Monday Motivation:
2017: My Relentless Pursuit Of Happy

 

Hey everyone.. welcome to the last Monday of the YEAR! Wow… 2016 is nearly over and I, for one, will be glad to see it go.

 

Me at the end of 2016
 

2016 was a pivotal year for me, but aren’t they all? 

A lot of things happened. Some good, some bad. Some really bad. But I’m still standing and even thought I’m tired as hell, I’m excited for the new year. 

I learned. A lot. 

Of course I learned how to do things, about pain and tolerance. About live and love but the biggest lesson, was something of an “A ha” moment for me. 

Related: Monday Motivation: Change… The Only Constant In Life

I think I had been moving in this direction for a while and not all of it self-imposed. Let me see f I can explain without giving away the entire store (because this is another book in the making..).

When you lose the things that you thought were important, something crazy happens; you realize that, in some cases, they were not all that important. In many cases in fact.

I used to be one of those people who feared the worst, mostly because it was unknown. I have friends who would say, “Don’t even put that out in the universe.” But in my head, at least thinking of it as a possibility meant I could prepare for it. 

I remember right before I lost my big broadcasting job, I had an ominous feeling. 

I’m going to get fired.”

My husband said, “Don’t be silly… they’re not going to fire you.”

And of course, that is exactly what they did. 

Related: Monday Motivation: Pieces of Peace

At the time, I thought being fired was the worst thing that could happen to someone. 

It was not. 

A preventive double mastectomy, followed by a bout with depression and then the ebb and flow of entrepreneural finances.. all carried with them loss. 

Now looking back on that time I see how much I gained. 

It’s like when you have all the stuff, the inconsequential SCTHUFF stripped away, you realize what it takes to make you happy. 

Recently I watched a trailer for a movie called, Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things and it hit me. Hard. 

 

 

Minimalism… that’s where I want to go. Maybe not to the extreme but yeah. 

What do I need to make me happy?

Do I need fancy clothes or jewelry? Nope.

The latest technology or to fly first class on vacation? No.

What do I truly want?

When I think about it is, it’s really not that much. 

I want warm weather. 

I want a career in which I help people.

I want to make a difference 

I want to be happy.

And I want to be loved. 

You see that list there? That’s stuff that cannot be bought and they are all things I am 100% in control of. 

For 2017, I’m going to be paring down and unloading a lot of SCHTUFF, things that adorn my now, too-big house and the shit that just takes up unnecessary space in my life. 

Things that don’t add value or help me grow? They will go too and that includes some people too.

 

Me in 2017 

2017 will be devoted to the relentless search for happy for me.. and it will be done without buying, borrowing of stealing. 

It can be done.

It will be done. 

Watch me. 

What about you? How are you feeling at the end of the year? What will you do next year to search for happy?