Busy Mom VS Daily Grind – Day 1

New here and wondering what’s going on? Busy Mom VS Daily Grind is all about making the dedication to do something every day that will help you live a happier, more fulfilling life. I have committed to document my journey of developing the habits of living moment by moment, being grateful, and bringing self expression + creativity into every day. Read more about the challenge HERE.

Daaaaay 1. Didn’t go as well as I had hoped. And let me start off by first saying, please bare with me for these first few days as I figure out how to share my adventure without it sounding like a diary! lol

The day started out wonderfully… although it was difficult to keep my mind focused on what was happening in front of me, I kept reminding myself to come back to the present. I noticed just how much my mind actually wandered throughout the day, I couldn’t believe how many times I had to bring myself back to earth! But, I was able to enjoy quite a number of little things that I’m sure I would have missed if it weren’t for this project.

Such as, how cute and kind my four year old is, always wanting to give presents. She decorated the paper and everything! (She gave me a hair clip today. he he) Most other days I probably would have said dryly “Yay, another present, thank you, now let me get back to work.” :(

I was even lucky enough to snap this adorable pic of my baby reaching out to me!

On our way to my daughter’s preschool, I always admire this house. Today I was brave enough to stop and take a pic! :)

But as Four O’clock came rolling around (my WORST time of day), things started to get crazy as they always do. And those happy moments started to slip from my mind as I got frustrated with screaming kids, burning dinner, helping with homework, and everything else.

I was suddenly reminded of an article I recently read by Sharold Barr about happiness. She explains how our minds are wired to remember the negative things in life. Our negative experiences are processed differently than positive ones in order to keep us safe and be on the lookout for possible threats. And in order to be happier, we must compensate for how quickly we remember the negative things in life, by focusing more intently on the good that is around us.

That one bad moment in my day completely over-ruled all those good moments in my mind. And now, as I sit here wanting to go back to those good moments, I cannot remember all of them. So starting tomorrow, I hope to write those happy moments down soon after they happen. That way, if they start to slip from my mind, I can always go back and read about them to remind myself. :)

Luckily, my first creative project I decided to work on was a little notebook to hold my journaling of those happy moments! I was hoping to get it finished today, but I am still not happy with the cover. I’ll let it sit until tomorrow and perhaps I’ll have another idea on what more to add to it. My comfortable medium is fabric… all this mixed media and collage stuff is still pretty new to me! 

So, tomorrow I will slow my mind down and enjoy those happy moments, then make note of it. I will try to go with the flow of the hectic time of day, then go back and read about my happy moments. :)

Do you also find that by the end of the day, you can only remember the bad parts?