What if your very first thought at the start of your day was, ”Thank you?”  What if we began each morning with a prayer and a smile for all that is good in each of our lives?  And even on our darkest days, wouldn’t those thoughts and words be better than despair, that only serves to bring us further down?

I can’t begin to imagine the horrors of war and the depths of depression that exist in this world. And I am sure that there many more destructive experiences of which I have no knowledge.

But, I read a book about happiness once, many years ago.  This book was full of things to do that can psychologically help a person learn to be happy.  I wish I could remember the title of this book. After reading it, I bought quite a few copies and gave them as Christmas gifts.  It was so encouraging.

The book began with a true story of a holocaust survivor who had lived in a concentration camp.  She had seen her parents and most of her relatives killed. She’d been tortured. She could have been beaten down and destroyed by these experiences.  But she wasn’t. She held joy in her very being. She spoke of saving bits of her food to give to a starving guard dog that came to the other side of the fence.  The joy of giving to this dog helped sustain her. She would not be robbed of her joy by her surroundings and the people who held her hostage. You could hurt her physically, but she didn’t let it touch the essence of who she was.  I found it fascinating to know that this was even possible.

It’s so easy to be depressed in the world we live in today.  There is conflict everywhere. It’s in our government, in our relationships, our environment and so many other places.  But we have control of what we choose to think and feel about it. These outer conflicts do not have to determine our inner world.  That is always in our power.

So today, I just thought that happy thoughts were in order.  If we each begin within ourselves to find the joy we can choose to hold in our hearts, good can come into our homes and spill out into the world.  We own our feelings and have the power to say “Thank you,” no matter what happens.