A hundred things for a better life

At the end of last year, when I was contemplating my intentions for 2020, I thought about how weight and diet had always been part of my life. In my ever-lasting search for weight loss truth, I even became a weight loss coach. But the quest no longer interests me.

It is not that I do not want to be at goal weight, but not against every price. I tried to, but it was not worth it and it did not create a better life. To be at that weight is costing me too much. I started to wonder if it would be so bad if I would never reach that so sought after goal.

What is more important? Reaching a goal weight and having to fight to sustain it, or having a higher weight and living a carefree life? It was pretty mind-blowing what was going on in my head because my True Self answered that question right away. Deep down I want an effortless life and to be happy.

Because I do not believe in sitting around feeling effortless, I thought about what might make it joyful. It was then that my coach suggested creating a list of a hundred things that made me happy. We look for simple things, with a couple of hard stuff in between.

The meaning of the list is not to be finished by the end of the year. That would make it work. The list is a source of joy for when I need it or want to fill my life with some additional meaningful experiences. It took some time to make it, but I think I have some fun and joyful things on it and I look forward to taking on the challenge.

Over the coming months, I will bookend (report) about things I’ve done in separate blogs and strike them off my list. Some items will be a one time experience, and others may grow into habits. Let’s see where it will take me.

My 100 list

1. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy and blog about them
2. Declutter the attic
3. Declutter the garage
4. Buy a new house (and sell the old one)
5. Make monthly plans and evaluate them
6. Pull a monthly card as part of the month
7. Go to my friend Karen in the United States (scheduled for June 2020)
8. Attend a workshop by Abraham-Hicks (scheduled for May 2020)
9. Go sailing with Anton
10. Visit the market in Groningen
11. Visit the market in Leeuwarden
12. Visit the Hortus Botanicus in Haren
13. Create the effortless life food plan
14. Go on a boating picnic
15. Go shopping in Zwolle
16. Visit a hammam
17. Visit a new beach
18. Visit a national park
19. Add two extra levels of Swedish in Duolingo
20. Bake a cake
21. Eat a vegan meal
22. Bake a sourdough bread
23. Go to the movies with Anton
24. Go to a wine tasting at AB’s shop
25. Have a high tea
26. Cook a meal for friends
27. Grow tomatoes
28. Declutter my computer
29. Declutter my email program
30. Meditate every day
31. Draw a daily tarot card
32. Do a self-love tarot experience
33. Eat a healthy meal every day
34. Plan my meals every day and bookend them with my buddy
35. Go plogging (Google it!)
36. Study astrology
37. Do a full tarot reading every month
38. Meditate for an hour
39. Meditate for three hours
40. Learn watercolor techniques
41. Send someone who needs it a letter
42. Send birthday cards
43. Do an online course
44. Do a jigsaw puzzle
45. Do a full no-spend week
46. Find a new podcast and binge-listen
47. Bake a beer bread
48. Declutter DVD’s and CD’s
49. Do a maintenance walk-around before the house goes on sale
50. Go for a hike with marrekrite.nl
51. Declutter the websites
52. Create a time-capsule
53. Scan old photos and create a photo book
54. Do the MyHeritage DNA test
55. Go geocaching with geocaching.com
56. Take a nap
57. Have facial
58. Donate three appliances I no longer use
59. Research the family tree and find a cool detail
60. Finish a difficult sudoku
61. Finish my book
62. Read a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
63. Watch an Oscar-winning movie
64. Binge-watch a new (to me) Netflix series
65. Write a letter to my future grandchildren
66. Go to a sauna
67. Play the piano
68. Clean out my closet
69. Donate stuff to charity
70. Reread three books I’ve stored in the attic before I donate them
71. Go on a weekend cycle trip
72. Create healthy-er icecream
73. Make cider
74. Go for ten early morning swims
75. Buy veggies at a farm
76. Organize a barbecue party
77. Plant something that we can eat from each year
78. Make iced coffee on a hot day
79. Create a meal in an Instapot or Slowcooker (don’t have one)
80. Knit a thick blanket for cold evenings
81. Attend a PV meeting
82. Drink 2 liters of water every day
83. Replant the Swiss Cheese plant (Philodendron Monstera) in one bigger pot
84. Make a Christmas wreath
85. Attend a Brussen Day
86. Organize a Brussen Day
87. Take new headshots
88. Republish the tarot book (maybe in another form)
89. Whiten my teeth
90. Do a weekly evaluation
91. Plan dinners for the whole week and get groceries
92. Go canoeing very early when at the houseboat
93. Write a fictional story
94. Sleep in a weird B&B
95. Donate blood
96. Buy something cool from Etsy

It is funny to see how I have seriously up-leveled my life already by deciding that happiness is more important than a goal weight. Since I made this list at the beginning of January, some things can now be stricken off because they do not feel right anymore. Activities like fast for a whole day are not conducive to what is right for me since I’ve concluded that an action like that comes from a diet mindset. Since I now have a happiness mindset, I’ve replaced it with Buy something really cool from Etsy.

Photo by Olenka Sergienko