Intentional Happiness 

Our 30-Day Journey to Our Happy Selves

     Welcome to our 30 day journey into intentional happiness. This blog post and the series of posts that come after it really come from something that I say all the time in my email messages. I encourage people to make a great day. It’s my suggestion that you can actually change the day that you’re having and you don’t have to give in to it not being a great day. The idea is that you can control what’s happening around you. You control it by thinking differently   You control it by saying things differently. You can control it by just arranging your personal responses to different stimuli. And so, with that in mind I want to walk us through a series of activities thoughts acts and thinking around happiness. I want us to make an intentional decision that we’re going to be happy. And I want to help you do that. So over the next 30 days I’m going to offer you some opportunities to participate in exercises that have improving to bring what people call happiness. I’m going to encourage you to do some things that I think might bring our inspire or stoke the fire of happiness in you. But more important than that I’m going to encourage you to think about what makes you happy and how you get to that place. 

     So, the most important part and the first part is that this is something you want to do. Therefore, before we start talking about the activities, before I move us forward and to a new phase of thinking, before we do anything, I want you to make a contract with yourself that you are going to be happy. Well really, I want you to make a contract that you are going to go through a certain part of the process. And this is not for me. I don’t need to be affirmed by saying so many people walk through this process. This is actually you taking the initial step to say “I’m going to make myself happy”. Now these contracts do not all have to be the same. And there is literally no contract for you to sign.  What I would like for you to do is to decide right now how much time and energy you are willing to give to this process. You can give seven days to the process. You can give two weeks to the process. You can choose to give the entire 30 days to the process. Whatever it is you decide to do, I want you to hold yourself accountable. And I want to hold you accountable. So in the comments to the blog, I would like for you just to state what your intention is. If you plan to stay for seven days, then state that. If you plan on staying for two weeks, then state that. And if you plan to participate in every exercise, and being here for the full 30 days, then make that statement. My commitment to you is that I am going to be here for 30 days. My commitment to you is that I am going to make a blog post for thirty consecutive days. And so, before you move forward into tomorrow’s post, that is your assignment. Read this and decide how many days you are going to commit to this process. I will tell you that the process is going to include goal setting. It is going to include things like self-acceptance and self-efficacy and self-fulfilling prophecy. It is going to involve you learning how to affirm others. It's going to have some exercises in it. There is going to be some giving to yourself, each other, and to other people. There are worksheets that you will need to complete. And there will even be some writing and some thinking time that you will have to do on your own. I just want you to have some type of an idea of what you are getting yourself into. I am hoping that we can create, at the same time, a dialogue about the process as a whole. As part of my intentionality, I am making this blog post from a space that I use often as a mental and spiritual retreat. These bunkers were, at one time used to store ammunition and explosives.  They are now located in what Lincoln calls its Airpark area. From this space I can sit and watch the sunset. From the space I can see over the city. From this space I can breathe. And so, one of the things I'm going to be asking you to do is to discover places and things where you can breathe.  And I am going to help you with that process. 

     Well, I am going to enjoy the rest of this sunset. I want you to think about what your commitment is going to be. And I am looking forward to those of you who choose to join the journey starting tomorrow. This is an asynchronous experiment. If you stumble across this post and it’s 30 days past the initial posting date. I encourage you to go ahead and walk through each post, walk through each activity, walk through each exercise on a day-by-day basis as if you were right here with us.

    Alright, I love you each. I pray that Shalom is yours. And I pray that at the end of this experience you will have an abundance of shalom for yourself and to share with others.  Be well.