Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith

Although some may call this a silly little book, I think it is great!  It gives you the opportunity to enjoy simple pleasures, while at the same time giving you a chance to look at your inner self.  It allows you to just be you!  It is a fun book to work through.  But, I use the word "work," lightly because it is not work at all.   Once you finish the tasks in the book, you have a finished personal journal.  I love the idea of art journaling, and have started several, however, I rarely follow through for lack of ideas.  This little book is really an idea book for creating a personal art journal, and I finished it!

Smile! It will make you feel better!

"A Smile is happiness  you will find right under your nose."-Tom Wilson

If you are sad or feeling down in the dumps, one of the best things to do is SMILE.  I know it is hard to do, but try it, it really does help.  According to Psychology Today, acting happy is likely to make you happy.  They go on to say that happy people show signs of being healthier than pessimist people.  Studies show that pessimistic thinking such as, "I can't do it," or, ""things never work out for me," makes a person more vulnerable to illness.  They have also shown that optimistic people recover better from serious illness or cancer.  If you are a habitual "naysayer"(like me).  Start shooting for a mixture of positive feelings to go along with your normal negative ones.  A good dose of optimism provides hope and when mixed with a touch of pessimism to prevent complacency and with  enough realism, it helps  to determine what we can control from those we can't.  It is certainly worth trying, especially when there is so much to gain. So, smile more often, even when you don't feel like it.  It really does have the power to change bad feelings to better ones!

Happy takes effort!

"Happines is a conscious choice, not an automatic response."-Mildred Barthel

Happiness is definitely a conscious choice.  Today I have had to choose to be happy when I really felt like being sad.  I found out that to get into the Doctoral program at school, it is going to be very tough.  They will only accept 10-12 students a year and the ones that are chosen have to pass a series of tests and interviews and have extensive referral letters.  Now, I don't think of myself as dumb, but I don't think of myself as extremely smart either.  My GPA is 3.60, I feel I can get the referral letters, but to make more than an 1100 on the GRE seems impossible at this point.  Also, when I think about 10 people being chosen out of 500-600 applicants, I don't feel my chances are good at all.  But, I am choosing to not give up, and to not let it get me down.  I am going to continue working hard and to start looking at other schools programs.  Most of them seem to have about the same requirements for their Doctoral program, but maybe if I apply at several Universities, it will increase my odds of being selected.  So, my point is this-Choose to be HAPPY-and stick to it, after all, Happy is a state of mind and we have control over what we choose!  And, just maybe if we hold on to our dreams, we will find the rainbow we have been searching for! Never Never stop looking!