Christmas is a day everyone looks forward to and celebrates with people they love. Well, today is my Christmas – International Day of Happiness!! A day I look forward to and want to celebrate with the people I love – each of you!
The theme this year is BETTER TOGETHER. Isn’t that the truth?
Last night I went to my Happy Place – Lake Ouachita. It’s still way too cold to swim, but we did a ‘Dinner Cruise’ (really just a fancy way to say we had a potluck on the boat!) My dear friend, Star, brought beautiful daffodils and after dinner we each shared what we were grateful for and then offered the flower to the lake.
What a perfect International Day of Happiness Eve event! ? Because gratitude is one of the most researched and validated ways to get to true, genuine happiness!
And probably the second most researched is this year’s theme – how we’re HAPPIER, AND BETTER, TOGETHER.
I have an eclectic group of friends and the people on the boat last night ranged from a massage therapist to a brilliant film maker; from a tech gadget Youtube star to an internationally renowned flower essence guru.
But interestingly, each and every one of us, on some level, touched on how grateful we were for the friendship, community and love we had with each other. We were grateful for spouses, brothers, sisters, parents and friends and even our pets..
We all acknowledged that people were what really made us happy and gave our life meaning, depth and texture.
As we each shared about the things we were grateful for, other things mentioned were the lake, travel, nature, good food, health and where we were in our lives. Surprisingly, no one said my house, my car, my smartphone, designer clothes or a new pair of shoes….
What makes you happier? Better?
Is it the stuff you own, or is it the people in your life?
I know I am grateful for my home, my car, and all the other essentials that make life comfortable, but what really makes me HAPPY are the people in my life.
I encourage you, on this International Day of Happiness, to take a minute to think about how you are BETTER TOGETHER. Better together with friends and family, with co-workers and neighbors, with community and collaboration. WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER!
Today, make sure you take time to tell the people that make you BETTER how grateful you are for them. It’ll be a true celebration of happiness as not only will it make them happier, it will make you happier too!
Happy International Day of Happiness! I know I’m BETTER TOGETHER with you than I am alone.
Big love,
