Marilyn Sprague-Smith, M.Ed. Consultant, Professional Speaker, Author, Facilitator, Certified Laughter Leader

This past weekend my husband and I traveled to the mountains for a family meeting. It’s tradition for his family. This year, we celebrated the 153rd consecutive family meeting with 196 in attendance. At the family meeting, there’s all the fun of a typical family reunion - there’s food, conversation, more food, lots of hugs, kisses, more food and desserts. Did I mention there’s lots of food?

There’s another kind of food, though, food for the soul. Family meeting is like a melting pot of supersize warm fuzzies. Cousins by the dozens express their gladness for being together with smiles, exuberant bear hugs, and gleeful greetings of “Ohhhh, it’s soooooo good for me to see you.” Whether you arrived with a heavy heart from the loss of a loved one or you’re bursting with good news, you’re glad you came because you feel the embrace of love’s tender touch. It’s like your happiness quotient just received its annual booster shot.

What about you? Are you greeting each new day with a supersize warm fuzzy, one that says “Ohhhh, it’s sooooo good for me to see you?” If that’s a stretch for you, here are three tips to help boost your happiness quotient.

§ As you awaken and before you get out of bed, smile and tell yourself “This is a new day. I am blessed.” The smile is igniting the trillions of cells in your body, telling them that all is well and they can focus on doing their healing work for you. The positive self-talk is directing your brain to focus on your blessings, the things you do have.

When you’re focused on what you do have,
you cannot be unhappy about what you don’t have.

• As your feet touch the ground, pause for just a moment and let yourself feel your feet firmly planted on the ground. Tell yourself “I am walking confidently into this new day. I am secure.” You’ll feel a sense of inner strength to meet any challenge. Inner strength helps you eliminate worry, which opens the door for happiness to waltz in.
  
• When you first look into the mirror, look directly into your eyes, smile, say your name aloud and then say something positive to yourself. One of my favorites is, “I say YES to life and life says YES to me!” It’s a quote from Louise L. Hay’s book Gratitude: A Way of Life. When you smile at yourself, you’re more likely to smile at others. Remember, most smiles are started by another smile.

Choose to do things that boost your happiness quotient and soon you’ll feel like you’ve gotten supersize warm fuzzies. It’s kind of like going to family meeting - youngsters sharing hot dogs and beginning a lifelong relationship; sisters sharing years of shared history; and grandpa spending time with eldest granddaughter swinging on the homestead porch swing. It’s the kind of annual boost to your happiness quotient that will have you extending your own invitation to move from smiles to “C’mon, Let’s Laugh!”