How did you wake up today?  How were you feeling?  Were you dreading getting up?  Did you wish you could press snooze and sleep for another hour? Those first few minutes of opening our eyes in the morning can really set the tone for the rest of our day.

What I’ve come to learn is that YOU decide every single morning how your day is going to pan out.  You have a choice every day, every moment really.  Now yes, I guess this is easier said than done.  I don’t just wake up every morning and say I choose to be happy and magically have the perfect day every day.  It’s a practice for sure.

But here are just a few ways that I choose happiness:

Focus on what you have.  Practice gratefulness. Practice gratitude. Every morning you wake up take a moment to reflect on all you have.  Maybe it’s as simple as a roof over my head, or a blanket to keep me warm.  Or maybe it’s for the loving partner sleeping by my side. 

Stop comparing. Oh boy this can be a toughie.  With the several forms of social media we participate in on a daily basis, we are flooded with images of everyone’s ideal image.  Friends traveling to exotic places, family with all the time in the world, acquaintances with expensive possessions, or co-workers moving up in their career.  It can be exhausting scrolling through Instagram if you let it be.  So make a choice.  Stop scrolling or shift your thinking. And come back to being grateful for what you do have.

Remember how far you’ve come.  We can often get so caught up in reaching a goal or making those giant bucket lists that we can forget everything that we actually have accomplished.  I dare you to sit down and write a list.  Think of it as a reverse bucket list.  I think it’s safe to say that you will be at least the slightest bit shocked.

Let go.  How are you spending your days?  In each moment and situation maybe you pause and think, ‘am I happy doing this?’ or ‘is this leading me to a place of happiness?’  If the answer is a big fat NO, then LET IT GO. And commit fully to letting it go, without restraint or guilt.