Patty’s Ponderings: Self Help or Self Hell?

I’m a sucker for self-help articles and books. Not that I feel like I’ve actually been helped or changed by something I’ve read, but I always have that hope. I have been reading an article on ways for all of us to be happier.

Some actions are easy to understand, but not always easy to execute:

Getting more sleep- God knows I’d love to if there were an extra couple of hours in the day
Exercise-With arthritis playing an increasingly more prominent role in my life, this has come to mean, walking my dogs from the back door to the backyard and letting them play while I watch. I know it’s not a good excuse, but it’s what I’m using right now!
Do things for others- I’m doing this already but I wonder, ‘Do my neighbors to the north really want me picking up their beer cans, dog poop, and kids socks out of my front yard? I mean, maybe they really intend to do it.”
Tighten your circle of friends- I don’t know; my circle is pretty tight already. Getting older- I mean- maturity has given me the perspective of; ‘I don’t waste time on idiots.’

Some suggestions are more esoteric:

Cultivate optimism- Screw that!
Forgive people – Nobody carries a grudge like an Italian, this is out of the question, especially for big wrongs.
Be present in your life- Okay, how stupid is this? Where else are you going to be? Until time travel comes along, I assume we’ll all continue to inhabit our own bodies in our particular space and time continuum. Although it is true that some people you meet seem to be from another planet!
Find something you’re passionate about and pursue it – Family, friends, music, theater, literature, chocolate, the Augie track team in the springtime. . .yup, I’ve got this one covered.

For more real suggestions that may or may not change your life, check this out: http://tinyurl.com/bvkwvr5