Once November rolls around it becomes holiday craziness. Boxes of decoration come out, garland goes up, excuses to wear cute and cozy sweaters and most importantly, we make time for family. For me, work is going to get crazy and I need to work harder now more than ever to make time for family. I want to take more time to write down the things I am thankful for because when life gets busy, I just think of the things I don’t have instead of the things I do have.

There are times that I feel like my personal life is constantly filled with bad news. It’s been a rough few years for my family, but somehow I am able to laugh and smile throughout it all. Every day, I work on being content with life. It will never be perfect and I have a lot of things to complain about, but somehow through it all I find a way to be happy. Even with bad friendships, strains on our family and a lack of a significant other in my life, I wake up with a happy outlook on life. It is the little things in my life that bring me joy – and the secret to having a happy life is by repeating the little things daily.

For me, looking pretty in a cute outfit everyday and buying my daily Starbucks bring me joy. Waking up in my big comfy bed with a fluffy comforter and a gazillion pillows allows me to start my day in a good mood with a positive attitude. Get out of bed when your alarm goes off to spend some time in bed with a cup of coffee to go over the little things in life that make you happy. I think we often forget about the little joys in our life and get overwhelmed about the things that go wrong.

This November, I plan on remembering the things I am grateful for as well as remembering the little things that bring me joy.