I saw an article on Facebook titled “Stop trying to be happy”. It said that you don’t try to be angry, you just are, so it should be the same for happiness.
I disagree with this idea: anger and happiness are not the same. If it was as easy to be happy as it is to be angry, there would be many more happy people on the planet…
While searching for more on this I came accross “happiness is just a choice”. The choice is often in how we choose to see our circumstances. And the choice is sometimes hard and may seem nonexistent. Yet the choice is there somewhere.
I am trying to be happier and happier and happier and even happier. My trying is a journey. My interesting point of view is “never give up on trying to be happy”.
And if what you’ve been trying up until now doesn’t work, try something different! (I can help with that!)
I am grateful for more happiness in my life.

I am grateful to remember my gratitude post before the end of the day!
I am grateful for my friends sending me unicorn pictures!

I am grateful for noticing a difference:
Someone who lives close to us acted in a way that seemed violating. At first, I was angry and ready to fight back. And then using my tools, I was able to rapidly take a step back and look at the situation differently. All that within a few hours.
In the past I may have gotten to the same outcome but certainly not that fast.
How does it get any better than that?

I am grateful for my body. My body is a contribution to my life. I get to go to bed late and still be able to get up early and function. Or I get to sit in a car driving for 5 hours and still able to move after that… Thank you body!

Canadians are so courteous: I was waiting for  the bus in this beautiful ordely line-up. I stepped out of the line because the bus arriving was not my bus. I had not seen that a second line was forming behind me. So I was out of the new line. But when my bus arrived, the one guy who was behind me in the old line waved for me to go back in front of him in the new line. How nice!
Being at the front of the line can mean getting a seat versus having to stand the whole way…
I am grateful for courteous people!

I love getting a good book. I had requested this book at the library so long ago that I don’t remember when. And I finally got to go pick it up. It is used by many reader having read it, the cover and the title are pleasing. I can feel the excitement building. I can’t wait to dive into it. I am grateful for good books.

I ran out of butter for my usual breakfast toast (with butter and honey). Looking at what I had, I became creative: I mixed Nutella with coconut oil. It is sooo delicious!  And it’s good for you.
I am grateful for making me laugh. I wonder what else I could create!

I am grateful for a yoga session on Kitsilano beach that included a bit of laughter yoga, followed by a beautiful sunset and then metor shower watching on top of Mt Seymour. How does it get any better than that?

How odd to wake up with the song “Rudolpgh the reindeer” playing in my head in mid-august….
I am grateful for waking up with a happy song in my head. How does it get any better than that?

2015-08-12 Gratitude 100:
Last month, I started getting excited about this post: this is day 100 of posting something about gratitude. It is really fun.
I am grateful I started this 365 days of gratitude and that I made it this far!
What else is possible?
PS: I know from the numbering, it looks like I skipped a few but at the beginning I wasn’t numbering my posts. I started May 5!