Recently I read a book called The Happiness Project written by Gretchen Rubin. She goes through the 12 months, and each month doing a new monthly resolution. January being the month of boosted energy. February being the month of Love and working on her marriage and family life. March is the month of aiming higher with work, and so on. There were months that I directly related to, and other months that I felt like I couldn’t get wait to get through them. However it is directly related to the fact that you can tell we are different in personality.

One of the things that I did enjoy that Gretchen wrote was two lists. One of her lists was her personal twelve commandments, and her secrets of adulthood. This sparked a little fire for me. It inspired me to start my own for many reasons. There will be times when I am driving or working out thinking of things that would benefit my health and happiness journey, or things that would make my daily life flow better. Let’s face it-we all need a daily dose of inspiration, we all need a mantra or 7. You will always have that little voice piping up and trying to lead us somewhere. Sometimes its direction, other times its doubt. So take those into consideration when making your lists. I am always on a mission to define the face of what my creative living matures as.

I will share my lists with you, but first let us peak at Gretchen Rubin’s versions.

Gretchen’s 12 Commandments

1. Be Gretchen.
2. Let it go.
3. Act the way I want to feel.
4. Do it now.
5. Be polite and be fair.
6. Enjoy the process
7. Spend out.
8. Identify the problem.
9. Lighten up.
10. Do what ought to be done.
11. No calculation.
12. There is only love

GRETCHEN’S SECRETS OF ADULTHOOD

1. People don’t notice your mistakes as much as you think.
2. Its okay to ask for help
3. Most decisions don’t require extensive research.
4. Do good, feel good
5. It’s important to be nice to everyone.
6. Bring a sweater.
7. By doing a little bit each day, you can get a lot accomplished
8. Soap and water remove most stains
9. Turning the computer on and off a few times a day often fixes a glitch
10. If you can’t find something, clean up.
11. You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you like to do.
12. Happiness doesn’t always make you feel happy.
13. What you do everyday matters more than what you do once in a while
14. You don’t have to be good at everything.
15. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.
16. Over-the-counter medicines are very effective.
17. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
18. What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you-and vice versa.
19. People actually prefer that you buy wedding gifts off their registry.
20. You can’t profoundly change your children’s nature by nagging them or signing them up for classes
21. No deposit, no return.

AND there you have it. It makes you think? Some of them you can relate, re-word, or completely skip, but hey it gets your juices flowing.  The hard part about writing your lists is establishing the difference between a commandment or a secret of adulthood. I wrote my list as big as I could get, and then figured out if it is a commandment or an adult-ism. It also took me a few days for the list to start to flow. I thought of my everyday life, my struggles, my strengths, and my family. I started a list in the notes of my iphone, and went from there. So here is what my lists look like.

AMARA’S COMMANDMENT’S

1. Keep it simple.
2. Have faith in the path.
3. Eat that frog.
4. Write it down.
5. Count my blessings.
6. Be inspired.
7. Have vulnerability.
8. Speak only from your heart with good intentions.
9. Invest in your mind, body, and soul
10. Make the bed every morning.
11. Show love.
12. Talk to yourself like you talk to someone you love.

AMARA’S SECRETS OF ADULTHOOD

1. Never miss a Monday.
2. Always lead with your heart.
3. Stay loyal to the idea.
4. Find the good in the bad.
5. A clean space, is a happy heart.
6. Buy the book, read the book.
7. Always stretch before and after a workout.
8. Carbs are not bad, but stick to the good ones.
9. Only feel guilty when you intentionally do wrong.
10. Say I’m sorry.
11. Fresh flowers create inspiration.
12. Stay consistent.
13. Make sleep a priority.
14. It’s okay to require alone time.
15. Listen, rather than listen to respond.
16. Enjoy every new day.
17. Don’t keep clothes that don’t make you feel good.
18. Just write.
19. Your vibe attracts your tribe.

I assume that I will always be adding, and changing my lists. We are forever evolving souls, as I am not the same woman that I was yesterday, and I will not be the same woman tomorrow. Growth is inevitable. As I go through this journey, adventure, quest, or whatever you may want to call it I have a goal. Because goals are good. My goal is to fulfill this need in my heart to do more, and be more. They say, well I don’t really know who they are, but they say that you were your happiest self around 10 years old. So what made you happy during that time would probably still make you happy now. As a 10 year I  was a quote obsessed, avid journal writer, athlete. I still have those journals to this day. I still want to be an athlete of some sort-maybe just athletic. I want to see more, and do more. I will.