward to things calming down a little so I can come to this happiness work with more consciousness.  But I gotta say, this week, this day, was an incredible lesson.  If I can do all of the happiness tasks on this day, I can do it on any day.  Which means, of course, there are no excuses.

Meditation

I knew it was going to be a long day today, so I meditated this morning again.  I don’t love it in the morning.  My brain doesn’t really wake up until about 11, so I think it interprets meditation at 7 am with an attempt to count confusion rather than breaths.  I was very nervous about having to present at this meeting tonight, so I used a guided meditation this morning that a friend suggested.  It was nice, and helped reset my initial morning approach of downright panic to something that resembled some version of calm.  This one today was 30 minutes.  Meditation, I see you, and I ain’t playin’ around.

Random Act of Kindness

I did 2 today!  Busiest day of all time, and I did 2.  Stuff that up your random hole, kindness!I was standing in line for coffee this morning, and I saw these two homeless guys just outside the coffee shop shivering in the cold of a San Francisco morning.  So I bought them a cup of coffee and brought it over to them.  Feeling a little bolder with this task, I talked to them for a little bit, and they were two of the nicest guys I think I’ve ever met.  I was terrified to approach them, as usual, but a simple 2-minute talk about the weather turned something I was afraid of into an experience of the world being a lot kinder than what I walk around assuming.Then I was riding a kindness-high, so I when I got to work and saw that a co-worker couldn’t move her head from a stiff neck, nor could she find any ibuprofen, I marched with happy purpose down to the drugstore and got her some.Then I got sucked into work and it was all about me, but I had a good two-hour span in there where I actually felt a little good.  And today I have another bit of proof that kindness to others can have a very happy impact on a very unhappy mood.

Exercise

I was worried about this one.  I knew it was going to be a long day, and I didn’t have it in me to get up early enough to get this done.  But a very wise co-worker, who I am about to show some major gratitude for, suggested that I take half-an-hour and walk around outside.  I took her sage advice, and it knocked this one out and helped take some of the edge off the day.

3 things I’m grateful for:

1)   My co-worker Becca.  Becca, if you’re reading this, know that if I am at all successful at my job, it is because of you.  I’m grateful every day for your sass and support.  Also, happy birthday.2)   This really amazing salad at a restaurant near work.  Salad, you get me.  You also get me out of bed most mornings.  I love you, salad.3)   My boss’s ability to remind me that the work I do, as hard and frustrating as it can be sometimes, contributes to something larger than me.

Reflect on something good that happened

This meeting that I’ve worried about for weeks, that has caused many late nights and focus away from the happiness tasks, ended up being something that reminded me that my job, the thing I do every day, is providing a constant opportunity to offer kindness.   And in context of this happiness work, today I felt lucky.  And also tired.  So I will see you tomorrow.