I love the quote by Helen Keller that begins with "Be happy with what you have while working for what you want."  It's actually one of the Words of Wisdom that I am going to follow throughout my year-long happiness project.  This quote reminds me that my life is what it is for a reason and a lot of it has to do with who I am.  To put my own spin on the quote, I want to be happy with who I am while working for a happier life.

For the first month of my happiness project I have decided to start by exploring my identity. I want to embrace who I am and love myself unconditionally.  Part of this will be to stop comparing my life to others and realize that I have to follow my own path.

This week I am going to start out by answering the question "Who am I? and then spending the rest of the month embracing those things about myself and enjoying being me.  I'm sure it will be hard to think of everything right at this moment, but here are a few key things about who I am:

• I am a perfectionist.
• I am very organized.
• I am hard working.
• I am a loyal friend.
• I am a worrier.

Fun fact, the shortest sentence in the English language is "I am."

Now that I have highlighted a few things about myself, I am going to spend the rest of the week thinking of more things and adding to this list.  I might even take some personality tests online to get an outside view of myself.

Now that I've bared my soul a little bit, tell me more about you.  Who are you and what makes you "you"?  Please share in the comments section!

"Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful."

This is just one example of the words of wisdom that I plan to follow during my year-long Happiness Project.  Gretchen Rubin, the author of the Happiness Project, started out her year with a list of twelve commandments.  Instead of giving myself commandments, I've decided to compile a list of my favorite quotes and use them as words of wisdom throughout the next year.

Here are my Words of Wisdom:

1.     Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. 

2.     Be loving and love will find you.

3.     Don’t be afraid to fail.  Be afraid not to try.

4.     It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.

5.     If it’s meant to be, it will be.

6.     Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.

7.     If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

8.     Don’t be so hard on yourself.

9.     Life always offers you a second chance.  It’s called tomorrow.

10.   The things you take for granted…someone else is praying for.

11.   Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.

12.   Worrying will never change the outcome.

What are some words of wisdom you live by?