The Easy Road to Happiness

A song once stated, the best things in life are free, but I disagree. I think the best things in life are earned. There is nothing better than working at something and having it come out well. That being said, my engineering brain is always looking to make any anything easier. Following that logic I started thinking about all the quick and easy items in my life that make me sublimely happy.

How about meals that take only a few ingredients and an process.
Rice Krispy Treats... 3 ingredients, 10 minutes and probably the BEST texture/ taste combination on the planet.
Grilled Cheese... 3 ingredients, 10 minutes and a taste of childhood, or a burned roof of the mouth... blow on it first! BTW, use butter, it is way better.
Instant Pudding... 2 ingredients, ~20 minutes
Fried Eggs... 1 ingredient, 5 minutes... use a seasoned cast iron skillet, medium heat, crack 2 and cook until the white is opaque, flip and turn off the heat. 30 seconds later you have the best damn egg of your life. Come over Ill convert you to an egg lover, but im bringing my skillet.

What about tasks that are quick and easy to do but leave you with a sense of accomplishment.
The 20 minute clean... set the timer and pick up, organize, wash, or clean anything in your house, car, or yard. It is amazing how much you can get done in 20 minutes. You will feel a lot better about your surroundings if you try it. Dump the Saturday cleaning day routine, you won’t need it if you do this 3 times a week. Trust me.
The lunchtime workout... 20 minutes of walking, stretching, hiking, biking, etc. A little bit of exercise in the middle of the has reduced my stress and my blood pressure to a near catatonic state.
Park and walk... park on one end of town or shopping area walk to the opposite end and shop your way back. The walk and carry routine is good for you, you get to enjoy some of the natural surroundings, and I bet it takes you less time than jumping in your car 3 times and finding parking . The variation of this would be to park on the opposite side of the mall and walk across it to the store you wanted to be at. Not all stores/ entrances at the mall are created equal. More people are going into Van Maur than JC Penny, so you can get better parking and the couple minutes of extra walking if always good.

Going along with this idea of small action make the difference; tonight I am going to take the "Power Hour" challenge that was on my "workout of the day" email I get from my Spartan Race signup. Do between 2-10 pushups every minute, on the minute, for an hour. Let’s see if I can walk the walk, or move my arms tomorrow. My goal is 4 a minute for an hour = 240 pushups! Yikes, math sucks.

Stay Tuned!