A woman in her 30’s guide to happiness (part 1)
I am not the type of woman who reads self-motivating books. I’ve tried to finish Dale Carnegie’s Secrets to Success and landed at – wild guess over here ? – page 10. Never made it to page 11.
However, I’m a very competitive person and I compete on a frequent basis with myself. Sometimes, that might mean second guessing my decisions, at other times preaching them as an evangelist of truth.
I’ve yearned for success in my ’20’s and argued that it basically was a consequence of social and professional stature. Now, in my early ’30’s, I’d argue that it’s a collection of decisions you apply on all levels.
In retrospect, I will sum up a couple and leave the conversation open. Something which I never would have done up until I turned 29 or so ?.
1. Master the art of listening. It will sometimes get you further than where you would have gone having done just the speaking.
2. Practice patience on a daily basis. With the weather, the flow of e-mails unread, your parents or the crowd in front of you at the subway. Louis Armstrong was SO right – although we don’t actually possess/control it, we DO have all the time in the world ?.
3. Take a break. Two breaks. More breaks. I used to cherish time occupied 200% in my ’20’s. Now I cherish downtime. It does make me uncomfortable at times, but breaks are actually time filled with yourself.
4. Don’t lose contact with the people in your life – from day 1. It’s the people – all those people you know – who offer you all sorts of practice grounds for points 1-3. That doesn’t mean that you need to phone contacts 1-1.xxxx in your Contacts’ list on a daily/weekly basis. Be open to talking, listening, taking breaks with people. Sic!
5. Don’t settle – but don’t be bovaric either. Trying to attain and retain common sense is often an art that can either get you to the modest-without-a-reason end of spectrum or to the Flaubert’s-Madame-Bovary-nothing-is-good-in-my-life end.
The idea is simple: do things that make you happy, be with people that make you happy, be with a life partner that makes you happy – but also be aware that true, long-lasting happiness is daily, responsible and reasonable work.
More to come, soon ?
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