If you want to be happy for the rest of your life...

Recently I received a profound realization:  I am happy.  I am truly content, and I love my life. 

I'm not rich or well off.  I work 40 plus hours a week for my paycheck, and then I spend my spare time working on my dream, writing.  I do get stressed on occasion, and I even get upset, sad, angry, or frustrated at times.  But I still revert back to happy. 

Happiness is a decision we make.  Sometimes all we need is to start pretending to be happy.  Do things that are selfless and make you feel good.

1.  I always stop at a lemonade stand.  I try to stop at every lemonade stand I see.  Kids who set their little tables up in the summer heat and sit out there for hours dreaming of all the money they are going to make should be encouraged.  They are dreamers.  They believe that by the end of the day they are going to be so rich.  Dreams should always be encouraged.  Dreams should never be squelched.  Dreams can come true, and dreamers are happy.

2.  I always stay through the credits.  I have two reasons for this.  First, I was burned on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  There are too many great vignettes at the end of a movies credits for the die hard movie goers.  If you didn't stay through the end of The Avengers, then you are probably kicking yourself now.  Secondly, we all like to be recognized.  Whoever was the Lead Best Boy is a nobody to most people, but for that movie he got some recognition.  I like to read through the names so that someone can be recognized for their work.  Granted my wife and I often make of those names.

3.  I like to go outside.  Inside is great.  I enjoy the air conditioning, television, and indoor plumbing.  But outside is reinvigorating.  Scientists will say that the sun provides a sufficient amount of Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is essential in healthy living.  It actually helps fight depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders.  Additionally, the world outside is amazing.  I love to sit outside and write in the early morning as the birds are out.  It makes me feel good.

4.  I like to eat well.  Fat kid likes to eat.  I enjoy food, and while I occasionally eat crap or fast food, I try to eat good food at home.  My wife and I both are good cooks, and what we make at home is far superior to most chain restaurants.  Healthy food will make you feel better.  Eat some fruits and veggies every now and then.  If you don't like them prepared one way, then get on Pinterest and find a new way to cook them.  There are plenty of new ideas for zucchini and squash.

5.  I like to sing along to 80's music.  My wife cannot stand going to the supermarket with me.  Inevitably there will be a great tune on the overhead music.  She has threatend to divorce me if I break into "Karma Chameleon" or "The Piano Man" in the produce aisle again.  She doesn't mean it.  She actually enjoys the fact that I am happy and secure enough to fake the lyrics to a Great White song I don't really remember.  But try to belt out "Sweet Caroline" without feeling good.  It's not possible.

6.  I like to play.  I love to play.  I play with my kids.  I play with my dogs.  I play with my wife.  Give me some Legos or some action figures, and I can let loose with my imagination.  My kids have always known that I'm the go to guy for fun.  Never get too old to play.

7.  I don't care what you think.  When my kids were younger, I would coach their soccer, basketball, or baseball teams.  I was lucky to have another father who thought like me.  We wanted the kids to have fun.  Winning didn't matter.  Memories did.  When the soccer game hit half time.  He and I, along with two other dads, took to the field to do cartwheels, cheers, and even an occassional lopsided pyramid.  We didn't always win the games, but our kids laughed and cheered us on.  The other teams loved to play us because we entertained them.  Memories are rarely created when we worry about what fools we look like.


Take my advice or don't.  It doesn't matter to me.  But life is a lot easier if you go out and decide to be happy.

Twittering About

 When I first started on Twitter, I was pretty sure I was hating it.  I couldn't for the life of me figure how one could make any connections.  What can you possible say in 140 characters? 

Now I've become extremely adept at saying numerous things in only 140 characters.  I've made great connections, and I have seen steady sales of my title.  I've developed a following of nearly 1500, which isn't a lot compared to Ashton Kutcher or Amanda Hocking, but for my second month being immersed in the Twitterverse, I think it's fairly impressive.

I found that the key to success in these connections that I wasn't sure how to make two months ago.  Now, I'm trying to connect daily to new and old connections.  The trick is to dive in.  Retweet what others think is important.  Mention others in tweets.  Make comments that are meant to leave the reader with a smirk at least.  Reach out and reply to comments that may not be directly related to networking connections. 

Actually converse with people.  Twitter is great for conversing across the globe.  There are times when I'm tweeting with people in New York, Canada, London, Australia, and Texas at the same time. 

Obviously for me promoting my book is the main reason I got on Twitter.  However, as Will Rogers said, "Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far."  Start by pushing other people and their promotion of choice.  Retweet other tweets promoting things for other people.  Very soon, your own promotional tweets will begin to be retweeted, and your promotions will begin to be mentioned.

Once the train starts rolling, continue to retweet and mention others while promoting your goods and carrying on real conversations with new friends and old.

I expect to bump 2000 followers soon doing this.  Then 3000.  Then 5000.  Twitter seems limitless.
 

Finally finished...well, not really finished.

At long last, after all the procrastination, Baptism of Blood is finished.  Well the writing is at least.  Now it's on to the editing.

My first step is to let my favorite editor and critic read it.  My wife.  I want her to make sure that the whole manuscript doesn't sound like complete drivel.  I don't mind some drivel, but I hope to at least sound interesting.  Plus, I may have accidentally renamed a character or two.  That's so embarassing.  It's bad enough i do it to my kids.

Then I get to go back into it and play around.  Revising is the bane of my existence.  I am pretty sure that nothing I write is really that good, so I feel like I have to keep changing it until I find perfection.

But for now, I await Ashlee's edits.  She likes to play dirty because she won't tell me anything till she finishes it.  To make matters worse, she is simultaneously reading George R.R. Martin's A Clash of Kings.  I hope she doesn't compare me to him.   It will be worse than being compared to her college boyfriends. 

With a degree of luck and some hard work, I plan to finish up the editing and revisions by June.  Then it will be time to prepare for release.