Happiness is...

....a random gift.  I love bags and I love surprises.  So a totally random gift that happens to be a gorgeous bag is absolutely thrilling in my book.  My mother-in-law saw these Onna Ehrlich bags on GMA.  They are absolutely beautiful.  The leather smells exquisite.  Like that delicious new car smell but on steroids.  I've been using my bag daily since she gave me this surprise gift.  This makes me both very happy and deeply grateful.

When I started posting about happiness a couple months ago, I wanted to do it as a way to take note of the special things around me - both little and big.  My posts about happiness have included everything from this purse to my husband, this blog to our niece, and many more.  Every Monday I get this little reminder.  Every Monday when I launch a post about happiness, I'm reminded to be happy and to enjoy the post.  Every Monday I'm a little tired from the weekend and would love to stay in bed but I realize how lucky I am and that makes me deeply happy and thankful. 

I hope it does something for you too.  I hope it encourages you to think about something or someone who makes you happy.  Because quite honestly, being happy isn't the easy path.  Being happy often times requires more work than just being.  Being happy means not complaining about something that sets you off, not dwelling on something upsetting, and just simply being more fun around others.  Being happy can require a little bit of work but it is so worth it.  So with that, I wish you a happy Monday.   

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

-Abraham Lincoln