happy people

I get the Real Simple quote of the day and today it was this one from Ann Frank:

"Whoever is happy will make others happy too."

Pretty amazing considering what a hard life she lived. I think it so true. I really love being around people who are happy despite their circumstances and Ann Frank is certainly a perfect example of that! I have a friend who suffers from chronic pain- REALLY bad chronic pain EVERY SINGLE DAY and yet the first word that comes to mind to describe her is HAPPY. Whenever I am with her I feel happy too. As a mom I think this is particularly true. I TOTALLY set the mood for my house. If I am pms-ing or irritable - it sucks the joy out of the whole house. Fortunately I realized that awhile ago so I know can do something about it now. (My family is probably really glad about that too!)

A few years ago while going through a particularly hard time as a family we came up with a stupid little game that we called "finding the silver lining". We would go around the table at dinner and name things that had happened that were kinda crappy and try to find something good from it. Example: "Tanner didn't make the basketball team at school but he joined the McKinney Rec team and made some new friends that he really likes" or "Jensen was home sick all day but she got to watch two of her favorite movies and started a good book" ....that kind of thing. It really works. I think one of the best things we can teach our kids is that there is always a bright side to everything. Sometimes you have to look REALLY hard to find it but you almost always can. If I can help them learn that priniciple ( and maybe remind myself of it along the way, as well) and have faith and hope then I know they will be able to handle whatever comes their way as adults.

Here's to all the happy people of the world-thanks!