Mid-life Malaise...

I wonder this morning how many people are really, truly happy with their lives? How many of us are wondering if there isn’t more to life; if we aren’t missing out on something; if we should be doing things differently; if we aren’t wasting all our time on things we think we ought to be doing and not on things we want to be doing? Life is short, shouldn’t we be making the most of it instead of feeling unfulfilled? 

I’ve dealt with these questions many times during the course of my life. Being dissatisfied with our lives doesn’t mean we lose sight of all our blessings. We can know we are blessed and still feel like something is missing. It’s not that we are ungrateful for all we have and are greedy for more. It could just be as simple as not really appreciating what we do have or that we have stopped pursuing our own interests and growing as human beings. We could be stuck in a rut and don’t know how to get out. One problem is that once you decide to have children, many of us tend to put our own needs at the bottom of the list to tend to theirs. That can happen with spouses and other family members too. 

But this morning I wondered, does it have to be an either or situation or can we do both? Can we be there for our children and for ourselves? I got into this mode of thinking for two reasons, one I found a book called The Happiness Project and two because I don’t want to go back to cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming. The Happiness Project has been on the New York Times best sellers list for 53 weeks. The author took a year to write the book as she documented the ways she found to bring happiness into her daily life. It’s full of tips on how to get started and how to find ways of making yourself happy.

Now I can and will say to anyone who asks me if I am happy, yes, I am happy. I’m sure many of you are happy too. But, can we be happier if we make some adjustments in our lives? Isn’t it worth trying? This book has me thinking and hopeful. Maybe there are some worthwhile things she has discovered on her journey that can make my life better?

I found a link which provides an inside look at some of what the author has written. It’s been along time since I have felt really good, excited, and happy. If there is a way to improve my quality of life I am all for it! I’m going to read those parts today and see if she makes sense. Why not? I have nothing to lose, but the time I am wasting cleaning the bathroom.

Browse Inside the book here: The Happiness Project

Check out the website here: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/