The Happiness Project: This Wednesday: Nine extremely simple and easy tips to take stress out of your day.

My Twelve Commandments

1. Be Gretchen.
2. Let it go.
3. Act as I would feel.
4. Do it now.
5. Be polite and be fair.
6. Enjoy the process.
7. Spend out.
8. Identify the problem.
9. Lighten up.
10. Do what ought to be done.
11. No calculation.
12. There is only love.

Secrets of Adulthood.

By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished.
People don’t notice your mistakes and flaws as much as you think.
It's nice to have plenty of money.
Most decisions don't require extensive research.
Try not to let yourself get too hungry.
Even if you think they are fake holidays, it's nice to celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day.
If you can't find something, clean up.
The days are long, but the years are short.
Someplace, keep an empty shelf.
Turning the computer on and off a few times often fixes a glitch.
It's okay to ask for help.
You can choose what you do; you can't choose what you LIKE to do.
Happiness doesn't always make you feel happy.
What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE.
You don't have to be good at everything.
Soap and water removes most stains.
It's important to be nice to EVERYONE.
You know as much as most people.
Over-the-counter medicines are very effective.
Eat better, eat less, exercise more.
What's fun for other people may not be fun for you--and vice versa.
People actually prefer that you buy wedding gifts off their registry.
Houseplants and photo albums are a lot of trouble.
If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough.
No deposit, no return.

Month-by-month goals for the Happiness Project.

December: The way of perfection.
November: Take the extra step.
October: Try hypnosis.
September: Write a novel.
August: Contemplate the heavens.
July: Buy a white t-shirt; throw away a white t-shirt.
June: Eat a peach.
May: Laugh out loud.
April: Remember birthdays.
March: Start a blog.
February: Sing in the morning.
January: Clear my closets.

Happiness theories I reject.

Vauvenargues: “There are men who are happy without knowing it.”
Eric Hoffer: “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.”
Sartre: "Hell is other people."
Willa Cather: “One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them…”
Alexander Smith: “We are never happy; we can only remember that we were so once.”
John Stuart Mill: “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.”
G.K. Chesterton: “Happiness is a mystery, like religion, and should never be rationalised.”
Solon: “Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky.”

StatCounter2

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Nine extremely simple and easy tips to take a lot of stress out of your day.

When I was little, I was always puzzled by the maxim, "A stitch in time saves nine." I couldn't figure out what that meant. Finally, light dawned: a single stitch, made in good time, saves the trouble of making nine stitches later. In other words, a little effort now saves a lot of effort later.

That notion underlies several of the tips below. The other notion: when you have a reasonable amount of energy, life feels a lot less stressful.

1. Keep some cash in the house.
2. Never let your car’s gas level fall into the “empty” zone.
3. Have Advil (or whatever) at hand at all times.
4. Put your keys away in the same place every day.
5. Turn out the light as soon as you’re sleepy.
6. Walk around the block.
7. Take ten minutes before bed to tidy up.
8. If you have to pack a lunch for anyone, get it ready the night before.
9. Have at least one good friend who lives in the neighborhood.

Samuel Johnson pointed out that "To live in perpetual want of little things is a state, not indeed of torture, but of constant vexation." By making the effort to stay on top of the little things, you can keep the vexation to a minimum.

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What started me thinking.

"Whoever is happy will make others happy, too." Mark Twain.
“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.” Robert Louis Stevenson
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.” Simone Weil
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” Colette
“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” G. K. Chesterton
“A man’s first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart.” Joseph Addison
“For the love of God and my Sisters (so charitable toward me) I take care to appear happy and especially to be so.” St. Therese
“Best is good. Better is best.” Lisa Grunwald
“All severity that does not tend to increase good, or prevent evil, is idle.” Samuel Johnson
“I must do the work that I am best suited for…” Edward Weston daybook
“Order is Heaven’s first law.” Alexander Pope
“How slight and insignificant is the thing which casts down or restores a mind greedy for praise.” Horace

Comments

Awesome post, Gretchen! My favorite part:

"...a single stitch, made in good time, saves the trouble of making nine stitches later. In other words, a little effort now saves a lot of effort later."

Posted by: Bryan Villarin | August 01, 2007 at 03:26 PM

Hi, I just found your blog through beliefnet and I'm "happy" I did. I'm trying to find more happiness myself and I've recently started a blog: Acquiring Abundance where I'm sort of tracking my progress. Would you like to exchange links? Thank you for your helpful tips.

Posted by: Kelly | August 01, 2007 at 04:10 PM

Simple but working tips for stress less life. thanks Gretchen.

Posted by: Rocky | August 01, 2007 at 11:31 PM

Great list! I would add -- know what's for dinner by for the next evening before bed or before you leave the house in the morning. My freezer is our famiy hero!

Blessings,
Cathy

Posted by: Heart of my home | August 02, 2007 at 08:21 AM

Another possible list addition is: If possible have an idea of what to wear the next day before going to bed.

I give the list 2 thumbs up, Gretchen! Keep the brain food coming!

Posted by: David | August 02, 2007 at 09:28 AM

I can add one, which should be obvious from the maxim that inspired this post: take a moment to mend clothes before the problem gets too big. I'm forever saying, "I'll fix that hem later," and then the whole thing falls apart.

Posted by: Michelle Potter | August 02, 2007 at 10:17 AM

David -- I swear, that tip saves me a half an hour in the morning. If I skip laying out my clothes the night before, I am in trou-ble.

Posted by: phquaryn | August 02, 2007 at 11:56 AM

It's true that the simple things make the bigger picture easier. Having said that, it seems that keeping things simple is a larger task than one can initially imagine... until it gets simpler.

Posted by: Leila | August 02, 2007 at 12:05 PM

Hey Gretchen,

Great Post! Thanks for reminding us how keeping on top of things can help reduce stress! I love it.

I did a blog intro of your blog and featured your article (with a link) over at our blog. Check it out too :)

Cheers
James

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