What Makes You Happy?

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."– Omar Khayyam 

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What makes you happy?  Simple question, but one that is worth thinking about.  What makes you happy in this moment, for as Omar Khayyam declares, this moment is your life.  At the moment I am smiling and feeling happy.  The sun is shining, the view from my window where I sit writing is beautiful, and I love to write. So it's easy to be happy in this moment.

What makes me happy in that larger sense, well that's pretty easy for me too.  My sons.  I only have to think of my two sons, and a smile spreads across my face.  They are on the other side of the Earth from me at the moment, and that tugs at my heart and tempers my happiness a bit.  But nothing can take away the joy that those two amazing young men bring.  They make my heart sing . . .  in loud operatic ways!

Professionally I have a lot to make me happy.  Today I saw people who like books by Julia Cameron, Brené Brown and Anne Lamott also like my book, This Way Up.  That makes me really happy. What an affirmation!

This gives me a real feeling of accomplishment and achievement, which is one of the places happiness sits.

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."

- Franklin D Roosevelt

It was my great pleasure to be interviewed on the topic of happiness recently by Sarah Jordan.

You can Listen to the Podcast Here.

We talked about an array of topics but really focused on happiness..what it is, the benefits, and how we tend to block it.

I'll close this post with a wonderful Ted Talk that has been around for awhile. Cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff looks at happiness -- the ways we try to achieve and increase it, the way it's untethered to our real circumstances, and its surprising effect on our bodies. It's interesting and informative and well worth the watch.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W2dsnhC18Q[/embed]

I'd love to hear what makes you happy.  What are you happy for in this moment? What brings you happiness in your life?

And as always, thank you for taking the time to visit.  I appreciate it.