Tag Archives: Secret Society of Happy People

Happiness Month! Day 31: Vivacious

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, Uncategorized, , , ,

Today is Day 31 of Happiness Month and it is the last day!  Can you believe it?  This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster.  As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life: Vivacious!  A person can sit quietly reading and be very happy, but today be someone who bubbles forth with life and vitality. Increase your happiness by breaking out of the “routine” and being full of life!

The word “vivacious” is an adjective, meaning it describes, and it means:

  • Attractively lively and animated; lively in temper, conduct, or spirit.

When your spouse has had an affair, it can be easy to fall into the trap of constantly wanting to “work on fixing the marriage” or study about infidelity.  But life is not about always “working” and “studying”–sometimes it’s just being full of  joie de vivre…the Joy of LIFE!!  Today be attractive.  Put some COLOR on and be lively.  Put on that KNOCK OUT red dress, those pumps (you know the ones) and some shockingly red lipstick and DANCE!  Wear a banana and some flowers on your head, wrap a sheet around into a saree, and make him laugh.  Or if your a guy, don’t be the man who analyzes the dishes in the sink or the amount of progress you’ve made in the relationship…be the guy who brings home a limo and says “Come on honey we’re going to McDonald’s for dinner!”  LOL!  For this one day, enjoy life and the person with whom you’re sharing your life.

Over the past month, we have gone over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Beholding Glory
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Happiness Month! Day 30: Sweet

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , ,

Today is Day 30 of Happiness Month and it is almost over!  Can you believe it? This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life: Sweet!  Some days it’s appropriate to stand up for yourself and enforce boundaries…and other days it’s appropriate to be the sweet, loving person you are inside. Choose to be sweet today–and for fun share something sweet (like go out for a piece of pie)!

The word “sweet” can be an adjective (describing you) or a noun.  As an adjective, it means:

  • Having the pleasant taste characteristic of sugar or honey; not salty, sour, or bitter.

And as a noun, “sweet” means:

  • Used as an affectionate form of address to a person one is very fond of: “hello, my sweet”.

Now I realize that when people use the term “sweet” to describe a person they don’t really mean that they taste like sugar or honey!  But they may very well mean that the person is not sour or is not bitter, and they may definitely be thinking back to the day when you two called each other affectionate names.  So to add some happiness to your life today, take a moment to look in the mirror.  Do you act, behave and talk like a sour old grouch?  Do you complain or find fault with everything?  Are you bitter because life wasn’t “fair” and you didn’t get what you “deserve”?  Then today is the day to add happiness by being sweet!  Act, behave and talk pleasant.  Find one good thing in everything your spouse does or says and then say it out loud to them.  Instead of viewing what you “didn’t get” in life, look at what you DID GET!!  And demonstrate this “turning over a new leaf” by sharing a sweet dessert with your spouse while you call them by their affectionate name!  Sweet as Cherry Pie!

Over the past month, we have gone over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

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Happiness Month! Day 29: Surprise

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , ,


Today is Day 29 of Happiness Month and it is almost over!  Can you believe it? This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life: Surprise!  Be sneaky, be devious, and plan a big surprise for your spouse or your friend…enjoy their joy and the surprise on their face!

The word “surprise” can be both a noun and a verb.  As a noun, it means:

  • An unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.

As a verb–that means an action where we have to do something–it means”

  • Cause someone to feel mild astonishment or shock over something unexpected.

Just like yesterday’s post about being spontaneous, it’s hard to “plan” a surprise, but we women often say how much we enjoy “the little things” and what are “the little things” if not the occasional nice surprise?  Sometimes it’s a little gift to show you were thinking of them.  Sometimes it’s wearing something your spouse has always wanted you to wear and you didn’t want to wear it.  Sometimes it’s making dinner for her or rubbing his feet for him.  Sometimes it’s writing “I love you” on the mirror so they see it in the morning.  Sometimes it’s paying a bill because you earned a little extra money.  Whatever it is, give your spouse that feeling of mild astonishment–and increase your own happiness by pleasing them.

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Happiness Month! Day 28: Spontaneous

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , ,

 

Today is Day 28 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life: Spontaneous!   Don’t plan. Don’t schedule. Just go on the spur of the moment, be crazy, and have fun. Be Happy.

The word “spontaneous” is an adjective.  It means:

  1. Performed or occurring without premeditation or external stimulus: “spontaneous applause“.
  2.  Having a natural, and uninhibited manner.

Some people, myself included, love the security and consistency of a plan.  I make lists of everything and then prioritize them and then I follow the list.  It’s a great way to get the “most important things” done but I lose a lot of the joy of having a natural, uninhibited manner.  So today, to add some happiness to your life, do something spontaneous.  Yes–PLAN to be spontaneous! LOL

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Happiness Month! Day 27: Spirituality

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , , ,

Today is Day 27 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life: Spirituality!   “…the deepest values and meanings by which people live.”  Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life.  So take time out today to pray or attend a worship service.

The word “spirituality” is a noun, and it means:

  •  sensitivity or attachment to religious values.
  •  the quality of one’s sensitivity to the things of the spirit.

This day and age, people use that term to mean SO MANY things, but since Affaircare is a site that offers Christian nouthetic counseling, I’m going to focus my comments today on Christian spirituality and how that relates to happiness.  One justification that people frequently give for having an affair is something like “I deserve to be happy” and all month we’ve been discussing how happiness is not a feeling, but rather a choice to be happy.  This whole month we’ve been talking about ways to increase your happiness every day.   But to find real happiness and truly reconcile your marriage requires more than just your will or determination.  It requires God.

The Bible tells us that all of us (including me!) are sinners and fall short of the perfection required by God–see Romans 3:23.  Yes, God requires perfection–not just “do your best” or “try really hard.”   Because we are all sinful, we are spiritually dead–see Ephesians 2:1.   II Corinthians 5:21 says that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” so we could be brought back to spiritual life!   Romans 5:6 tells us that while we were without strength (spiritually dead)  that Christ died for us in our place.

Envision people in a sea who are drowned, and the “sea” is the sin that we live in every day….and the drowning is the spiritual death.  We can’t even help ourselves!  We’re dead!   The consequence for sin is spiritual death–but God loved us and sent His Son to pay the penalty in our place.  Justice was served and the price was paid!  Christ’s death and resurrection are like a spiritual lifeline, and God pulls us out of the sin we’ve drowned in and brings us back to life!

You know there’s that one verse in John that everyone knows:  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”?   Now you know what it means!  To find TRUE happiness and TRULY reconcile your marriage after adultery requires God.

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.
The Alabaster Jar  

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Happiness Month! Day 24: Play

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , , ,

Today is Day 24 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life:  Play!!  Remember squit guns and merry-go-rounds and swinging so high you thought you’d flip over? Why don’t we do that anymore?

The word “play” is both a noun and a verb.  As a noun, it means:

  • Activity engaged in for enjoyment and recreation.

As a verb it is an action we have to DO…and it means:

  • Engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

Now playing can mean different things to different people.  I’m sure some married couples can not even imagine playing with their spouse–after all, they are “grown ups” and “grown ups” don’t behave like that.  But in order to give your marriage some joy and give your own happiness a shot in the arm, it is vitally important to play with your spouse!  Dear Hubby and I happen to play several games together–our rule is that we don’t play them “by ourselves” so the game doesn’t become a higher priority that each other.  But we also go have picnics, listen to music, watch movies, read books to each other, go to classic car shows, watch football…we do ALL KINDS of fun, playful things together.  My Dear Hubby does not roll down hills or tickle–that does not mean “fun” or playing to him.  So the trick is to find out what your spouse finds enjoyable and either learn a bit about it yourself and share their interest…maybe ask them to explain it to you… or to share with them something that YOU find fun and show them why they might enjoy it as well!

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

 

Beholding Glory
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Happiness Month! Day 22: Optimism

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , ,

Today is Day 22 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life:  Optimism!  Some people have naturally optimistic personalities, but if you are not someone blessed with that trait, today is your day to practice looking at your glass as half full.

The word “optimism” is a noun, and it means:

  1. Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.
  2. The belief that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

Some people are born optimistic and it comes to them like breathing–that’s just how they are.  Others see things more skeptically (or they might say “realistically”) and they accuse optimists of being Pollyanna-ish or wearing rose colored glasses.  But since we know that happiness is a CHOICE and not something that someone else “makes” you feel, you can add happiness to your life today if you actually practice seeing the silver lining in the clouds.  That doesn’t mean you don’t see the clouds!  Just for today, practice the seeing the bright side of life and say it out loud.  Optimism can be extremely hard while your spouse is involved in an affair, but it can mean a lot to the recovery of the marriage if your attitude is positive, hopeful, and conveys that the future will be okay.

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Related articles

Happiness Month! Day 21: Nostalgia

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , ,

Today is Day 21 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life:  Nostalgia!   Happiness gets a shot in the arm when you “remember when…” Remember those Christmases as a kid? Your bestest bestest friend? That first date? The birth of your first child? See that smile on your face? Take a little time to be nostalgic today.

The word “nostalgia” is a noun.  It means:

  1. A sentimental longing for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
  2. The evocation of these feelings or tendencies.

Remember how much you were looking forward to loving someone?  Remember when you first met your spouse? Remember how handsome he was or how pretty she looked?  Remember how fun it was getting to know him/her?  Remember how much time you spent together?  Remember how you told him/her EVERYTHING?  Remember how you did all those special little things for him or her?  Remember how nervous you were when you got engaged?  Remember the wedding?  And the honeymoon!

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Related articles

Happiness Month! Day 20: Love

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, , , , ,

Today is Day 20 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life:  Love!  Love is an choice to act in a loving way, but nothing can bring happiness like loving someone. So love your spouse, your children, your dog or your cat. Spread the love!

The word “love” is both a noun and a verb.  As a noun, it means:

  • a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
  • a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend
  • sexual passion or desire.
  • a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person;sweetheart.
  • a term of endearment, affection,or the like “Would you like to see a movie, love?”

As a verb, it is an ACTION, and it means:

  • to have love or affection for: “All her pupils love her“
  • to act in a profoundly tender,  and passionately affectionate way toward someone
  • to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
  • to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
  • to embrace and kiss (someone)

Love is something that we have largely been misinformed about, in this day and age. Despite what the media and Hollywood have shown us, true Love is not star-crossed lovers who are destined to be together against all odds, whose eyes meet across a crowded room and they just “know.”  Nope.  Love is active.  Love is a choice–just like happiness.  And it’s not about my spouse “completing me” or just naturally knowing exactly what to do to meet all my needs flawlessly either!  Love is about me making the choice to treat my spouse in a way that puts his/her best interests in mind.  I think of HIM or HER before I ever act, and when I do act, it’s in a way that shows him/her respect, honor, and love!  Remember I Corinthians 13?  It tells us:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

The Alabaster Jar
Related articles

Happiness Month! Day 17: Humor

Christian, Fidelity, Happiness, Love Kindlers, marriage, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Today is Day 17 of Happiness Month and it will be continuing all month long. This all started at the Secret Society of Happy People and if you want to pop over there and become an Amused Member, you can get a Free 31 Types of Happiness poster. As you can tell by my daily #HappinessHappens tweets and Facebook posts, I’ve been a member for a long, long time!

Today, to add happiness to your life:  Humor!  Knock, knock. Who’s there? The Three Stooges. Will Farrel. Venture Brothers. Monty Python. Humor can come in many shapes and sizes, but today take time to laugh until you fall off your chair and roll on the floor laughing!  The word “humor” can be a noun–a word that names things– or a verb, but today we’ll be concentrating on the noun definition.  As a noun, “humor” means:

  • The quality that makes something laughable or amusing; funniness.
  • That which is intended to induce laughter or amusement.
  •  The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd.
  • A person’s characteristic disposition or temperament.
  •  An often temporary state of mind; a mood: I’m in no humor to argue.
  •  A sudden, unanticipated whim–capricious or peculiar behavior.

(Will Ferrell All Busted Up Over Kristen Stewart & Robert Pattinson)

Over the next days, we’ll be going over all 31 ways to Add Happiness Every Day. You know too often I hear young people say “He doesn’t make me happy” or “I wish she would make me happy” but you know what? Happiness is not something that someone else “makes” you feel. You make choices in your life that can affect your happiness….and ultimately you CHOOSE whether to be happy every day or not. You can also choose to do things that would add happiness to your life every single today.

Beholding Glory
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