We are what we think about over time. We are the accumulation of all our attitudes, beliefs, fears, hopes and dreams, all the thoughts that fill our minds on a regular basis. We are our own self-fulfilling prophesy. Our thoughts are the prisons we condemn ourselves to or they are the keys we use to unlock possibility and potential. There are ways to unleash that potential and live a life of deeply rewarding happiness.

Happiness is the byproduct of other things. It is the natural effect of the way we live, the way we think, the way we act and believe. Come take the Happiness Pledge as a commitment to those characteristics that add to happiness and start the process of living with more joy than ever before.

Gratitude, it turns out, is no small issue. It can be life-changing, radically altering the way we see and interpret life. Gratitude is the electricity that ignites happiness. It is the breeze that lifts it. It is the context that allows it. This post is my attempt at enlarging the list of things we are grateful for, at reducing what we habitually take for granted and thereby providing some lift and electricity to our happiness. So take a look below at some atypical, unconventional things on my gratitude list.

Gratitude, like other attitudinal traits, takes practice. It requires consistent reprogramming of your brain until it becomes a natural, automatic response to life’s circumstances. It is at that point that gratitude ceases to be a thing practiced, and starts to be a natural expression of an inner condition of the soul.

Are you an optimist? Do you see silver linings and half-full cups? Optimism is an essential quality for happiness at its potential. The pessimists refrain that “I don’t think things will work out for me” is hardly the recipe for happiness, after all. But what are the basic beliefs of the optimist? Click on in to read my take on the Optimist Creed!

We are what we think. And what we think and how we think it plays a significant role in the happiness we enjoy or in its elusiveness. Do you want more happiness? Come see what ways of thinking will automatically add more joy to your life. Learn to be possibility, long-term, and solution oriented. Think positively and learn to choose the thoughts that fill your mind.

Lincoln struggled with bouts of depression, especially after losing his son to Typhoid. To make matters worse, he had a wife who would fly into fits of rage and verbal abuse. Honest Abe can teach us all about happiness, in part, because he struggled so much with his own.

Growing up with negative pessimists will likely leave an emotional and attitudinal imprint of negativity and pessimism. Growing up around praise and positive attitudes of optimism

Translation “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  ~ Winston Churchill Optimists are happier because optimists are, well, optimistic. Churchill, himself a self-proclaimed optimist, had it

Translation People who reflexively look at life and see hope and opportunity and beauty and noble motives in good people, who see solutions and possibilities in life are simply better off than those who don’t,

Translation Life is experienced differently – even radically differently – by those who generally see the sun peering from behind a cloud from those who generally see a cloud obscuring the sun. The difference between

TranslationUnhappiness is much easier to acquire than happiness. Happiness may create an easier life, but it takes work, self-discipline, developing traits and characteristics that promote it. Unhappiness is the path of least resistance. It is