Activities Leading to Happiness

Happiness Activities

1.  Expressing Gratitude
2.  Cultivating Optimism
3.  Avoiding Over-Thinking and Social Comparisons
4.  Practicing Acts of Kindness
5.  Nurturing Social Relationships
6.  Developing Strategies for Coping
7.  Learning to Forgive
8.  Increasing Flow Expectations
9.  Savoring Life's Joys
10.  Committing to Your Goals
11.  Practicing Spirituality
12.  Taking Care of Your Body (Meditation)
13.  Taking Care of Your Body (Physical Activity)
14.  Taking Care of Your Body (Acting Like a Happy Person)
15.  The Five Hows Behind Sustainable Happiness: Positive Emotions,
       Optimal Timing and Variety, Social Support, Motivation, Effort,
       Commitment, and Habit. 
-  Sonja Lyubomirsky, The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, 2008 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Daily Personal Training

"Tai Chi Chuan is the art of letting hardness dwell within softness and hiding a needle within cotton; from the point of view of techniques, physiology, and physics, there is considerable philosophy contained within it.  Hence those who would research it need to undergo a definite process of development over a considerable period of time.  Though one may have the instruction of a fine teacher and the criticism of good friends, the one thing which is most important and which one cannot do without is daily personal training.  Without it one can discuss and analyze all day, think and ponder for years, but when one day you encounter an opponent you are like a hole with nothing in it - you are still quite inexpert, lacking the skills (kung fu) borne of daily practice. This is what the ancients meant by "thinking forever is useless, better to practice."  If morning and evening there is never a gap, hot or cold never an exception, so that the moment you think of it you proceed to do your training, then young or old, man or woman, you will alike be rewarded with success."
-  By Yang Cheng Fu, A Talk on Practice, 1925

Tai Chi Chuan Quotations

Persistence, Will Power, Practice

Country Pumpkins

We enjoyed a trip up to Woodland.  There is a large dyke along the Columbia River that protects the many farms west of Woodland.  We went out to the "Pumpkin Patch" and enjoyed the beautiful oaks, green fields, and lots of kinds of pumpkins and gourds.  Afterwards, we drove along the dyke road, and then visited Tsugawa Nursery.  Mick and April joined us for the day trip.  

Backyard in Autumn

Autumn: Poetry, Sayings, Lore, Quotations

San Juan Islands, Washington

We enjoyed the Washington State Ferry ride from Anacordes to Friday Harbor at the San Juan Island.  

Sagit River Valley, Washington

We drove east on Route 20 through Sedro-Woodley City, and up to Rasar State Park.  The wooded park is close to the large Skagit River.  The valley area down to the many bays is filled with farms, grazing lands, dairies, and all kinds of crops.  The Skagit River Valley is famous for is verdant farms.  It was very cloudy and hazy today, so we did not have good views of the Mt. Baker peaks.  

Next summer, we plan to drive Route 20 from Port Townsend to Spokane.  Route 20 is closed in the winter in the Northern Cascades.    

Bay View, Washington

We stayed for three nights in a cabin by the southern end of Padilla Bay in northeastern Washington State.  The cabin was at Bay View State Park. 

We traveled to Anacortes, San Juan Island, Mt. Vernon, Bellingham, Burlington, Sedro-Woodley, Concrete, Widby Island, and south along 101 by the Hood Canal to Olympia.  The Chuckanook Mountains 1896 road from the valley beside Samish Bay to Bellingham was a delight. 

The drive from our home in Vancouver to Bay View was about 260 miles. 

Bay View State Park

The southern end of Padilla Bay was very shallow, mostly mud flats

at low tide.  The view to the west was Marsh Point and the huge

Shell-Texaco oil refinery and the array of storage tanks.  

Just doing a lot of looking, seeking, gazing, listening.