Staying positive is work! But well worth it!

Staying positive is not easy, it's tough. It's work. It's similar to relationships, keeping in shape, school. You have to work at it daily in order to stay on track.
People sometimes ask me why I'm happy all the time. Well, um, I choose to be...? I shouldn't say that with any resistance. That's the honest answer! I'm happy because I choose to be! And I work at it!
I was thinking about this the other day and realized how many ways I work at being happy. There are a number of different ways I go out of my way to stay positive.

Positively Positive is a great way to train your attitude!

About every 3 months, I go to Postively Positive's Facebook Page or website and copy and paste their inspirational statuses all over my work calendar. At 3:10 pm on a Tuesday afternoon, my phone beeps. It might be for a conference call coming up, other times it beeps with a great quote. Every Monday morning at 10:35 am, I have a weekly pop-up that says "New Week + Positive Attitude = Great Opportunity". We get so caught up in everyday calls, bills, meetings, etc. that we need reminders of why we go through all of this. I take the time every couple months to sprinkle my calendar with these fun pop-ups to help remind me.

My Life Jar
My daily fortune cookie :)

I love quotes and I love surprises so naturally, I love fortune cookies! I decided to make my own little version of a fortune cookie with "The Life Jar". After using a glass gallon jug (you know the kind the old orchard apple cider comes in) for change/coins, I decided some of these quotes might be more valuable than the money in the jar. So I went online and collected many quotes, all different topics. Friendship. Laughter. Wisdom. Sex. Goals. Education. Children. Purpose. Fame. Prayer. Business. Rest. God. Money. Health. And the list goes on....I cut all these up into the size of the paper found in a fortune cookie. I filled the jar with quotes and put it on a shelf in my office.
There's 2 rules of the Life Jar:
#1: You only get one quote a day.
#2: You have to share it with someone. Drop it in someone's purse. Text It. Tweet it. Mail it. Leave it as a tip. Just pass it on.

It's fun to see friends/family that stop over frequently go straight to the jar to get their daily quote. Someone said it's a great idea to market. Eh, for now, I'm just enjoying the little inspiration it brings when I need it.

Sarah Young's "Jesus Calling",
a 365 Daily Devotional

Probably the biggest part of the happiness in my life is God. Having God's love in my life is what makes me glow and gives me purpose. In the morning, I take a couple extra minutes to read my devotional (that I've talked about before: Jesus Calling by Sarah Young). I take the time to read and digest the text daily because I see the positive effect it has on me. The words in the daily devotional remind me of God's love for me, how I can help others, how to avoid negativity and drama, etc. It helps me decide where I want my mindset for the day. I can't express enough how much I treasure this book.

In addition to my daily devotional, I enjoy many uplifting books like many others do. Some of my recent favorites are "The Happiness Project", "Everyday A Friday", "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and "Think Big".

Everytime I spin my "I am grateful..." ring, I'm reminded
how blessed I am! At this moment, I was grateful for
my good friend Gary Goldstein aka Uncle G and what a great
role model he is to me. Also, how can you not be thankful for
a killer view like his? Gary's Santa Monica condo overlooking
 the ocean!

In November 2011, I received the coolest gift from my good friend Gary Goldstein. I was helping Gary for an afternoon and I came by this cool postcard that said "I am thankful for...YOU!" Gary gave me a ring that reads "I am grateful for..." The postcard goes with a ring designed by a woman named Jenny Craig (cool name, eh?). The ring actually spins. So ladies, you know how we catch ourselves playing with our jewerly? Well, everytime you play this with this ring, it spins. And when it spins, you have to think of something you're grateful for. After Gary saw how excited I was about these rings, he gave me a handful to give out as gifts. These rings are such a unique reminder to be thankful for all we have in our lives! You can order or find out more about them at Live Your Power's online store.

Lesson: Staying positive and finding happiness is not always something that just comes easily. You have to work at it. 90% of it is learned by how you tune your attitude.

How do you stay positive?

_______________________________________________________

SaraHHouse365 | Thankful
SaraHHouse365 | Forgiveness
SaraHHouse365 | Zig Ziglar

home vs. house

This afternoon I spent with one of my very favorite families: The Mr. Robert & Jacquelyn Larson family who I refer to ask "Bob & Jac" (sorry, Jacquelyn). I met Jacquelyn and her daughters Tara and Maggie last June when we all were teachers at Calvary's Vacation Bible School. Tara is now one of my closest friends, Maggie "Marge" is like another sister to me and Bob and Jacquelyn have been my "California parents". Bob and Jacquelyn moved to Lake Sherwood a few months ago in December 2011. They went from a 3,500+ sq. ft. home to nearly a third of that. It might be a downsize on the square footage of their beautiful home in Thousand Oaks but definitely an up-size in their beautiful view of Lake Sherwood! Personally, I love the size of the new place; it makes it more homey and cozy in my opinion.

898 Lake Sherwood Dr.

 Tonight as I left their home, I looked over at the big empty estate next to them. This estate is HUGE! It's a beautiful piece of work and it's a shame it's not occupied. I went home and looked at a few pictures of it off the real estate website tonight.
The home is side by side with the Larsons, maybe 5 yd. between. Tonight, if that home would've been occupied, they would've been able to glance into the Larson's TV room and saw all of us sitting around, laughing and chatting.
The Larsons' have fixed up their new lake house to the most beautiful cozy place! I absolutely love spending time at their place, why? Because of them, the Larsons! Sure, the view is gorgeous and they're surrounded by celebrities and millions of dollars but that's not why I enjoy going there. At the end of the day, it's the people in a house that make a home!