Happy birthday little blog!

Well time has flown, but today marks a year since I started writing this blog.

My inspiration came from a happy day.  You know one of those days where you are in a great mood, everything is right with the world for no particular reason?  I had a fantastic one, so great that I was pretty much dancing along instead of walking.  I jumped in my car to head home, turned on the radio - and they were discussing depressive thought cycles.  Oh I thought, not right for today's mood, so I switched on some music.  But then it occurred to me, if you can have a depressive thought cycle, can you have a happy thought cycle.  Can I made this fantastic mood last by focusing on the positive?

It was worth a shot, after all who doesn't like to be happy?  But I knew I needed something active.  I needed a challenge to really make me find the happiness in every day and thus Blithe Moments was born.

And I've done it.  Every day for a year (aside from the odd blogger issue or the two weeks when I switched over to my travel blog, but those were certainly happy entries) I've found something happy to write about.

It has been tough going at times.  I didn't know it when I started the blog but I was not picking an easy year.  In the past year I've had a really bad bout of glandular fever - so bad I would just start crying from the pain.  I've had significant work and life stresses, to the point where I've lost both sleep and hair.  There have been periods where money has been tight.  And worst of all my Mum's best friend, my "Aunty" Sue died after a relatively short (although it felt like eons at the time) but very painful battle with ovarian cancer.  On some of those days finding something happy to write about has involved some serious creative thinking and the ability to take note of even the smallest good things.

But on the other hand, it has been a pretty fantastic year too.  I've been more aware and grateful for the good things in life than ever before.  I've paid attention to the happy stuff, focusing on it, seeking it out for this blog.  And I've fallen head over heels in love.

At the end of this year of happy moments I know that even when times are tough, there are rays of light that illuminate my life.  I am an extremely lucky person and and my life is blessed.

So the blog isn't going anywhere, but in the past year I've also become an avid reader of other blogs and there are a few things I want to do.  I want to take more photos, spend longer on posts.  As a result, I might not post every day, but Blithe Moments will continue.  Let me know if there is anything you would like to see, or what you already like or don't.

One thing I can say is that I think the experiment has worked.  Even with the stresses of life around me, I feel happier, more positive, better able to deal with challenges and generally content.