HAPPINESS Experiment 3

My hypothesis:
That my life has been engaged in the wrong struggle - to subdue and manage my intransigent and unreliable self - when in fact this self, who I have demeaned and punished because I'm ashamed of it, is in fact the best, most creative and expansive part of me that knows how to have fun and be happy. It deserves none of this oppression and will instinctively come out to play when I consistently nurture and tend it, and the result of this will be that I will start to know my purpose and be happy and be a better wife and mother and a healthier happier person.

This is based on hope rather than experience, and I really need something to change in my life. The first few weeks of my experiment have been amazingly productive, and have resulted in a 180 degree change in how I am thinking about myself and my relation to the world. 

I have hope that I can now capitalise on this change to make a real difference to my life.

Queen Anne's lace flower bud holding the promise of complex beauty in the mature flower when it unfolds

Particularly useful strategies so far have been:
- being gentle with myself (MOST IMPORTANT)
- working through the INFX course repeatedly
-hourly alarm on my phone to remind me to check in with myself about what I need
- setting boundaries on other peoples' behaviour and being more open and direct with important people about what I want from them minute to minute.
- exploring MBTI more
- starting to say what's going on for me either out loud or on the closed PH facebook group
- writing in my daily journal about my intentions and where my perspective is now


The 10 keys:

1. LEARN SOMETHING NEW

2. TAKE A BREAK AND NOTICE

3. CONNECT WITH PEOPLE

4. DO SOMETHING FOR ANOTHER PERSON

5. DO SOMETHING FUN

6. LOOK AFTER YOUR BODY

7. TAKE THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS YOUR BIG GOAL

8. USE YOUR STRENGTHS

9. ACCEPT WHO YOU ARE NOW

10. BE PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER

My new realisation is that I must leave important decisions and deliberations about my future for the time being while I learn basic self care and allow my body and mind to recover from the exhausted state they are in now. 



Experimental Method 3:
Do each of these keys in a small way each day. Looking after myself is my priority now.
Blog my thoughts and ideas and discoveries about each of the 10 keys.
Doing more of these will certainly mean I have to make the world adapt around me more than I am used to, create boundaries, and my work reassuring myself is going to be even more important, so...
Work with what comes up, directed by INFX course.

Outcome:
Oxford Happiness Questionnaire - baseline at this point: 3.14 (slightly lower than average)