Overjoyed.

I am so incredibly happy right now. Nothing particularly fantastic has happened. In fact, this weekend I haven't really done much of anything. But I made a choice to be happy, and I am! It makes me really sad for the people who choose to focus only on the negative in their lives. Every single human being has bad and good things that happen to them. It's part of life. Whether we are going to love life or hate it, is ultimately our decision.  

Over this past year, I feel like I have grown as a person in many ways. I no longer care what people think of me, and I don't try to change myself to 'fit in'. I want to surround myself with people who like me for who I really am and not who I pretend to be. I imagine that gets very tiring. I have more self confidence. I believe in myself, if I have a dream or goal, I believe that I can achieve it even if it takes a lot of hard work. If I fail, which I know I will many times, I will get back up and try again. Going to Sweden and being away from my 'normal' life for 3 1/2 months really helped me put everything into perspective. So many things that upset me were meaningless. It was so refreshing coming back realizing I can be who ever I want to be. I don't have to worry about the same things my friends and classmates worry about, I can try to help them, but I don't have to get involved in any sort of drama or contention. 

Happiness, there are many things that make me happy. I found myself thinking quite frequently last year, I will on be happy if........ But if I kept on thinking that way, I would never be happy. I would always be waiting and waiting to be happy. Now, everyday I find at least one thing to be happy about. Maybe it is sleeping in one extra hour, going to get frozen yogurt with Kaya and having a good talk, singing in the car with Katy, teaching Boston a new trick. Yesterday I got to hold this adorable baby girl, and that just filled my heart with joy. 

I guess what I am trying to say is, there is happiness everywhere. God made beautiful flowers, and the ocean, adorable baby's like the one above for our personal happiness. Not his, ours. He wants us to be happy.

My sister Kaya just came back from India, and they live in such terrible poverty there, I can't even imagine what it is like. She told me they have nothing, yet they are so happy. We have so much and yet so many people including myself sometimes have a difficult time finding happiness. I encourage everyone reading this to just take a few minutes every day to find happiness. It makes such a huge difference in every aspect of your life and everyone who you interact with. 

BE HAPPY! :)