Finding The Happy?

This week we celebrated “International Happiness Day“.  A day where everyone is invited to join the movement to create a happier world.  Did we though?  Did you?  I sure didn’t.  For me, this past Monday was a big old grumpy blur.  In reality it was just another manic Monday and I don’t think I did my part to contribute to International Happiness.  Thanks to my sour mood I might chalk up last Monday as one of my worst Monday’s on record.  Not because anything in particular went wrong, but because I’m fresh off a trip to Cancun and re-entry into the real world can be brutal!

So now, here I sit, three days late to the party and clearly way behind in my “Happiness Celebration” and I have a burning question.  Do we celebrate every damn thing now?  Without exaggeration, it seems there is a day for just about everything.

• March 23 – National Chip and Dip Day – actually I could get behind this one
• June 2 – National Go Barefoot Day
• July 27  – Take Your Plants for a Walk Day
• September 22  – Elephant Appreciation Day
• December 5  – Day of the Ninja
• December 7 –  National Cotton Candy Day
• January – Dress Up Your Pet Day
• Feb 26 – Tell A Fairy Tale Day

Need I say more?

Of course, when I stop being so grumpy and take a moment to reflect.  Perhaps “International Happiness Day” isn’t such a bad idea.  If we were to take a moment to pause, to think about one’s state of happiness, it couldn’t be a bad thing.

As long you don’t end up is a state of sadness.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said; “Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived.”   My goal:  To live life well and to find the true joy in every day.  So instead of putting the pressure to be happy all on one singular day, today I bring to you a list of little things bringing me joy.  I don’t think happiness can be achieved in one day but I do think if we pay attention to the little things that make our lives brighter, we could find ourselves coming from a place of happiness more often.

Here are the little things that have helped me smile this week:

• Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream.  An entire container just for me.  Don’t judge.
• Family dinner nights.  Bonus points if it’s take-out!
• Dreaming and planning that next vacation.  Always.
• The first cup of coffee every day.  Nothing beats that first hot sip.
• Finding a great book. (and the time to read it)
• Date night with my SassyHubby.
• Scoring a parking spot up near the front of the mall.  Love.
• Buying coffee for the people behind me at the Tim Horton’s Drive-Thru and just driving away.
• A new manicure.
• Fresh linens on the bed.
• Late night movies and hot buttered popcorn.
• Friends who are there…no matter what.

This list of things, it may not seem like much, and it may change day to day, but when you know each one can help you find your smile, when you are lucky enough to be laughing more than crying, perhaps only then can you say you are living your best life.

As I try and celebrate my own kind of “International Day of Happiness” – looking for the joy in every day – I will try to remember to laugh out loud,  appreciate my friends, be thankful for my health, play with abandon, choose with no regret, live as if this is all there is and love with my whole heart.  For these are the things that make me happy.  Well that and ice cream.