Twelve Commandments (reading new book called The Happiness Project)

One thing that I have always longed to do is join a book club. My precious daughter, Jennifer, belongs to one in Connecticut and has always encouraged me to join one. She enjoys it immensely even though she is a busy mom, wife, and R.N. Since I am a voracious reader and love to write as well, I joined a new club via Facebook that Tracy started.

Then, one early Sunday morning I decided to get up and read The Happiness Project. I thought that I should make my Twelve Commandments to fit myself and my life. This would be a great way to complement my book reading and comment on the blog. Read on at the end to see the funny thing that happened on the way to setting up my 12 Commandments...Whew! What a blessing!

Here are my twelve commandments for Jeanne Kay Doss (some are similar to Gretchen Rubin's in her book).
1. Stop obsessing about doing a good job. "Practice makes permanent, not perfect."
2. Let go of ego-attachments; they only cause suffering. "Liberation or enlightenment is not a thing to be attained or acquired. It is living in the moment from the most profound understanding and without egoic attachment to anything."
3. Live in the present moment without rehearsing the past or worrying over the future. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
4. Keep learning. "The more I know just reveals to me the more I don't know."
5. Live the Magic Triad. A kind smile, a kind word, and a kind touch. "Great Expectation 17 practices" Love others is one of the two great commandments that Jesus gave us.
6. Clean away! Some people don't mind that you are a "clean freak." Brian always says, "He knew the job was dangerous when he took it."
7. Grow old gracefully. "Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be!"
8. Stop worrying about what I think. "It can exhilarating or it can be frightening. You soon learn that you are not your feelings, that you can survive your feelings, and that you can empower yourself in healthful ways."
9. Pray more - give advice less to your older children. All five are adults and want to be treated as such. "The more I pray - the less I say makes me a better mom and bonus mom." God forbid that I should be a bad mother-in-law either. I always have wanted to be their best supporter and prayer partner.
10. Play like there is no tomorrow when it comes to my grandchildren. There will always be more on my to-do list, but it never compares to playing with Abby, Ben, Ava Grace, and new baby Hannah Emma Rachel Rebekah Claire Sophia. Stay tuned to find out what new baby Chiodo will be.
11. It is okay to be SO passionate about yoga. Even though some people think it is just easy stretching, I know how awesome it makes me feel. "Yoga not only makes you feel slimmer, it also changes you from the inside out so that you experience life in a whole new way."
12. Be Jeanne Kay Doss. I am not a fake and tell way too much of the truth way too often, but it is really okay to just be me. Pop always said, "Jeanne Kay, you are a Doss now. Be who you really are! Stop apologizing." I miss him every day for he had a unique way to make you feel that you were the only one in the room while he was talking to you.

If I could add one more it would probably be, like Gretchen's, a secret of adulthood...Laugh more often, live every moment as if there was no tomorrow, and love beyond words - just do it.

The new laughing moment came when I had this "aha" moment to write my 12 commandments, I had to log on to my g-mail account. I totally forgot I had one for Tranquility Yoga and had 21 MESSAGES! This might not seem huge to some people, but some of these people really WANT to have me teach them yoga. I never knew until today when I checked this account for the very first time. Please forgive if I have ignored your message; I will be calling you today to tell you how AWESOME yoga is and not be embarrassed on how passionate I am about it.