Happiness is …

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

While we’re focusing on optimism and positive thinking this week, we might draw some inspiration from countries that seem to master it. Finland continues to rank first place in the World Happiness Report, with other Scandinavian countries topping the list as well. What’s going on up there? You can learn more here.

In today’s quote, Elizabeth Gilbert suggests that happiness is an active noun. She believes happiness is something all of us can work toward or cultivate. We can even “insist” on it. We don’t have to wait for it to show up in our lives. Where will you look for happiness today? ~CL

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