This week we will be grateful for all the goodness in our lives but especially the goodness within ourselves. It is usually easier for us to see goodness in others (and yes other stuff too -- but we're concentrating on goodness right now).

It is a wonderful time to be grateful for you -- the gift you are to your friends, family (even if times can be challenging with family), and to the entire planet.  What are some of the qualities that your friends, co-workers and family value about you?  You could even ask some of them.

Be on the lookout for times you are generous, forgiving, good humored, creative, playful, come up with an interesting solution to a problem, choose peace & happiness over being right (makes life much easier, you know), etc.

Do all of this as an experiment -- even if it makes you squirm a bit (squirming is good for you -- it gets the blood and oxygen flowing and improves the immune system -- I just made that up, but who knows, maybe it's true).

One thing is true -- we are much too critical of ourselves.  We deserve to be more loving with ourselves and the more goodness we see, the more things we will see to appreciate about ourselves. This will also be a gift to those we love.  As we see more to appreciate in ourselves, we will just naturally also look for the good in others.  And, when we aren't acting too wisely, or with mcuh goodness, please remember there is a small child, within each of us, that's just needing some kind attention.

Much love & laughter,
The Happiness Sprite & Spruce

 Be on the lookout for smiles, giggles & laughs.  These can be the regular kind (which are all so wonderfully unique) or the really secret kind -- flowers giggling in the breeze, cats smiling at how cool they are.

We are hard wired to respond to smiles with a smile on our face  -- beware -- the more you catch sight of all the smiles, laughs, & giggles around you, the more you will probably join in.

Hello Spritely One,

This week we will keep it simple, by simply saying, "Thank you." Just thinking about how beautiful and powerfully transformative this is, and how cool it's all going to be, makes my wings start sparkling a rainbow of colors.

Simply saying, "Thank You," several times a day can transform your life.  You don't even need to be thinking of anything you're grateful for when you say it.  Just say, "Thank You," and see what comes to mind.  My friend Spruce was doing this while driving her car this morning and found herself being grateful for the colors of the sky, for the people in the car ahead of her, for the interesting shapes of the buildings she was passing, for the wonderful salad she had just picked up from Whole Foods.

You don't even need to know who or what you're thanking, simply say, "Thank you," and see what happens.

Happiness Sprite Tip

Have, "Thank you," be your mantra, your spiritual practice this week.  Say it just for the sheer pleasure of saying it.  Say it when you experience something or someone you are grateful for.  Say it to yourself and for yourself.  Say, "Thank you," and transform your world.

Thank you, for your Spritely presence in my life.

Have a lovely week, Dear One, filled with appreciation and gratitude.

THS (The Happiness Sprite)

What many of us are needing, I believe, is a little (or a lot of) playtime & downtime,  some cookies & milk and napping with the rest of the "kids" -- if this is not you -- keep on with your to do list.

Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.  Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty you love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. - Rumi

Happiness Sprite Tip
I, The Happiness Sprite, have just created an acronym for a happier life (and I'm quite pleased with myself).
REST:
Refresh & Rejuvenate.
Ease into what you're doing, one small step at a time (remember to breath -- ahhh).
See the possibilities to create a happiness out of whatever is before you.
Take the time to be in and appreciate this very moment.

Have a wonderful day, Dear One, remembering to REST.
      The Happiness Sprite

Today we are beginning a Grand Happiness Adventure, to make happiness our first priority.  I won't try to define happiness.  You know it when you feel it, but I will say it is a deep authentic experience, that is much larger and truer than the feelings of pleasure we often call happiness.

Manttieu Ricard, scientist and Tibetan Monk, reflecting on authentic happiness: (Ricard has been called the world's happiest man, by scientists who have studied his brain scans -- this is not a title he claims for himself).
If we think of happiness as a way of being...that gives you the resources to deal with the ups and downs of life, that pervades all the emotional states, including sadness.  If you think of sadness as incompatible with pleasure, but is compatible with altruism, inner strength, inner freedom, a sense of direction and meaning of life.

The Happiness Sprite Tips, started in June of 2009 as a weekly email -- not exactly weekly -- she is a Sprite, after all.   The tips are enjoyed by hundreds of readers.  Many readers have replied how much they have benefited from the tips.  Blogging the tips seems like a way to share them with more of you. 

This is a loving adventure to open our hearts, letting the happiness energy just naturally expand and benefit the many, some of whom we know and many who we will never meet, or even know about. 

According to happiness research, setting a happiness intent is key to experiencing a happier life.  Here is a playful tip to help you set that intent each morning:

• Imagine you are putting on your "happiness finder glasses".  What do they look like?  Are they purple with sparkles? Do they have flashing lights? Are they simple and elegant?  You get to decide.
• Go ahead and "put them on".  When you have them on, they will just naturally look for happiness, beauty, people connecting, being kind, patient, playful and loving to each other. 
• Your part in this, is to simply slow down enough to notice and take in what the "glasses" are showing you.  Even a second or two of noticing can be transforming.
  
• From time to time you might find it hard to see these beautiful things.  So just like any glasses, "take them off, clean the lenses and put them back on".  Begin again to look for happiness in it's many forms.

Have a wonderful week, dear one, seeing the world through your "happiness finder glasses".