"It's not what you know, it's what you do with what you know." ~Unknown

I'm not an authority on happiness. I am not a therapist or counselor. I am simply an average woman who has worked hard to make the best of every situation. Some might think I'm just lucky and that's why I can be happy. Yep, I'm lucky. I have so much to be thankful for I couldn't even begin to share the full list here: health, motherhood (I am the mother to a healthy, well-rounded, gorgeous, teenaged son), a loving family, an abundance of great friends, education, a career I LOVE, job security, my own home, my own car, I live in a free country safe from most natural disasters, the sun is shining, I have the day off work...

But life hasn't always been easy for me. There have been periods in my life when I felt like giving up. When I felt like the universe had given me just about enough and I couldn't take it anymore. And while there have been times when I've been down, I have never allowed myself to wallow in negativity. There is ALWAYS a positive side. The author of The Book of Awesome (GREAT read by the way), Neil Pasricha said "You have two choices 1.) you can swirl and twirl in gloom forever or 2.) you can grieve and then face the future with new and sober eyes." You can see him speak on Ted dot com.

When I was going through infertility and preparing for Invitro Fertilization, I wrote a blog about my experience. Not only was it incredibly therapeutic for me, I learned I was a source of knowledge and comfort for other couples. How incredibly rewarding for me to be able to help myself and others!! I love helping others...it's just who I am.

So that's my objective. To blog about what I'm learning about being happy and perhaps share my knowledge with you. I think you'll find my awarenesses will not be earth shattering or unique. I think we will learn together that it's all common sense. I hear my friends say that all the time, "Oh, I read that book. It was just common sense." It's true, we already know this stuff, but what do we do with this awareness? How do we apply what we already know to our day to day life? I believe it's the small changes and gestures that will contribute to overall happiness. Gretchen Rubin talks about breaking down goals into smaller, concrete, measurable actions that contribute to your overall goal of happiness in her book The Happiness Project. She calls them resolutions. I love her book! And I love the group of girls in my Happiness Hour club who are reading the book together. Here are 5 small things I committed to right away that have optimized my happiness. What could your 5 resolutions be?
1. Make my bed every day
2. Cut clutter (organize closets, cupboards, drawers)
3. Do something physical at least twice a week (run on the treadmill, go for a walk, tap dance class)
4. Surround yourself with positive people (this does mean I need to avoid some phone calls and I'm working through a better solution than this)
5. Act happy.