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".