Choosing Happy + #MyPostMonday The Week's Best Original Content

I am in quite a quandary right now. I enjoyed the best summer vacation--I got to blog, travel, relax, enjoy family, get creative, and develop myself as a person. Then the school year began and although I like my job, I don't love it. And when things get hard, like when one of our staff is gone and we have to do double duty, then I really don't love it. (In fact, it approaches intense dislike) That is why I've been absent here for awhile. When work gets stressful, my routine suffers. I neglect my health more because I don't take the time to plan my eating routine and work out, etc. My husband starts acting really needy because I don't have time or energy to give him the attention he seems to crave. And my blogging suffers because I am tired and am basically in survival mode. 
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Right now, I need to make sure that I have the right mindset because the most important thing for me is that I am happy during stressful times. If it means I need a pint of Haagen-Daas chocolate ice cream, (which I did "need" today) in order to survive and feel like I am happy, then that is what I'm going to do. However, if over the course of a week, my pants start feeling uncomfortably snug, am I doing a myself a favor? I think not. But are these stupid little stresses even worth worrying about? 

 "Choosing Happy" is a T.V. show I saw that was basically about showing different people in various situations that would be considered tragic. Yet they chose to be happy instead of being miserable. One situation was a man whose wife and kids were suddenly taken from him in a car accident because he fell asleep at the wheel. I can't even imagine the guilt he must have felt along with the grief. Another situation was a woman who felt like her marriage wasn't doing well. Then her husband was murdered and it was then that she found out how truly bad her marriage had been. He had been cheating on her with an older woman and it was the woman's husband who pulled the trigger! Yet another scenario was the parents of the son who meant everything to them but was killed by an incoming bomb explosion while serving in Iraq. These 3 situations are different, yet similar in that these people experienced tragedy that would understandably put anyone going through them in terrible depression and downward spirals. Yet in each one of these scenarios, these people chose to be happy. They were truly ingenious in the ways they found to find their happiness. 

The first and most important thing that each of these families and individuals did was make a conscious decision to be happy, no matter what. So today, I am going to make a conscious decision to just be happy and find ways to do that. You may be reading more about my quest. I believe that happiness is attainable for almost anyone. But it does need to be something you decide to do. No one can make you more happy than yourself and your decision to be just that!

 Today is "My Post Monday!" It's all about original content from bloggers who care to share what is on their minds--from Crafts to Camping, Wellness to Wealth, Fashion to Food, and whatever else is on the brain!  I  open up with a post of my own and then follow it up with a linky of the week's top original blog posts! It's all about what the writer thinks, believes, and knows--in other words, they are active, writing blogs. If I happen to find a great original, non-sponsored post, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MyPostMonday hashtag!  I can miss some amazing posts, but I don't want to!  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! (Affiliate links welcome!)