Did you make New Year’s Resolutions earlier this year?  I know I wanted to make some changes.  Here are the most common resolutions that people make:

1. Get a better job.
2. Exercise more.
3. Lose weight.
4. Take a trip.
5. Save money.
6. Stop smoking.
7. Reduce stress.
8. Quit drinking.
9. Get out of debt.
10. Spend more time with family and friends.
11. Learn something new.
12. Help others.
13. Get organized.
14. Maintain a diary.
15. Eat right.
16. Time management.
17. Get a better education.
18. Be less grumpy.
19. Be more independent.
20. Try to get up early in the morning.

While it might seem that some of these goals are horribly out of reach right now, it’s simply not true. Because there is a big one that’s missing:  “Be happier?”  Isn’t that what all of these resolutions are aiming for anyway?

As a matter of fact, I’d like to be so bold as to say that if we all put “Be happier” as our number one goal, the rest will simply fall into place.  We’d love ourselves more so we’d eat right, stop smoking, and exercise more.  We’d accept our circumstances instead of fighting them and we’d see where we can contribute to moving us all forward.  We’d be less grumpy because we’d have our happiness practices, we couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and live our day passionately helping others.  And so on.

When we move away from fear toward acceptance and peace, we move toward happiness.