ready... set..... happy!

March 20th is the International Day of Happiness (click for more info) -- and has been since 2013 -- did everyone else know this? How did I miss this? Or maybe I just didn't really take note before. This year, though, I feel like everyone is really looking hard for things to feel genuinely happy about. And while "happy" is sometimes a state that just happens naturally, on its own, more often than not we need to look for ways to find it.

So my challenge is to find "happiness" for Monday at the very least -- and just maybe, finding happiness can become more of a habitual pursuit after that. According to the research, there are 10 keys to finding happiness, summed up in the acronym GREAT DREAM

G - giving
R - relating
E - exercising
A - awareness
T - trying out

D - direction
R - resilience
E - emotions
A - acceptance
M - meaning

There's lots that could be done with this list -- say, set one item as a goal for yourself each day or each week? Try to hit as many as possible in just one day, then repeat? Or pick one or two in particular that seem like reasonable or important goals for yourself and make a conscious effort to focus there for the rest of this month...

AND... if you're looking for the smiley lining in the cloud of current news events, check out CBC's Because News weekly podcast. (Note, March is #trypod month at the CBC where listeners are encouraged to recommend a podcast to friends or family. My civic duty is done.)

Hey, this is not going to happen overnight -- that's why its an annual event and not just a one-time thing!  So, let's do this! Let's get happy!