The first official podcast is here!! I am so excited to have my mom on for the first episode. We talk about finding comfort with the quiet times and finding a community. With the opening question "Where or how do you usually get your piece of happiness," my mom shares how she finds happiness especially during this crazy pandemic. You can check it out through Spotify or through the podcast website. Share below in the comments if this is something that you can relate to.
If you missed the first intro podcast, click the "Podcast" button at the top to check it out!
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In a recent book group, we read a small book that showed me a big truth. The way we act doesn’t have to be dependent on what happens around us, but is something that we can change within us. In a year like this, this book is perfect. We can’t change how anything is on the outside of us, but there is a way we could change how we react on the inside. The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West should probably be your next read. If you’re one of those people who say you don’t have time to read – you’re in luck because this one is short and fast and has a super great message. The book starts with “Are you an egg, a carrot, or a coffee bean?” When these three things are in a pot of boiling water the carrot is softened and weakened, the egg is hardened, and the coffee bean, on the other hand, transforms its environment. Which of these are you when your environment gets difficult? If we remember to be like the coffee bean, we can overcome these hard environments and not let them affect us as much because of our power that comes from the inside. My favorite part of the book was when he shared about failure. “Failure is not a definition. It’s just an event. Just because you fail doesn’t mean you are a failure. It’s just a situation to overcome and transform.” It’s so easy to let one thing define you and have it break us but if we remember the story with the coffee bean, we can let it not affect us as much. We can grow from it and become stronger. Although, it is important to remember we can’t be a coffee bean all of the time because we are humans, but if we strive for it, maybe our outlook on life will be just a little bit better. Being a coffee bean affects not only you but everyone around you. I, of course, had to try the ‘experiment’ and reflected on the book as I did it. The carrot softened, the egg hardened, but the coffee bean changed the water. Now that the holidays are around the corner and we’re home with the same family we’ve been with for the last however many months, you can share what you learned about the coffee bean! If you have kids, do the experiment and share how this works. If you don’t live with kids, facetime them and have them experiment at their home. If there’s no kids at all, be like me and just do it – it will give you something to do and will give you something to reflect on. Have you been a coffee bean? How can you be a coffee bean? Most importantly, I strongly suggest reading the book even if you don’t try the fun experiment. You can get this book for literally less than $10 used from Amazon… so why not read something that will impact your life? Share below in the comments what you learned and what stood out to you the most! How are you going to be a coffee bean?
Sometimes service is the thing that brings some major happiness in your life. I don’t know about you, but doing service is one of the things that brings me the most joy. This past month I had the opportunity to do two service projects and I think they might be something you could try too! With the pandemic, it has been super hard to find service projects. Luckily there are ways to do service that isn’t in-person and sometimes the way you could help someone the most is through something that is virtual.
The first service project I did this month was actually somewhere I could go and serve. I was SO excited about this because I’ve actually wanted to participate with them since my freshman year and could never attend. It also felt super safe and I was free (or at least I made sure I was free!) to go. I got to go to a Highway Clean Up! I know I brought the anticipation up for a service project where I walked along the side of a road and picked up trash, but it was actually so much fun. I got to walk with my friend, Kesha, and we had a wonderful conversation (with our masks on!) while doing this service project. We also found some interesting things. My favorite was a cool bottle. We got bright orange vests, gloves, and trash bags. It was so good to be able to get out and do a service project. This is something you could do too! Even just around your neighborhood or on a trail or along a road that isn’t too dangerous. All you need is a trash bag, some gloves, and maybe a friend. You might be surprised how much you find out there and it is a great way to help the environment. The second service project I did was remote. My college does a big service project every semester and this semester, rather than going out to help people at their homes, we all went remote. There were so many different options, but I chose to record myself reading a story that they sent to a childcare center in the community. I was so happy to be able to do this little thing for the community and it only took 10 minutes of my day. I read Curious George that I got from the library the day before. It was fun and I’m happy that I was able to do something to help. You could do something like this too! Reach out to a local day care center and ask if they need anything. If you are musically talented, you could reach out to a retirement home and do a live performance though Zoom for those who are there or even just record something that they can watch on their own time. With Zoom and recording technology, there’s so much we can do to help others and it doesn’t even cost any money. All it takes is a simple phone call or email to a retirement home or a childcare center and I’m sure they would have something you could do. If this is something you decide to do and take part in, please let me know! I would love to hear your experience and maybe even post about it. With the pandemic, it is super easy to think, I can’t go anywhere so I can’t help the community but that is far from true, especially with some companies and schools being online – what do you think the nonprofits are doing too?? So, your service challenge this month – grabs some gloves and a trash bag and pick up some trash or call a local retirement home or childcare center and see if you can read a story or share a song. Maybe you can even put one of your hobbies to use (like poem writing) and impact others through your own work! Together we can bring some pieces of happiness to the community and give some smiles to those who might need them the most. This past week has been a little crazy with everything that has been going on. I decided at the start of this week to really focus on the little things in life that can bring us a smile. I’ve noticed things such as the warmth of the sun and the laughter with friends. I also reached out on social media to see what other people noticed that gave them a piece of happiness. This is what I got:
Can you relate to any of these?? I definitely can. I feel like often times it is easy to overlook these little things in life that just simply bring a smile either to you or to someone else. It’s so important to remember to look for them though because they can be the reason your day is good or bad. Sometimes it can be so hard to see them and instead of saying “oh those trees are beautiful” we say “oh why did someone leave trash on the ground.” But just by looking up (metaphorically and physically) your mindset would could be completely different. We have to wire our brains to look for these things because, unfortunately, it is all too easy to forget and get stuck in all the bad that we are experiencing. Often times we see one bad thing and then for the rest of the day notice literally all the bad things that are happening. Why can’t we do that for all the good things too? It really is the little things though. It can be seeing your favorite bird fly by, seeing someone hold the door open for someone else, the person who handed you your coffee at Starbucks smiling... the list goes on. Little things go a really really long way. By seeing these things and noticing them, you might be surprised at how your overall day turns out. Give it a try and let me know! Start off by sharing a little thing you’ve noticed lately in the comments and give yourself a challenge to focus on the little things at least this week. Before you read this and think you know what I’m going to talk about – it’s more than that!
The other day while driving in the car, I was thinking about my past two weeks. My past two weeks were rough – I was sad, and I probably went too far under the water (read the blog on mental health if you’re not sure what I mean!) but thankfully I came back up after this weekend. During the time where I felt so low and couldn’t control my feelings I thought why? Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I control it? As a Christian, I am constantly looking at why God puts certain struggles and joys in my life, so I started thinking why this one? But then this idea came to me that it was such a privilege to be able to experience this. Now you’re probably like what on earth, that is not a privilege - that is hard to go through. And yes, it was so hard and felt like it lasted for so long but because I experienced it, I can understand even more when someone says to me “I just couldn’t get out of bed” or “I’m sorry I didn’t text you, I just didn’t have the motivation.” Before this deep experience (and I’ve had it before but never this strong) I could say “I understand” and be there to support someone but also wondered is it really true that you couldn’t? Now I know and this experience allows me to put myself even more in others’ shoes and see just a little of how they are feeling so I can be there for them. But then this got me thinking of all the little privileges I have in my life. Privileges such as the ability to run, the ability to understand others, the opportunity to have an amazing grandma, the opportunity to get more education beyond high school and the list goes on. I’ve noticed that privilege can relate to gratitude. We can be thankful for the things we have a privilege to do. The concept of privilege can go deeper though. I’m sure you’ve heard about that privilege. Privilege that comes with your race or your gender or who you love. I personally can think of a few I have when it comes to race for me. I have the privilege to not be afraid I could lose my life when I get pulled over. I have the privilege to walk around a store without anyone thinking I may steal something. One of the biggest ones I notice that others may not is that I have the privilege to turn off the news when it’s too much because it isn’t something that I have to experience every day. Privilege is something that is good to acknowledge because when you see it, you can help make a difference. When you don’t acknowledge privilege, you are saying to the other person that what you feel isn’t true. Let that sink in. “What you’re feeling must not be true because I personally don’t see it in my environment” is the message you’re telling someone who is hurting deeply when you don’t acknowledge privilege. You can be grateful though for what you do have and practice gratitude. We can make others happy by acknowledging our privilege and acknowledging others as human beings to help them. By seeing this, we can strive to make a difference so there is equality in our world. I wanted to share this because of something I noticed recently on Facebook. It said, “Are you sick of all the negative news and racism that is dominating the headlines? Let’s change the conversation to something good.” What a privilege to be able to say that. Imagine being someone who is affected by racism and you see it finally being called out by the news and then you see other people publicly show they are ready to turn a blind eye and “change the conversation to something good.” Do you see how hurtful that can be? Maybe we should not just turn a blind eye. Maybe we need to continue to learn because people are living this right now and have been for a very long time. They can’t stop suffering without our help. Now, I know the intent of this Facebook post is not bad. It is to call out we need a break. We all need breaks. However, sometimes pausing to think about what we are posting is good too. Why bring this up in the Pieces of Happiness blog? Well, this is a beautiful way for you to spread happiness by acknowledging and reaching out to those who are experiencing this battle. A simple text that asks how they’re doing or that you might be praying for them will go a very long way. It is actually one of the easiest ways we can spread happiness right now. By seeing that our friends and those we love are struggling and then being there for them and fighting for them (it can be in small ways) can help bring not only peace to the world, but peace to that friend you care about. Also, interesting fact – it is a privilege for you if you are able to read my blog right now and learn about this hurt through words rather than actions. So, who can you reach out to this week and share that you love them, that you see that they matter, and ask if there is anything you can do to help them with how they may be feeling in today’s world. |
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August 2022
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