Make it a Happy New Year

At a time when most people are dropping the ball on their New Year's Resolutions I have to admit I am just getting started. Being a Last Minute Lucy I procrastinated on my list. The list has but one item on it and that is to be Happy!

There are no big happenings planned to achieve this goal. No changes in job, marital status, or dwelling. I welcome changes in body image or just body but am not putting all my happiness eggs in the basket of whether I can shed the extra twenty pounds that have stuck to my body like some extra adhesive super glue.

Instead the hope is that being happy lies within me and the small decisions that are made every day, in forgiving myself when I fall off the happiness wagon, and in finding an easier way to get back on track without letting others keep me off too long.

It could be all about awareness and being still long enough to not react in an unhappy way. The world is full of instants. Everything has to happen in an instant and immediately or something may be missed. What is missing is the time to process thoughts or develop long term plans. Sometimes magic moments are missed because too little time is spent thinking something through. It's hard to keep one's eyes wide open to see what's ahead of us if we don't have time to take it all in. And then there are other people who want to mess with your happiness. Don't give your power of being happy over to someone else. Most of how people behave or what they say is more about them then about you anyway. Don't let another persons behavior mess with your happiness.

Reverend James Martin, S.J. wrote in America Magazine that "There are five things you can do to be happier."
1. Be Kind.
2. Relax a little bit more.
3. Be a little bit more Grateful.
4. Enjoy Nature More.
5. Pray just a tiny bit more

What ever it takes to be happy choose it over the alternative. There are things that make us sad and it's hard to be happy when we are grieving or when other people are hell bent on making us miserable. It's important to find out what helps us during these times and return to ourselves. This is my resolution for a Happy New Year, this year and every year to come.

So here it is the one item on my Resolution List: Be Happy. If none of this works I can always watch Caddyshack or an episode of Modern Family. Nothing makes me happier than a good laugh!

Magda