Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. ~Denis Waitley

Thank you for participating in our March Red Lotus Happiness Project. What an amazing month we have had focusing on our daily happiness! We’ve made our Happiness manifestos, cleared the clutter, set physical goals, and channeled our inner Bruce Lee. I don’t want it to end!

Our Great Wall of Happiness!

While trying to help you get happy, I got happier, too! What an awesome “side effect.” Happiness is meant to be shared and a project that should last a lifetime. So, I’m creating the Red Lotus Daily Happiness Challenge. Everyday, I’ll post a small challenge– could be emotional or physical–on our Facebook, Twitter, and Blog. “Like” the post if you complete the challenge. Let’s make our happiness project viral!

Today’s challenge is: Smile at a stranger!

I smiled at the cashier lady in Longs.

xoxo

Me and two of my besties, Amy & Jess, who always make me smile.

“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.”–Lao Tze

This week, I was going to focus on creating long term happiness goals. Then, I realized that happiness is not about planning, it is about living in the moment.

So, it’s time for some spring cleaning. Get rid of emotional and physical clutter so you can enjoy the moment. What are you holding onto that prevents you from being in the now? Old resentments? Fears? Sad memories? What about the clutter in your house? Boxes filled with junk, old clothes that don’t fit…Let’s get rid of it! Purge, baby! Stop the emotional and physical hoarding.

First step this week is to clean out your closet. Get rid of those jeans that you’ve been saving for “just in case.”

Then, meditate on what you can throw out of your emotional “closet.” Take a breath, acknowledge it, then let it go.

Simplify, let go of the unessential. When you clear the clutter, you’ll have a space to appreciate the moment and be happy.

“Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
that Bang-ups and Hang-ups
can happen to you.”  –Dr. Seuss

Life can be full of challenges.  For the next few minutes, I give you permission to vent, moan, whine, and complain about the things in your life that DON’T make you happy.

Yes, that totally sucks.

Now, take a breath.  Acknowledge the negative, accept it, and let it go.  A year from now you probably won’t remember what you were venting about today.  Unfortunately, bad things do happen that we cannot control.  However, life is short. We can control how we react and use the experience to enrich our view of the world.  Learn to re-frame and re-focus your perspective.  

This week we are going to focus on the things that DO make us happy. Our homework this week is to create our “Happiness Is…” List.  What are 5 things that always make you smile? Big or small.

Here’s my list:

Happiness Is..

1.  Picking up Cade from school and having his favorite snack, ramen, and talking about our day.

2.  Feeling fit and healthy–practicing my martial arts everyday

3.  Enjoying time with my family and friends

4.  Creating art–directing, performing, writing

5.  Helping a student succeed.  Love seeing a student smile because they “got it!”

Now take action.  This week, DO all 5 things on your list.  Focus on taking responsibility for your daily happiness.  We’ve only got this one life.

If not you, then who?  And if not now, then when?

(Sometimes, Happiness Is…a bowl of ramen!)

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”–John Lennon

This March, our little dojo turns five years old, and we are celebrating our rebirth as Red Lotus Hawaii. The journey has been filled with challenges, but whenever I think about the studio and all it’s students, I am filled with amazement, pride, gratitude, and quiet joy.

In honor of our anniversary and to define our new Red Lotus life, I have decided to start the Red Lotus Happiness Project, inspired by Gretchen Rubin and her fabulous book.

This month, we are going to focus on creating our happiness and increasing it tenfold. Yay us!

First, we all need to create our personal manifesto –our Happiness tenets. Here’s mine:
1. Be passionate– work hard, play hard, do what you love, be with the people you love
2. Take time to enjoy the moment and laugh
3. Hug Cade and enjoy him as much as possible, childhood is fleeting
4. Embrace mistakes and imperfections as opportunities for growth
5. Give and receive in equal measures
6. Say “no” or create a boundary sometimes, so that there’s space for the important stuff
7. Be mindful, present, and truthful in the moment
8. Practice listening and being still in order to hear more clearly
9. Try something new everyday
10. Eat well, rest well, and eat chocolate once in a while

What are your 10 commandments of Happiness? Take a moment to define your personal happiness manifesto. And please share them in the comments below or on our Happiness wall at the dojo. Your manifesto may inspire others!