Hi everyone!
 

I am *usually* a pretty positive person, and I try to keep an optimistic outlook on the world in general, in the workplace, and in my personal life – although sometimes that is the area where I am not as positive as I should be.  (Right Andrea?  Hahaha!)
 

In any event, I was talking to one of my relatives a few weeks ago, and we got into this discussion where I said I had a positive outlook for 2007 and then she responded by saying she didn't feel the same way, and had a bad feeling for the New Year.  (Ouch, that put a damper on the conversation!)
 

Anyways, her birthday was around the corner, so I went out and bought this book for her called "The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People" by Dr. David Niven.  I ended up skimming through the entire book that night, because it was such a great list of thoughts, ideas, and things to consider.
 

I wanted to share a few of the interesting points raised in this book:
 

Idea 6 – Cultivate Friendships (I would agree with this.  Although it is important to enjoy your job, I really feel that building relationships with friends, family, etc. is one of the keys to happiness.)
 

Idea 15 – If You're Not Sure, Guess Positively (Probably my favourite idea in the book, at least right now.  It is easy to make negative assumptions about things that happen to us and around us.  Since reading this, however, I have really focused on making only positive assumptions if I am going to read into situations, comments that I hear, etc.  And I must say that thinking in this way has really benefited me!)
 

Idea 39 – Busy is Better than Bored (Uh, yeah!)
 

Idea 57 – Be Flexible (I used to be pretty inflexible in a lot of ways, but I think I have learned over the past couple of years, both at work and outside of work, that being flexible will help keep me calm and happier overall, because things don't always go according to plan!)
 

Idea 78 – Don't Forget to Have Fun (I totally agree, and I try to have fun throughout the day, including at work, and I think that is a good thing for me, for others around me, and even for the organization that I work for.)
 

Idea 100 – What Does it all Mean?  You Decide (This is interesting, and I am still thinking about big questions like what is really important in my life, what the purpose of my life is, etc.  I am starting to draw some conclusions on this, but I think this kind of thinking is always a work in progress, at least for me.)
 

I have had too much experience in my life being negative for various reasons, but in the past year I have become a lot more optimistic and positive in most areas of thinking, and I must say I feel a lot better for it!
 

Talk to you later :)