Day 15

Today I was grateful for:

1. It's December, and I can now sing carols!

2. A fun morning at the Magic Castle Family Brunch -- Balloonacy and Arthur Trace are awesome

3. A clean house

4. Chocolate Lava Cake at C&O
5. The 4-day weekend

Something learned:

Some years back, I came to the conclusion that for me, being happy was within my conscious control. Granted, it's not quite as simple as thinking "I want to be happy!" and having it be true.

How unhappy I felt really depended on a complex equation that takes into account many different aspects of my life: dissatisfactions, disappointments, etc. Slowly, I learned to rewrite that equation; to start seeing the positives in my life instead of the negatives and to not take personally the things that I couldn't control. When it comes down to it, whatever results in happiness, happens purely in my head, which is why I consider it a conscious choice.

This article is one of many that support my opinion on this: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/ten-things-stop-caring-about-you-want-happier.html

Harking back to a familiar theme, what made this possible was my self-esteem recovering enough for me to start making decisions in my own self interest. Making better choices. Choosing to be happy.

A hope: 

I hope that I figure out how to improve my people skills as I get older. Sometimes, I still feel like there's a cultural barrier that prevents people from correctly understanding my intentions.