Your Happy Place

The Toronto Zoo. There is not much in this world I enjoy more than family time at the Toronto Zoo. It takes us about an hour and forty minutes to drive there from our home. Going to the zoo is a a serious time commitment, and honestly, I think it is one of the best time commitments I can make.

We all need a place that makes us happy.

I’m not suggesting taking a toddler to the zoo is easy. It is fraught with possible bad outcomes. It could easily go quite poorly, but it doesn’t. Our son always has so much fun. The first time was a big experience and had a few challenging moments. Today we went for the first time since winter and not only did he remember it, he was the happiest we have seen him yet.

When you look around your life, what is your true happy place? What is always a great experience, even if logically it might go awry? Now ask yourself, do I do this enough?

I think we go to the zoo about the right amount. If we went too often, it would become routine and some of the magic would disappear. We could go a bit more but right now we know that every time we go, everyone will have a great time.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the day to day grind. I let this happen way too often. I know  I should be making more time for the happy things in life. I’m sure this is typical of a lot of people living a similar situation. We should be taking stock of our situation and adjusting when we can. It isn’t easy. Often what makes us the happiest takes some effort. Sometimes it’s the effort that makes us feel the best. The zoo doesn’t take a lot of effort, we have so much fun as a family and I think that may be a big part of why it is my happy place.

Go out and find yours, you deserve it!

Turning Life Upside Down

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

*Clap, clap*

I'm happy. I haven't been this happy in a long, long time. It's important to get that out there because depending on your perspective, my life since the first day of February 2014 could be great, or terrible.

I have changed jobs, moved to a new apartment and sold my SUV. That's a lot of change but I'm happy with where my life is and where it's going. I'm excited to get up in the morning and go to work. I used to be this way a long time ago but like most people, it went away. I fit into the culture of the company I work for and that's a great feeling. I like what I do, and that's important. I believe in what I do, and that's a key to being great at work.

Much like my father, I, at least partly, define who I am by what I do. I have to feel like I make a difference when I go to work. This job, and everything that stems from it, gives me this feeling.

I've had the chance to recently see some people who I've know for a long time. Now, anyone you are still in contact for a long time, has to be a good person to you. If they aren't then you will inevitably drift apart. Many of these people have commented that I'm back to being the person I was a long time ago. A very happy person, who is full of life.

I let myself be less than happy for way too long. I have relearned an important lesson that you have to be happy with where you are in life to be able to really enjoy it. I have read a lot about how life is hard. It's not all greek goddesses of beauty riding down the hallway on a unicorn while farting rainbows. However, if you don't believe today could be that day, you have already lost and you are not living a good life.

Change is hard but don't be afraid to chase it down, because when you find a happy spot, work doesn't seem like work and fun follows you wherever you go.

Flip It Over

I think a key to a happy life is to have most of the time in your life with only minor instances of unhappy moments. It's not reasonable to say every minute is going to be a 10 out of 10 but the bad times should be few and far between. If you read anything on happiness, they always tell you do what you like, enjoy the little moments, use your body as it was intended and all that stuff. It's true, that's how you should live to be happy.

For a number of reasons, I am finding the good moments are interspersed in a lot of times I want to forget. I haven't always been like this and I want to get back to how I was.

I have been a gliding instructor for a long time and I still remember one of the first things taught to me about instruction is when you debrief performance you always highlight the good, the areas to improve, and how to improve. So, lets sit down and have an old fashioned debriefing.

The Good

I have great family. Let's be honest, my parents are awesome. They are the old couple that makes you believe you can have true happiness.

I have great friends. The people I met since moving to Ottawa are great and only augment some amazing and lifelong friendships from my pre-Ontario life.

I'm healthy. I don't have much wrong with me other than the occasional bump or nick. Sometimes I enjoy beer too much and pay for it, but I can point to where the pain is coming from.

I'm fit. Almost ten years ago I made a conscious decision to exercise regularly. It has and continues to pay dividends way beyond my investment.

The Areas for Improvement

Work. I haven't been enjoying my job much as of late and it shows. There are a lot of reasons  and I'm part of why it hasn't been awesome.

My Diet. I've been putting a lot of crap, including way too much Coca-Cola into my body lately. It has also become very redundant.

Everything is Unbalanced. Don't get me wrong, I love to fly airplanes but flying and dealing with flying issues has grown to a disproportionately large part of my life.

How To Improve

I can't change the mood of everyone at work. We are in a state of change and uncertainty. It is what it is but I can change my approach to it. Instead of dreading the next thing I can look to be an agent of positive change. I can approach problems as opportunities to help others, which I love to do. I can be a beacon of positive energy. I can start having fun again and find ways to laugh. I can return to the guy who doubts if we can do it and return to the guy who asks how can we make this successful. It's the only way to make it though any job.

I can change what I eat. I know I'm not going to be the guy who makes everything in a Vitamix and never indulges in unhealthy food but if I eat healthier food more often and cut the Coke out (for the record as I write this I am powering though a bit of a caffeine withdrawal headache because I haven't had any Coke for 42 hour) I will feel better. More veggies, reasonable servings of meat, and less processed food in on the horizon.

I think my balance in life will improve slowly. Part of why I have been spending so much time on aircraft stuff is I have been completing a Commercial Aeroplane Pilot Licence. The written exam is finished and the night flying is done. I have about 20 hours to go. It will take a while to get it done as I will be ramping up the flying in my day job over the summer but I think I need to change this to a journey to enjoy not a task to complete and the enjoyment will return. Once the licensing flights are done, I can fly when I want in my off-time to share with others what is so great about aviation in small planes. 

I also need to do more of the things I love to do besides flying. I need to get out and take more pictures, even if it makes me seem busier, it will make me happier.

So, there it is, my personal prescription to a return to happiness. It's going to take time. It's going to take effort. It's not always going to be a smooth transition but the results are going to be worth the effort.

Cloudy Days, Sweeping the Fun Away

It has been cloudy a lot lately. Cold dreary and cloudy. This has been going on for way too long. It has had a real effect on my mood. I'm not feeling as cheerful as I usually do. Now, I'm not saying I am always a big, bouncing ball of happy, but usually I'm reasonably cheerful. Lately I have not been so cheerful so on Tuesday I said, "That's it!" and booked a trip to fabulous Las Vegas.

It was impulsive. It was last minute, it will be fun. I am off to Sin City with a couple of friends for about 5 days, four nights of fun and stories I may not be able to tell.

I did this because I was in a rut and did not want to stay there. I know the weather can influence my mood. I do not want to let the world around me run me. I can make my own happiness, or at least have a say in how happy I am. I want to be a happy guy and until I booked the trip I was rather miserable.

The anticipation of going has cheered me up. The trip will be fantastic, and the memories and pictures will be with me forever.

I realize not everyone can just up and go on a holiday when they are feeling blue, but they can try to do something to cheer themselves up, and they should.

You have the ability to influence your happiness, so if the weather is getting you down do something to help you feel better.