Does Eating an Elephant a Bite At a Time Work?

October Challenges For a Happier Life - Do Small Changes Make a Difference?

Fall is truly in full swing and it is hard to believe the end of October has arrived. What comes along with that is Halloween tomorrow and in my neck of the woods we 'Fall Back' for daylight savings time.

My October Challenge is coming to an end and it's time to look back and see how it went. To start the month the idea was to post on this blog every day during the week. Since this is my 9th post I guess that did not end up happening. I don't see this as a failure though, I blogged more than I had been before and I am happy with how this blog is shaping up.
October Challenge Conclusion #1 - Even if things do not go exactly as planned there are still quantifiable benefits to trying.

The Making Home a Haven challenge has been simple and I found that it has helped me have a positive mindset at home. Creating an atmosphere of peace and fun is never a bad idea for a family! The one part of Making Home a Haven that I didn't get to was playing a board game as a family. When I mentioned this to my husband Sean he said "that's because they should really be called bored  games." He did agree to play along and I am pulling out the game of Clue that I purchased over the summer but that has never been used for us to play together this weekend.
October Challenge Conclusion #2 - Everything is better with a positive attitude.

I am obsessed with a new author, Gretchen Rubin. She wrote The Happiness Project, Better Than Before and she has a new book coming out soon. The first thing Gretchen does in her happiness project is add in to her life activities that will boost her energy. I have tried to do that same thing .
My goal has been to fit in walking as often as I am able and it has been working. Hopping on the treadmill at home for 20-30 minutes and getting outside when the weather is good, like it is today. Using the treadmill at home (a treadmill I have owned for at least 10 years) has been great. Exercising used to feel like such an event and for a busy, time challenged working mom it allows me to fit in some exercise that I would not have otherwise fit in. Heading to the basement treadmill requires no travel time, no special outfit and you don't even need to brush your hair if you don't want to because lets face it who is going to see you? The dog? She doesn't mind, she told me :)
Cutting back on alcohol and adding more fruits and vegetable in to my life (and the life of my family) has also contributed to increasing my energy level.
October Challenge Conclusion #3 - Being conscious about finding ways to boost your energy that does not include drinking more coffee works.

A challenge that I implemented during the month was one relating to more healthy eating. My attempt at blogging about food made me realize that I am not an enthusiastic cook. It also underlined the fact that while I love that my husband is a willing cook when he is in charge of meals there are not enough of the fruits and veggies from the 4 food groups included. This past week I've challenged myself to include 2 different fruits and 2 different vegetables in my eating each day. Today is the last day and the photo below is what we got left to choose from (my family did join me in this challenge).
October Challenge Conclusion #4 - Variety can make a big difference when it comes to trying to eat right. A carry over challenge for November will be an attempt to try even more of a variety of fruits and more importantly veggies.

October is ending on a high note and I learned on final thing from my Challenges for a Happier Life.
October Challenge Conclusion #5 - I love challenges! They make the mundane much more interesting and satisfying.

Wishing you all my best, Wendy

Fruit IS my friend & the candle is still burning