LOVE this idea. 

hebrews-six-nineteen:

Start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that happen. On New Years Eve, empty it and see what awesome stuff happened that year.

“Nobody said that it would be easy…they just said that it would be worth it.” 

Among my musings as I ponder what’s next…

(Source: Flickr / unraveleddesign)

And to make a positive difference :)

(Source: tatteredcorners)

I love having conversations about happiness.

And the more I talk to people who get it  — AKA happy people — the more I am convinced…

Happiness is not a reflection of an easy, charmed or spoon-fed life. It is not a passive state or emotion. And it is not the effect of stimuli like money, achievements or material items in general.

Happiness means being the person I see in my dreams. It is an active project that takes hard work and fierce determination. Happiness is about loving life with all its imperfections and doing what I can to make this an even better world…even if that just means holding the door open or smiling today.

Happiness means looking at my life and actively choosing to focus on the positive and inspiring over the negative and bleak.

Happiness is directly related to God, people, relationships, love, adventure.

I choose happiness. :)

I still maintain that there is no way to make it in a foreign country — especially one with a different culture and language — without a sense of humor and a generous helping of optimism.

I was almost married off over coffee, I still get lost on average once a week, and I still stick out as the “stereotypical foreigner” (as my room mate tells me). 

But it is all one great adventure, right? :)