Forget Your Troubles Come On Get Happy!

We have a new blogger with us this week on ToT. Danielle, Sarah and I went to high school with Leah and she is Michelle's BFF. She is a very sweet gal who is doing more than I could ever imagine....she's got 3 kids UNDER 3 and works full time outside her home. Um, can we say super mom? Welcome to the group Leah!
Also, Tish will be blogging with us for the first time this week. Tish joined us way back when, and now that some technical difficulties are fixed she is able to officially join the fun. I personally don't know Tish, she is a friend of Charlotte's-who I also don't know. I'm sure she's fabulous and I can't wait to read her blog. Welcome Tish!

Well, now onto the topic at hand, today's ToT topic is.......According to The Happiness Project, some people theorize we are happiest doing what we loved when we were kids. What were you doing at age 10 that you LOVED? Are you doing that now? If so, how does that impact your daily happiness? If not, how can you bring some of that back into your life?


Hmmm, age 10. That was a long time ago. What was I doing at age 10? Sarah, what was I doing at age 10? She probably remembers....she has a better memory than me and we have been joined at the hip since Kindergarten. So, whatever I was doing at age 10, she was probably doing too!

Really, I have been thinking a lot about this topic. Age 10 is hard. I feel like that is a time when kids are starting that change into preteens. Sometimes girls get snotty at this age. Sometimes boys and girls start to notice each other in a different light at this age. Sometimes kids (girls especially) are starting to notice the change in their bodies and that can be difficult. Sometimes kids (again girls especially) are noticing that their bodies are NOT changing yet and that can be difficult. So, I feel like 10-18 are hard years of changing from a kid to an adult. And for a lot of people, remembering that time can also bring back a flood of terrible memories that make you not so happy.

But, as hard as it is starting that transition from kid to adult, there are also so many wonderful things about age 10. You still get to go out to the playground and run around like crazy with your friends. You are really starting to develop your own tastes and personality. You get to spend your summer break at home being lazy or running around with your friends. You are starting to get a taste for the independence that you crave. At 10 you are now double digits....and that, my friends, is a big deal. I have 2 nieces that are 10 and 11 and hitting double digits is a right of passage!

So back to what was I doing at 10 that made me happy........I can remember sunny days on the school playground and swinging. I loved the swings! I can remember summers and starting to sleep in and being lazy and watching TV all day. I can remember going to camp and meeting all sorts of kids my age and having a blast for an entire week. But, what I remember most of all is music. This was the first time I had really developed my own taste in music separate from my parents. And I'm not saying that I had good taste, but it was my own....I'll claim it! I remember "taping" songs from the radio, making sure that I listened to the "Hot 9 at 9" on the local station so I could hear my favorite songs. Also, this is a big one folks, I remember getting my first real tape-Hangin' Tough by New Kids on the Block. I'm pretty sure that I wore the tape out. I would sit on my floor with my pink radio and play certain songs over and over and over again and singing my little heart out. Those songs would make me happy when I had a bad day at school or a fight with my mom and dad. Those silly little songs, that had to drive my parents and my brother C-R-A-Z-Y, took me from my little pink bedroom with pink carpet in Indianapolis to playing concerts for millions of fans in some fantastic city.

Joey was my favorite. I still have my huge Joey button! What a hunk, right?

Last summer, I had the chance to go to a New Kids on the Block concert. It was amazing! I went with some girl friends, none of whom I knew at age 10, and we had a blast rocking out to those songs from so long ago. Remembering all the lyrics and dancing and hearing those oh so familiar tunes, just transported me back. Now some things were not the same.....you could tell that NKOTB knew their fan base was not 10 year olds, but 30 year olds. Some of their new dance moves were a little bit more adult. They made me blush! But all in all, I loved it. I would do it again. To remember what it was like to be so carefree and not have to worry about money, bills, health, politics, and social issues. To just enjoy the little things!

Now, while I don't listen to NKOTB much anymore, I do still find joy in music. My taste has changed.....thank goodness. I still rock out at home or in the car to music....just ask Nolan and Georgia! And I believe that my love for fun tunes has been passed on, Georgie rocks out in the back seat just as much as her Mama in the front seat.

And while I've studied vocal performance in college, I found that didn't make me happy. I loved learning the music, listening to the music and singing the music, but I just don't love performing the music in front of a room full of people. I let my nerves stand in the way. In my teens and 20s I tried to fight my nerves because frankly, I'm a good singer....not to toot my own horn or anything. But anyway, I finally gave up fighting the battle of my nerves and just moved on to enjoying music the way I want to enjoy it. And that is sometimes singing solos at church, singing with choirs, enjoying our congregational singing in harmony at church and rocking out in the car with my family!

Now check out what made SarahDanielleMichelleCharlotteLeah, and Tish happy when they were 10. I wonder if NKOTB made them as happy as they made me!!!!

Comments

  1. Ahhh! The pink radio! Why does my blog (yet to be published) also include taping songs off the radio? Weren't we something? :)

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  2. I loved NKOTB, too. I think it was a rite of passage for girls our age. Joey was also my favorite. I had a pillowcase with his face on it. He was so dreamy. Also-the hot 9 at 9 brings back some memories as well.

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