#100daysofHappy

(first published on blogspot on August 4, 2014)

Today is day 100!! It’s true that even the simplest thing (such as a hashtag) can change your life, or at least make you think in a different way. On April 26th, I embarked on a new journey and the next chapter of my life. I said goodbye to Evanston and Chicago and got on the road to live in a new city by myself. I have never been the driver for so many hours. I knew I would need some motivation to get me through not only the drive but knowing that I would be living alone in a new place and moving in by myself without a job lined up either. So what would I do? I needed to think positively. I started participating in #100daysofhappy on Instagram.
I got on the road in the late afternoon and my first stop was Michigan to spend the night with my friend and her new baby. It was so nice to be able to see her so much throughout the months of March and April, due to the fact that I was unemployed. I wish we lived closer so I could see her and her baby all the time, but I made the most of the time we had.
The next day I drove to Ohio and stopped at my aunt’s house for the night. I had not seen her since my college graduation 2 years ago, so there was a lot to catch up on and it was nice to have dinner with her and sleep in a comfy bed of course.
April 28th was move in day and after a long 7 hour drive, I made it to my new apartment. I didn’t bring furniture so after carrying a good amount of my stuff in, I made up my bed of blankets on the floor. Not the comfiest, but luckily 2 days later Brian showed up to see the apartment for the first time and bought us a mattress and a desk for me to sit at. That still remains to be the only furniture I have. I sit on an exercise ball at my desk so I don’t even own a chair, but I really like it. Having less stuff and less to stress over. It really makes you appreciate what you do have as well. This is how I stay positive!
As soon as I moved into my apartment, I went shopping to fill my pantry and fridge and stock my kitchen with some essential kitchen gadgets. Having my own kitchen and fridge already made me 100 times happier I think. Cooking good food, making my dinner plates look pretty and baking recipes from blogs. Yep, that is happiness!
Each day on Instagram, I would post 2-3 pictures. 1-2 of them would be yoga poses for the yoga challenges I was participating in and the last a picture for #100daysofhappy. I was really dedicated to this hashtag. Yes technology these days has really become addictive and taken over our lives, but, for me, this hashtag made me appreciate my life more. It made me find things that I was happy about, whether it was a simple meal I threw together, a walk to the park, trying out a new cupcake flavor or hanging up a shower curtain. All of these things I was happy about and grateful to have.

Here are the collages of all my #100daysofhappy photos. There are more than 100 as some days I combined photos into collages of things I was happy for that day. I noticed as I reviewed the photos there was a lot of food, yoga and selfies at the park.

During the month and a half before finding and starting my new job, I was going for many walks to the park to read and do yoga. It was really nice to have that time to read books for fun and enjoy some yoga outside. I was soaking up as much sun (and vitamin D) as I could before being stuck in an office all day. I have noticed that the sun really makes me soo much happier during the day. Cloudy days, I definitely notice a difference in my mood, but I make it through the day, again, thinking about what I am happy for.

Once I started my job (besides being happy that I was going to get a paycheck again), I was happy to be commuting by train and getting to spend a full hour for lunch sitting by the fountain at Love Park, which quickly became my everyday lunch spot. Kids running around, tourists walking by and tons of people taking pictures by the LOVE statue. There is always some great people watching and on the hot days (it was above 90 degrees most days during my first two weeks), it’s nice to have that mist from the fountain keep you cool.

June had many highlights, from my sister’s high school graduation, a trip to Buffalo/Rochester to see friends and celebrate a wedding, starting my new job and being accepted to yoga teacher training.

In July I really started focusing a lot more on my yoga practice as well as continuing to learn new things at my job and just enjoying the summer weather while it’s here.

It is now August. I can’t believe summer is nearly over, but I am also looking forward to Fall, with another wedding coming up, my anniversary with Brian and yoga teacher training starting in October. I am also starting to look online for apple picking and fall activities. I have already started lighting my Farmstand Apple scent candle from last Fall too.

These last 100 days have helped me change the way I think and appreciate the life I have more. Not only has the #100daysofhappy helped me, but also doing yoga challenges and having the amazing instagram yoga community cheer you on in poses. Yoga is definitely my go to when I am not feeling well or stressed out. Sometimes even spending just 5 minutes meditating or doing a few sun salutations helps.
As these 100 days end, my positive thinking will not. I am thinking of just writing down one thing I am happy for each day for the next 100 or so days and of course, there will be lots and lots of yoga as well.
I am linking up with Katie as I celebrate my #100daysofhappy and positive thinking. Katie always posts some great inspiring quotes on instagram and her blog and she just finished yoga teacher training too. So thank you Katie for being inspiring and hosting Marvelous in my Monday each week!!