How to change Big attitudes with Tiny turns.
You know that feeling when you are half way to somewhere and you realise you have forgotton something that you need. Or you cannot carry everything you need down the back in one wheelbarrow and must make two or three trips. And you think – Dammit now I have to walk all the way back. Lately when I have these realisations I am pleased.
All this has come down to a little plastic gadget my daughter has me wearing that counts my footsteps. There are a number of such bracelets, I don’t want to advertise mine as I am not in the business of advertising, and that is not the aim of this discussion, you may even have one on your phone but counting my footsteps has turned my attitude on its head. Now instead of being frugal with movement, efficient with my feet, time and motion and all that stuff, I think YES – extra footsteps. Better for my body. Now, I move even more. Instead of being annoyed that I forgot something and must walk all the way back up to the house to get it I think. Excellent – more footsteps!
Interesting isn’t it. Here is another one. Another small change that has changed my attitude immensely. I came across a Happiness Study. It was on a Ted talk. I can’t remember who is doing it or even what it is called as the app just says Happiness. They are collecting data on happiness. It is an app on my phone. It asks you questions two or three times a day, runs for 30 days and takes only seconds. The app asks you to grade your happiness right at that moment. Then a few other questions – are you alone – are you at work – etc).
It is not the app as much, it is an interesting change happening in me because of the app. I am thinking about it more. And I am happier than I thought. I am happiest alone and working on the farm. I am happy when I am blogging. I am happy when I am cooking. What has changed is my take on the WORD happy. The label. I am more focused on remembering whether I am feeling happy so I can report it than all the things that make me feel unhappy. And this change in conscious thought is changing how I feel overall.
Now, I realise that I am gently happy most of the time. If I were to grade my self as happy ONLY when I get that great shot of sublime happiness then my scale would always be in the middle. So – I am thinking that happiness has a lot to do with actually ALLOWING ourselves to be happy. Using the word properly. Looking inside our own heads all alone, with no-one judging and saying to oneself – this is OK – this is my normal – and I am finding happiness here today.
Yup. I am quite happy sitting here at sunrise writing to you.
The smallest changes in your daily life can create big changes in your attitude to that life. I am happy to be walking further and further every day to get about the same amount of work done. Happy is such a cheerful word! Fit is a good word too!
Change is possible.
WILD!
No sunrise again – but there is light. So off I go into my world.
Have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
78 responses to “Waste not those feet”
I listened to the Ted talk but did not download the app. I think I will, thanks for reminding me. My phone counts my steps and I love it.
It ‘ s only for thirty days which is good – and we are just contributing to a rather odd piece of research. I think that after this one is finished I am going to see if i can find other apps where they are doing scientific research. Though i cannot think off hand what they might be.. c
Reblogged this on Art-Colored Glasses and commented:
I am still lurking about in my book-writing space, having now pressed Publish on my fifth Blurb book and working on a number of those yet in progress. But it’s happy work. On that note, I commend to you my dear friend Celi’s superbly crisp take on happiness from her own blog:
Thank you ! And good luck with your writing! c
I love it when you let us know how many steps now and then. I too have a gadget and you inspire me!
Every step counts when you wear the gadget!! Isn’t that fun.. c
You definitely strike me as being happy most of the time 😉
“The smallest changes in your daily life can create big changes in your attitude to that life.” That’s a thought I’m going to carry with me throughout this year. Thanks for the inspiration Cecilia!
I most always feel happy, even when I am sad or scared or angry. I am also happy. It is really weird. And it is definitely more pronounced that I am older. And when I read that statistically I am likely to be even more happy at 60 and even MORE happy at 70 and even MORE MORE MORE happy at 80…well, how cool is that?
This post made me happy! 🙂
I love the word joy! I seem to fill my days with joy…it the little things…sunshine, sun while the snow is falling…making footprint in the snow, and true I have those not so full of joy moments…like slogging through mud, mud in the house…but on the whole I think I view the life with joy. Although…long and dreary days make me a little unjoyful!
Linda
Mindfulness.: an idea that has taken hold, well worth thinking about, provides lots of material for discussion.
Mindful, a quality, some would say a virtue (“He is mindful of the neighborhood children when he drives down the street.”) .
Mind, an action: (1) positive, “Mind the gap.” (2) Negative, “Never mind, I’ll do it myself.” Or “Mind your own business.” (3) neutral, “Don’t mind me, I’ll stay out of your way.”
So language and custom have developed a scale for thinking, being, and doing. I don’t know whether the sequence goes up or down, or even if there is a natural progression from one though the next to the third. But I like to think that doing brings more satisfaction than thinking, or even being. Mind you, it is not all that easy. “Mind over matter” sounds good, but I suspect that this phrase does not describe how we live.
One more thing. I’ve heard the advice, “Pactise mindfulness.” I used to think it sounded contradictory. But evidently it works for some, especially those who are not hung up on words.
(I wanted to talk about Sheila’s bunk bed pile, and that giant cow head mulling over something — pigs don’t seem to mind manners or what anyone else thinks,, while cows are so serious, thoughtful, almost melancholy — but it would have taken thousands of words, and I have already used up my allotment, I fear.)
Happy has always been my favourite word. I understand the happiness you are referring to. It is, and has always been in my nature to find the good and happy in what I do, to see & appreciate the best of things. Moreso even these days, since we reshuffled our day to day lives from city to country… this is not just where I ended up, it’s the life I chose, and I regularly pause and absorb the moments. I often ask the G.O. ‘are you happy’ as he goes about his day, as he doesn’t naturally possess this perspective so it’s also important for me to share with him…
Practically, having shifted from a sedentary occupation to an active lifestyle I also appreciate every step where my day takes me although I can be a bit footsore in the evenings. But happily weary, and nothing a glass or two of wine can’t fix ♡
Ahh….stepping, strolling, running, amble, trudge, hike, tramp, traipse ~ all wonderful words for unaided walking. I am just recently on crutches as I broke my ankle a week ago or so and cannot tolerate any weight bearing. For 8 weeks! Working on the farm in the snow is impossible. Even working in the house on crutches is a challenge and I am a grouch! Thank GOODNESS my sweet children are about and have taken over almost all the household and farm duties. My husband works off the farm but when he is home he frets over me, too. I guess it’s the perfect time to be injured, if there ever is a perfect time. The gardens are asleep under 3 feet of snow, our milk cow is not due to calve until May and piglets are due mid- March. So~ I really don’t have much to complain about.
Happy reading this post, now I’m going to walk to the fridge and eat something 🙂
Am reading a book at the moment called ‘The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country’. Interesting that some of the things you might expect to make you happy, are not necessarily the things that do. I’m only 1/3 of the way through the book and very much like it thus far, but if it is worthy I will put it on the Library Page.
I’m getting one of those doohickeys for my birthday… I’m getting more and more active and able to walk and even run a bit now. Lost 6 kilos since November, and now it’s time to get serious about moving – and steps are so easy, they’re just steps, not that horrible thing called organised exercise! I’m Happy to be moving well, Happy to be less lardy, Happy to be making things, Happy with my life. I don’t have any idea of Happiness as something I feel entitled to, nor as something that I consciously feel every day, it’s more a state of enjoyment of what IS. By the way, we went to see the movie Lion last night, and it’s WONDERFUL. Both of us in tears at one point, but such an amazing story (all true), and the scenery in both India and Tasmania was glorious.
Not that it matters I suppose, but am just reading all the daily papers and ‘Lion’ has just received six Academy nominations: good year to remind the world of our very capable film industry . . .
Indeed! And it is a quite beautiful movie to watch, let alone the moving and extraordinary story.
*big smile* reading this has probably given me the ‘push’ to finally get a fitbit I have been looking at for more than a year! Sitting down working for 10-14 hours seven days a week certainly does not lead to the desirable 20,000 steps a day or even half of that!! Friends in the same situation have successfully added 100 steps every day every week and are preening . . . ! Personally I love the word ‘contentment’ which to me has a solid meaning and a solid sensation – exactly what does ‘happiness’ mean . . . that said heartfelt laughter overcomes me multiple times most days: that surely must mean that happiness is bubbling inside . . .