Every year, before the new school year begins, I try to think about an area in which I want to improve as a teacher and I set myself goals to accomplish for the year.

I’ve done that again this year but on top of setting myself teaching goals, I decided to add a personal goal to my list.

The personal goal contains three words.

Laughter.

Happiness.

Joy.

Let’s start with laughter.
I laugh at jokes or if someone is being silly. I laugh when my girls do or say the cutest things.  I can even make my husband laugh every now and then with a stupid comment or a silly anecdote.  While this is all nice and lovely, I want more laughter in my life.  I want it to be a part of my every day and not just my every once in a while.  I want laughter to become a part of who I am.

Goal #1   I will make more of an effort in my day to day living to make others laugh.

Happiness is important to me because, over the years, I have come to realize that feeling content is not dependent on any outside forces or material possessions I may acquire.  It’s  easy to complain about what hasn’t gone the right way or about what I don’t have in my life.  I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be miserable. Ultimately, the choice is mine to make and being happy comes simply from looking at my life through a positive camera lens and being thankful for everything I’ve been able to capture in the photo book I call my life. Most importantly, happiness is doubled when you’re able to share it with others.

Goal #2   I will make more of an effort to help others find their happy even if it’s as simple as offering up a hug or a smile.

Joy is the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.  I want to filter this emotion into those moments of my life when I may feel embarrassed, stressed or disappointed in myself.  So I made a dinner no one liked. Who cares?  At least I tried. Yes, I walked out of the ladies room with toilet paper attached to my shoe and co-workers laughed at me. Embarrassed? Yes, but who cares? We had a good laugh.   I want to find the joy in the not so good. I want to be able to laugh at myself when I make a mistake or fail as a Mom or wife. There is always room to start over again the next day so why not let go of the things that bring us down? Move on, I say!

Goal #3   I will make more of an effort to find the joy in life’s mishaps and bloopers and I will help others to do the same.

The main goal for this up-coming school year is to remove most, if not all, of the negativity in my life whether it be from my own personality or through people I keep in my circle of friends and family.  If I can help the negative people in my circle to see the brighter side of life, I will go out of my way to help them find it.

People are not drawn to negativity.
People are drawn to those who laugh, look happy and have a lot of fun ~ Anonymous.

So I’m cleansing! In process, is the purging of any small bits of negativity I may have in my life. Once empty, I will fill my being with lots of laughter, gratefulness and good times and I will do my best to share it with those around me.

How about you?  What goals have you set for yourself for this up-coming school year?