Week 5

*For explanation of  The Happiness Experiment" go HERE .*

Last week's secrets:

Turn off the TV.

Accept yourself-unconditionally.

Secret #9

Remember where you came from.

"Think about and celebrate your ethnicity. Often we feel lost in a vast and complex world. There is tremendous comfort in knowing your ethnic heritage. It gives you a history, a sense of place,  uniqueness that remains no matter what else is going on around you."

Family history. Where did I come from? Who are my ancestors? This is something I've been wanting to work on for a while now. I especially want to work on Evan's. His grandpa gave him a big packet full of names and information on the Zinser side of his family. I love reading the names and hearing the stories of the family that came before us. I am really excited for this goal. I am going to try and fill out pedigree charts for both Evan and me. Or maybe I'll start with Iris and Donevan so that they have it to look back on and know where they came from. Both of their names are family names; Iris was named after my Grannie, Iris Neilson Dahl, and Donevan came from combining Don (Evan's dad) with Evan, and Craig (his middle name) is a family name on both sides. So I love family names. I also love finding out where all these family members came from. England, Denmark, Germany. So interesting.

"In studies of students, greater ethnic identity is associated with 10 percent greater life satisfaction."

Secret #10

Limit yourself to thinking about one subject as you lie down to sleep.

"Those who have a lot of anxiety let their thoughts shoot around from one subject to another as they try to go to sleep until, in a matter of minutes, they have created a virtual catalogue of problems. With all these problems, you'll ask yourself, how can I possibly sleep?

Tonight as you are brushing your teeth, come up with something you'd like to think about when you slip under the covers. If other thoughts start to intrude, guide yourself back to that one subject."

I don't usually have too much of a problem going to sleep. Chasing after two kids does that. But I admit there are many nights where my thoughts really keep me up. I go through my list of things to do and I think about how many of them didn't get done that day. But if I focus on one subject, maybe all the cute things my kids did that day, then it will help me get to sleep. And who doesn't want more sleep and better sleep? Getting more sleep alone makes me a happier person. I'm really looking forward to trying this secret.

"In studies of college students, shifting between pre-sleep thoughts was found to be related to difficulty in sleeping and lower sleep quality, which, in turn, were related to unhappiness. Better sleepers are 6 percent more satisfied with their lives than average sleepers, and 25 percent more satisfied than poor sleepers."

Review:

Remember where you came from.

Limit yourself to thinking about one subject as you lie down to sleep.

I am curious to know how many of you are actually following these posts. If you take the time to read these each week, please leave me a comment and tell me what you think. And thank you for taking that time.