Happiness – My Daughter’s Request

I asked my 10-yr old daughter what we should write about this week and her immediate response was “happiness”! My girl has the magic formula to always make me happy. She can always anticipate my mood if less-than-perky and stop mid-tracks to give me a hug and a smile. Her smiles and hugs warm me to the core. I think she has already figured out how to be happy in our current day-to-day lives – but I want to make sure she is ready and excited about happiness as she continues to grow and explore worlds beyond 5th grade.

Happiness Word Cloud

My daughter and I shared a fun brainstorm exercise on happiness through building a Wordle word cloud. It’s a quick and fun  (and free) online tool that is perfect for self-expression of an idea. (You can even turn your Wordles into gifts, like my crafty blogging sister did here.)

A Letter to My Daughter

My Dear Amazing Girl,

The biggest wish I have for you as you continue to grow is to be happy. You bring me so much happiness each and every day with your smiles and hugs. You continue to teach me to appreciate the present moment and to treasure our family time together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I see that you are already doing all of the right things for happiness. You share smiles and find the positives in every situation. You keep yourself healthy through healthy food (my berry-maniac girl) and exercise (fastest runner on the block). You care for others (whether it’s teaching your brothers how to brush their teeth or sending notes of encouragement). You take time for yourself to re-energize  You have a thirst for learning and trying new things. You are a dreamer who knows the power of your dreams. Keep dreaming! Keep smiling!

Any time you feel a little sad – remember that happiness is not always in the room – but it is always within reach. Sometimes we need to tread across a muddy path to get to the rainbow…the mud will make the rainbow that much more colorful. You don’t need to search for happiness. Happiness will find you if you continue to treasure the big and small moments in our life and to understand that life experiences all build to give us a rich life.

Always know that you are loved. I love you. Enjoy this moment. Treasure life’s path and continue to give to others with your smile. Follow your dreams.

I wish you a lifetime of happiness!

Mommy

Happiness Resources

If you really want to better understand happiness – here are some great resources:

• “The Happiness Project” – blog and book series by Gretchen Rubin (whom I unknowingly but happily sat next to in a BlogHer 2012 session)
• “How to Boost Tween Happiness & Popularity? Promote Kindness” by Dr Debbie Glasser
• Healthy Habits iPhone App – Timely pairing with New Year’s resolutions – the concept is that you are happier as you incorporate and track healthy actions taken each day
• “9 Things You Can Do in the Next 30 Minutes to be Happy” by Real Simple

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