I was listening to Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project” the other day heading to my dad’s 89^th birthday party and I had a brilliant idea… I needed to create my own happiness project.  I have a great life, 4 wonderful children and an awesome husband (after a first try whom I left because I wasn’t happy…)  I knew I could be a happier and more productive human being, but how?

For anyone who is not familiar with Gretchen Rubin’s book, she wrote “The Happiness Project” looking for a way to improve her happiness and make her life more meaningful. She took each month as an opportunity to make a change in one area.  Her first change was to boost her energy level, both physical and mental.  She spent the entire month breaking apart the pieces and focused everything she had.  She ends the first chapter with a quote: “It is by studying little things,” wrote Samuel Johnson, “that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.”

I have always believed happiness is critical and worth fighting for.  When I was going through a divorce after 7 years of marriage and a young son, my parents asked me why. My answer was simple – I deserved to be happy and I wasn’t and hadn’t been for years. And believe me I tried but my partner wasn’t interested in moving forward. Silence is never a productive response.

A Change is Coming

To back up a bit, I have walked the Camino de Santiago twice (2014 and 2016) looking for a change. After years of raising a family and working full-time, I found myself retired with time to do whatever I wanted.  However, I was stuck in a routine and couldn’t force myself to make meaningful changes.  I wasn’t sure what was missing – I just felt that my happiness meter could be stronger.  What would “alone” time in nature, in a safe environment, a sense of adventure and a good friend to share all of it with accomplish? That time spent alone would help me think and figure out what was missing in my life.

The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. That’s a mouthful! Anyway, tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried there. Many people follow its routes as a religious path or retreat for spiritual growth.  I followed the path as a combination of adventure and spiritual growth and a way t­o have some “quiet” in this crazy, social media encouraged world we live in.  It would be a great place to be right now.

Even though I was raised a Catholic, I have not attended church since my divorce many years ago.  I have always been spiritual, but not religious.  I am fiercely protective where my family is concerned. I see the good in people. I guess you could say I am a “glass half full” kind of gal which is fine with me.

My first Camino trip was in September 2014. My best friend Tracie and I had five weeks to accomplish the walk of 500 miles. The Camino Frances route normally begins in St. Jean Pied de Port in France and crosses the Pyrenees into Spain. Most people take at least six weeks – we were one week short. Our trip began in Pamplona, Spain. It was the most ama­zing five weeks of my life and I had new ideas about what changes I would make in my life when I returned home. I even made a list! The reality is that when anyone returns home from a trip of any type, we all seem to fall right back into old habits. The excitement of being someplace other than home keeps our minds and bodies busy. Once home, we tend to go back to work, television, sitting in traffic, etc.

It’s a very tricky situation to actually make a change, and to do it, a plan must be in place.  That is what I am attempting to do over the next 12 months. Like a change in diet, nothing can be accomplished quickly. We all would like to have an overnight fix, but we need to create new habits in order to really make a change. Beginning March 1, 2017 I will have my monthly habit change list in place and will see where I can take my happiness quest.

#caminodesantiago, #happinessproject