Create Your Own Sunshine

Happy Sunday! As many of you know I have been in the habit of playing Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" every morning for the past few years. Depending on the morning I may put this on repeat several times! This morning, while mending my running tights (...and practicing my surgical knots, which I still do every time I sew :-)) I was listening to Bishop T.D. Jakes talk about Happiness. My ears perked up and I sat down with my tights and sewing box so that I could pay attention. This morning Bishop Jakes' show was focused on Happiness and he shared "Five Keys to Happiness" that I wanted to briefly share with you:

• Own your own happiness

• Challenge your own story

• Enjoy the journey, not the destination

• Make relationships count

• Balance work with play

If you haven't heard or read Bishop Jakes' message I have included the link to a YouTube video when he discussed this with Steve Harvey above. One of the reasons I wanted to share this with you today is that the holiday season and the upcoming New Year is a time when people often reflect on happiness and what it means to be happy. I won't start the debate about what happiness means because I do think that it is happiness has a different meaning for everyone. What I took away from Bishop Jakes this morning are the five points above. Happy lives within you and involves enjoying the people that are part of your life, the things you do that bring you joy and the joy your bring to others. Happiness is not a destination, it's a journey. There will always be challenges along our journey and these challenges will provide us with an opportunity to grow, to become stronger and wiser and maybe even to rethink how it is we define happiness.

Now I'm off to the gym for a leg workout so I can tell you that Pharrell and I will be singing the "Happy" song for the next hour or so. Be happy and have a wonderful week!