The Journey in Pursuit Happiness

Hello world!

Happiness: What is it? How does one attain it and hold on to it?

So many questions. Only one answer: Nobody knows.

But I do know this - happiness is all everywhere you are. Wherever you find yourself, in any position. In any situation, you always have a choice: what are you gonna make of this situation? Are you gonna be happy or concentrate on the negative.

Over the past 7 days; I have experienced happiness in it's truest form.


This time last week, I was headed back to Pretoria from having spent the whole day in the presence of people who really bring out the best in me. My best friend Fe, her boyfriend, my girlfriend and I were at Haartebeesport Dam for some Summer gig that had the craziest line-up you can ever imagine. The very best (and worst) musical talent (and lack thereof) South Africa has to offer.

Granted the night ended waaay too early for us for some inexplicable reasons; but instead of dwelling on that. Remembering that day isn't clouded by that tiny bit of detail. Not because we are acting like it never happened. But because if we chose to focus our attention on the negative, it would definately mess up our recollection of that fantastic (this is my first time using this word in any form of speech, so you know it was just too damn good - look) night.


Again a few days later, the Saturday, had a super chilled picnic with my girlfriend then later the whole gang went out again on a night of ass-kickery in the form of ten-pin bowling. I say ass-kickery with a big grin on my face because I was at the very top of my game. Playing like an endorsement deal was on the line. :)

I was (and still am) having the time of my life. And you can't blame me. I had just had a damn good four weeks at work, and was off (and still am) work for another four weeks. What more could I possibly ask for!? Don't answer that.

Today after spending a good two whole days indoors (internetting) , I decided to go into town just to see what I can get myself.

I got myself a copy of Musiq Soulchild's latest album - OnMyRadio. Playing it right now actually.

Anyway. On my way back from town. I decided to take a stroll in the rain while kicking some killa remixes to some songs playing in my head. Including the new Kid Cudi song titled "Pursuit of Happiness" (may not be new, but rather new to me!)

I may not have found complete happiness, but if I continue on this path; the journey won't be too long.

Halaala!

**edit: almost forgot. Got me these Smoking Bud Rasta in-earphones from Skullcandy:

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20 Day Challenge - The end

So the 20-Day mission finally came to an end yesterday.

Was crazy hectic. I know I haven't really been updating you guys on the progress. I meant to, I swear I did. I've been so damn occupied, I couldn't even dedicate a few minutes to blogging about the days as they went by.

To say I have made some progress would be an understatement.

At the begining of this whole thing, I set out to achieve some things that I think I had always either been putting off or just hadn't done. In pursuit of achieving those, I ended up having done some other things I didn't even plan to.

Now for the details...

1. Design better stuff
   Though I did start work on some designs, I just never got around to finishing them. But I didn't wanna design things and rushing them off onto the internet, without being 100% happy with them. That's the graphic side done.
   The web side of things has proven to be quiet a journey. I'm in the process of designing two websites. One for at work and the other is a design for my business. You'll see both early next year.


2. Be more organised
   I though I had managed to get this done; until for some reason, I misplaced my ID. I guess that's what you get for messing up the organised chaos I had already gotten used to. At least I found it again. :)
   But apart from the ID issue, everything else is nicely organised. My business stuff is in order now. Especially my clothing company.


3. Quit Coke
   This was crossed out at the beginning, simply because I was a bit unsure about putting it up on the list. Not because I didn't wanna quit Coke, but because I wanted to see if I could actually do it. The first 10 days were a complete failure. I remember at some point I had two 2litre bottles in my fridge. LOL. I guess that was the final binge before going 100% cold-turkey. Which I did. (YAY!) I can proudly announce that I haven't had a drop of Coke in over two weeks. I'm back to the soft drink I lived off of back in my high school days - Sprite.


4. Love more
   Done. LOL. What you want me to say? I love more now. In every way. Over the past 20 days, I've gotten somehow closer to everything that's close to me. *if that makes any sense*


5. Achieve more
   No idea how I planned on measuring this. So I can't really say if it's done or not. Hmm... let's leave it at maybe. :)


6. Exceed expectations
   This I can safely say I have done and will still continue to. In all aspects of my life. I guess that old 'mantra' under-promise and over-achieve was in full effect over the past four weeks. Though I wasn't constantly exceeding expectations, I did give it my all. *must remember to look up 'mantra'*


7. Eat Better
   Eish... Ya, well... I tried. Actually I think I failed dismally. The reason I'm saying this is because over the past 20 days, I ate far worse than I thought I would. My food consumption (LOL) wasn't very constant. So I can't really say I was eating any better.


8. Eat more
   Uhm... Even though I wasn't eating better, I was definately eating more. Might not have been more often. But I was definately having huge helpings. Does that count? It was more like mini-binges really. :)


9. Experiment with food
   Done. I ordered, ate and cooked some things I wouldn't normally eat/order/cook. Nothing too abnormal. Just some things I had always put off. Which is what this whole challenge was about - getting things done.


10. Spend more wisely
    Something wrong with the English in that one... Anyway. I managed to become very money-wise during these past 20 days. If nothing else, this is definately one thing I can take away from this whole experiment - having spare money in my pocket. Such a nice feeling. :)


11. Save more
    Done! Can you see this smile on my face --> :) ?? [if not, then see #10]


12. Design more
    Done. See #1


13. Be more
    Well... This I've always been. Just pushed the envelope a bit further this time around.


14. Learn more
    Haven't really learnt too much. I mean, nothing more than usual. Nothing extraordinary. I've always been keen on learning new things, so there wasn't really much of anything to achieve here.


15. Live better
    To me, that translates into having less stuff to stress about. And to be honest, I can't even think of one instance (except for the ID thing) where I was actually stressing or worrying about anything. So yeah, living has been much better lately.


16. Stress less
    *I swear when I wronte #15, I wasn't aware the next one was stress-related. Nice.*


17. Be more aware
    I think the me before this challenge was a lot more laid back and I didn't really pay much attention to a lot of things, especially when it came to my business stuff and where money's concerned. But since starting this whole thing, I've been paying a lot of attention to the finer details in my life. And it has really really paid off. I'd recommend this to anyone.


18. Live more
    I've definately been living more. I've been more impulsive. Done some minor things without thinking twice (like I normally would) about them. It's been nice.


19. Do more
    This was on the list, not only for me to do more for myself, but mostly for the next person. I think I've achieved that. Fully.


20. Try something new
    I dunno if I've done anything new lately. I think I've done the same things I've always done, maybe only a little differently than how I normally would. That's all. Nothing much has changed.
    *Maybe I should try something old next. LOL!*


21. Give more
    I overpaid my taxi guy a while ago. Does that count? LOL. I think what I've given more of has been my time more than anything. That's paid off nicely too. :)


22. Take less
    I don't even think I've been a taker all this time. I just think I have been more aware of what I take. Thereby minimising that more than normal. I can't think of a particular instance where I took less than the next person, but I'm pretty confindent in that I've achieved it.


23. Open more
    I've done this. I think my colleagues will be the first to attest to the fact that I've opened up more of my private life over the past few weeks than in the 12 months I've been here.
    Over the past 2 weeks (the past two Fridays), I've hosted parties for them at my place. That's gotta count for something right? :)


24. Blog more
    Done. But not as much as I would have liked to.


25. Take more pictures
    I think I over-achieved on this one. I was the designated photographer at the parties at my place, so I think that pretty much covers everything.


26. Love her even more
    I do/did and she knows it! :)


27. Design bigger and better stuff
    As you can see, I'm pretty obsessed with designing. Making it's third appearance on the list now. :)


28. Watch less TV
    I think this was in an effort to spend more time staring at my computer screen. I can't say there was much of a change there. But considering I managed to design some things, I can say I did this. Though I feel I should've/could've done more. It's cool though...

All in all, the challenge brought about some nice changes in my life. Made my a +1 better person. I'm not where I wanna be, but I now know what it takes to get there and that it is possible to get there.

Peace and love!

:P

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What I wanted

I wanted to design something.

Something that I'd give to my friends and family. For whatever reason. Not as a Christmas present or anything along those lines.

I wanted to design something that would remind them of me every time they looked at it. Something that would last for as long as it can without ever fading into the background.

Something that would bring some inspiration to them each time they saw it. Motivation to face another day.

I hate the fact that I never got around to getting that idea out of my mind and onto a canvas. I hate the fact that I procrastinated because of lack of resources where I currently live. I hate the fact that the year is coming to an end in a few weeks and I still haven't realised my vision of designing something.

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