What makes you happy?

            

As my third cup of coffee is kicking in; I stare off for a moment. As usual, I am sitting in the corner of my well worn micro-fiber couch. My dog, Lucy, is snuggled next to me. Our TV is paused on Food network. My boyfriend, Troy, is sitting at his computer not ten feet from me. It makes me happy that he is so close. Briefly, I wonder, what should I write about today? Should I work on my new novel, Thirteen Choices? Should I write a new blog post for my blog? As I contemplate this, I ask myself, what would make me happy?

 Looking up to my right, I see a stunning bouquet of balloons. Pink. Silver. Black.  And in the middle of the delightful floating balloons, is a special Mylar that reads; Happy Sweet Sixteen! Light glitters and sparkles off all twelve of them in a magical way. My daughter, Ashtyn, turned sixteen yesterday.  I am not sure if she appreciates them as much as I do but either way its ok. These balloons make me smile. They make me happy. It’s amazing and surreal to be a parent of a sixteen year old girl. She’s smart. Beautiful inside and out. She plays first chair violin in the orchestra at her high school and has almost all straight A’s. I even adore her friends almost as much as I adore her. I am one of the blessed, lucky parents. Of course I realize that not one parent out there would say otherwise about their kids.

We’re all lucky and blessed.

            

Repeatedly I strive to count my blessing and to do what makes me happy and to choose joy. I tell my loved ones to do what makes you truly happy and feel good, too. Personally I love to write. I love to run. I love to bake and cook. Each and every day I make a point of doing some or even all of my passions. Writing is number one for me. Whether I write a few chapters for my new novel, a blog posts, or even just a quick message to a loved one of Facebook, I write.  

While enjoying the balloons in my living room, I opened up Pinterest on my phone. I am a total Pinterest addict. I love Pinterest. I look at it when I am bored, when I need inspiration, when I am in line at the grocery store, when I want a new way to style my hair, when I want to make something special for dinner, when I need fashion inspiration, when I want to daydream about a vacation to Italy, when there is nothing on TV, and even when I am watching TV. You get the idea; I look at Pinterest all the time. Today a super cure pair of shoes caught my eye. I love shoes. These were, oh my god, I want these shoes! Dusty blue heels with cream lace leather detail on the toe! They make smile. It doesn’t matter that in order for me to purchase them I would have to pay more in the shipping costs than the actual pair of shoes, because for a few brief lovely moments, I am smiling! I envision myself wearing them at a book signing, at a fancy restaurant with my boyfriend, or even just with a pair of rockin’ skinny jeans to go pick up the kids from school and stop off at the grocery store. They make me smile. They make me feel good and there is never anything wrong with that. If you want to check out my shoe board on Pinterest, here's the link 
Mindy's shoe board: Life is short, buy the shoes!

Today, I invite you to pay attention to makes you smile and to remember to do more of what makes you happy. Whether you just stare off at some balloons, enjoy looking at a fabulous pair of shoes, or a fourth cup coffee, do whatever it is that makes you smile and watch your spirits sore!