Happiness Rocks!

I once read that the average person thinks about happiness at least once a day.
It’s only noon and I can already tell you that I’ve been happy and unhappy about at least a dozen things today.

On the happy list today : I took an invigorating Pilates class. I ate fruit instead of cake for breakfast. My new boots arrived from Zappos. On the unhappy list: My “silent” meditation was eclipsed by rampant thoughts of vacation plans. My hair turned very, very frizzy. I ate chocolate gelato for lunch. Strike that last one. Any food that pleasurable to eat has to make the happy list!

If I asked you what you wanted most out of life either for yourself or your family, for today or the rest of your life, you’d probably say “happiness”. OK... you might say money, but only because you think money will make you happy. Yes, money can buy you things that will give you temporary happiness, but for real happiness, you gotta be in it for the long haul. Aristotle said, “Human happiness is so important it transcends all other worldly considerations.” I guess he means it’s not about the material (Yes, I got an “A” in Philosophy 101.) Eternal happiness is not about your ever changing hair style or new boots. It’s about your never changing luminous spirit within you.

What if I told you that the biggest secret of the universe is that the only purpose of your life is to BE HAPPY. Forget about all your goals and plans and your never ending “to do” list. The only thing you have to do is to be happy. Happy in your life, your relationships, your family, your home, your job. How would this new purpose change the way you think, act, look, live, and work?

Right about now, if you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably wondering…who the hell am I to be telling you this? Well, I’m not the Dalai Lama, who by the way said, “I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness.” I’m Debbie Gisonni, a best selling author, speaker, columnist, spokesperson, and former corporate executive. I know, I know….blah, blah, blah! But those are just my “official” labels just in case an Oprah producer is reading. Who I really am is the same as you. I’m a person navigating the ups and downs of everyday life from the ecstatic to the tragic and everything in between. My mission is to help make your life easier and happier whether that’s inspiring you to follow a dream or sharing a simple pasta recipe. I’m a total Italian “foodie”—hence the last name—who loves to cook and entertain. Then I work it all off by speed walking my beautiful huskies, jumping on my 13 foot trampoline, and laughing out loud with my husband and lover (who are one and the same).

I wasn’t always laughing out loud. There was a time in my life when I was anything but a Goddess of Happiness. I’d say I was more like a Queen of Misery. People in my family were dying– four of them in four years, even one from suicide. In the aftermath of it all, I decided to move on. I left the corporate world, and wrote a book about my family ordeal called Vita’s Will, Real Life Lessons about Life, Death & Moving On. While writing I began surrendering to life rather than trying to control it in my usual manner, and a happier and lighter version of me emerged. I learned that no matter what was happening outside of me, I had the power within me to be happy. And, all of you have that same power, including any men out there who had the balls to read a blog called Goddess of Happiness. Normally I’d say, “You go girl!” But to you men, “More power to you!” BTW, that would be inner power.

My next book was The Goddess of Happiness: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Heavenly Balance and Bliss, and hence, The Goddess of Happiness (that would be me) was born. Of course, there are still times when I revert back to being a Queen of Misery, but hey, nobody’s perfect, right?

OK, enough about me!

From ancient philosophers to modern gurus to scientific research, one thing’s for sure—Happiness Rocks!


Ciao!
Debbie

P.S. Welcome to the first posting on my new Goddess of Happiness blog. I’ll be talking about all kinds of topics that will hopefully make you live, learn, love and laugh a little easier. I invite you to join me regularly by signing up for the RSS feed. And please, please, please, post your comments. I’ll probably post something every other week or so, however, I have no goals, no plans and no rules.

On another note, if you care to find out more about me or my books, visit my site: http://www.goddessofhappiness.com/. While you’re there, you can take the happiness quiz, tell me what makes you happy or submit a question.