I woke up on this rainy Sunday morning and browsed through my Instagram feed. I was still half asleep when I saw that the account @happihabits had posted a question: “If you could write a note to your younger self, what would you say in just 2 words?”
I laid there and thought about it. And I would say: Have faith.
Have faith that life will support you and things will work themselves out. Have faith that if you respect and honor yourself, you will attract the right kind of people into your life. Have faith that many of the best experiences of your life are still to come. Enjoy what you are doing now, and remain optimistic about what’s next, even if you can’t imagine what that might be.
Two years ago, loving life in Costa Rica
Have faith that you will be supported at every turn; that you will build a life you love and are proud of; and that any changes that occur in your life will only better you. Have faith that you will make the right choices, and that you will know what to do when it’s time to take action. Life will surprise and delight you the most when you just let it happen.
I recently read Alan Watts’ The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for the Age of Anxiety. Watts writes about the difference between belief and faith. He essentially says that “belief” means you need things to be a certain way, and that “faith” means you are opening yourself up to the truth, whatever it may be. In his words:
“Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the truth is what one [would] wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on the condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes. Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith lets go.”
This is what I would tell myself two years ago, and what I am telling myself now. Let go. Let it all happen. Have a little faith.
Hanging out in my cozy room, getting my butt to my favorite exercise class, and eating leftover Thai food – pretty happy about this Tuesday!
Today’s Happiness Project progress:
Enter through beauty: put up my vision board and a world map!
Physical health: went to Zumba (which always makes me feel great)
Date myself: today I didn’t really work toward this goal. However, when I was tempted to be critical of myself for “not being productive enough,” I thought of what I’d tell someone else: it all comes in waves. Some days, you’ll get a lot done – and others, you won’t. It’s all part of the process. This reminder was enough to make me feel like I kept my best interests in mind today.
This pretty message brought to you by my mom’s chalkboard! I’m packing up my things after an amazing visit home, and driving back to my apartment in Boston. I’m already looking forward to my next trip back home–I had the best time.
Today is a pretty low-key day, and here’s how I’m incoporating my three Happiness Project goals into it:
Enter through beauty: I’m bringing a few new things back to the apartment to freshen up the kitchen! Plastic bag holders, oven mitts and some cleaning products. Every little bit counts and adds up to make a home beautiful!
Take care of my physical health: I made a healthy breakfast and am having tons of water as I clean and pack up the car.
Date myself: One of the things I’ve always done for people I’ve dated is to try and make their lives easier by taking on a task they didn’t particularly like–especially when it comes to cleaning. For instance, a guy I was dating was about to move, but hated packing. I brought over food and beer, turned on his favorite Pandora station, and helped him pack everything up. We made a fun, laughter-filled night out of it, and something he hated became much easier when the work was shared. I do these types of things for friends and family whenever I can, and whenever it seems like they would appreciate it. So today, I decided to do that for myself! I’m in the process of thoroughly cleaning my car, stocking it up with extra mini garbage bags, tissues, hand wipes, CDs, gum–anything I might need on the road. Dating myself means doing exactly the types of things I would do for someone else.
Here’s to another week of happiness!
This photo is from one of my favorite moments of this holiday break–dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa’s.
Ever made a vision board with dreams, goals, and inspiration for your life? I think vision boards are one of the best ways to build a life you love.
Some of my favorite things on the board I made for this year are:
Quotes that remind me that life can be abundant and that every dream I have can come true: “What you seek is seeking you”; “Imagine immensities”; “Feel the magic”; “Think big.”
A compass that says “integrity.” This not only represents the fact that I want to be led by my moral compass, but that I want to seek other people who live with integrity. Integrity is the main thing I’ll look for now in a romantic partner–speaking of which, I made sure to add images that portray a loving, deeply trusting relationship.
A list of the places I hope to travel this year!
I think we can all fall into the trap of feeling that we want our lives to be different, but we aren’t quite sure how. When you create a vision board, you have to dig deep and think about how you want your life to be.
What experiences do you want to have? What places to you want to see? How do you want your life to look and feel? As you answer the questions, you collect things that represent those answers, and then put your creative energy into building that vision for yourself. And when you’re done, you have a tangible piece of art that serves as a daily reminder of what you want.
What’s great about this is that you can’t get stuck on the track of thinking about what you don’t want. We do this so often–we focus our energy on what we don’t want (this is explained well in The Secret). A vision board forces you to do the opposite. No one would create a board filled with things they didn’t like! The whole point is to pick the things that make you happy, and then collect them and display them. Its gets you in the mindset of thinking about what you want and gives you a feeling of happiness that comes from having positive thoughts about your life. What could be better?
If you make a vision board for 2016, here are a few tips to make sure it brings you lots of joy:
Spend time collecting material. As you go about your day, look for images and quotes that you feel drawn to and that make you feel good. Cut things out of old magazines. Print a few images off of Pinterest. Collect lots of things that make you smile.
Make a day (or night) out of it. Set aside time to put your vision board together. Make sure the area you use is clean and organized. Put on your favorite music. Light candles. Pour yourself a drink and make some nachos. Give yourself time to enjoy it; don’t rush the process.
Arrange and rearrange. Lay your materials out on your board and rearrange them until you love how it looks. If you’re feeling uninspired, come back to it later. Stick it out until you love the way your board looks–you’ll be glad you did.
Believe in what you are creating. Believe that you deserve to have a life that looks exactly like what’s on your vision board. Allow yourself to dream big and to have a generous, expansive outlook on your life. Believing in your dreams is, of course, a much bigger project than you can tackle in one day 🙂 But start with this. Start with a project that allows you to fall in love with your life and with its potential. Let yourself want what you really want—and believe you can have it.
So I picked up some flowers, because I’m dating myself and because I need to decorate my own soul, first and foremost. 
Here’s to a week of remembering to build a life that’s based on the present moment. To letting go of a future that may have fallen down mid-flight in favor of the new one that awaits, whatever it may be. Here’s to self love and to having faith. Here’s to flowers and poems and reminders of what’s really important. 
Unpacking Happiness 