Living Outside the Stacks

Sometimes life can get overwhelming and finding things that make us happy can become almost as important as drawing our next breath.  This may seem like a drastic statement, but imagine going through life completely unhappy and unhealthy.  Mmmmhmmm, now do you see what I mean?  Over the last year, I’ve had to find ways to make myself happy as I deal with the ups and downs that come with job hunting, parenting, being a wife and, well, just living.

As part of their “Spring Renewal” blogging program, TwitterMoms and Tropicana asked moms to share “ten things that lead to a happier, healthier you.”  If you’d like to participate, simply go here and follow the directions.  In the meantime, here are the ten things that lead to a happier, healthier me:

1.  Reading Mom’s Devotional Bible ~ Each scripture and anecdote provides me with tools to guide how I interact with my children

2.  Writing in my Women’s Wisdom Journal ~ Bible verses center me and give me positive self~affirmations to help me throughout the day

3.  Focusing on my family ~ They are the center of my world, need I say more?

4.  Daily exercise ~ Being active makes me feel focused and less stressed

5.  Eating healthy meals ~ A balanced diet keeps me from feeling blah

6.  Raising awareness about issues that mean something to me ~ Giving back to the community and supporting organizations that help women and children to better their lives are very important to me

7.  Taking time for myself ~ A happy, healthy mom is a happy, healthy family

8.  Connecting with my sisters ~ My sisters and I are all spread out across the country, so once a week I try to get them on the phone and just have a good ol’ laugh

9.  Working in my garden ~ This is a new hobby for me, and there is nothing more rewarding than planting seeds and watching something spring from the earth

10.  ”Change your shoes, change your life” ~ A good friend sent me a postcard with that written across the front and I thought, Yeah, that’s true…when your feet hurt, your day is awful but when your feet are happy, you are happy

So tell me, what do you do on a regular basis that leads to a happier, healthier you?  To help support you in maintaining a happy, healthy balance, TwitterMoms and Tropicana have teamed up to offer you a special code, TWMOM-READR, to use for the Tropicana Juicy Rewards Program.  Each code is worth One Juicy Rewards point ~ that’s up to $5 in savings!  This one~time use code is valid for new accounts ONLY.  All accounts must be created and all codes entered by 7 May 2010 at 11:59 PM EST.

Disclosure:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Tropicana Trop50 blogging program to be eligible to win 6 free Juicy Rewards points and a $30 gift card.  For more information, click here.

I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. I have the research skills of a librarian, the preservation skills of an archivist, the organizational skills of a mother and the domestic skills of a Stepford wife. Read more from this author