A 5-minute journal for everyday happiness and gratitude

As I was making some major changes in my life years ago, I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Eat Pray Love. I posted this quote on Facebook as a reminder to myself to continue to fight for my happiness: “And when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt - this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty to find something beautiful within life no matter how slight.”

Ten years later, that quote popped up in my “Memories on Facebook”—the very same week that I was asked to write The 5-Minute Happiness Journal. It reminded me how much I had grown personally and professionally since the original post. Life continues with its ups and downs, happiness and sadness, comedy and tragedy. Through it all I hold onto a sense of purpose and joy.

My greatest teachers have always been my clients. From my early days working in homeless shelters to my work in hospice care with people at the end of life, my clients have taught me that happiness can be found anywhere, any time. While experiencing poverty, trauma, and terminal illness, they have taught me that I can always find something for which I am grateful. They have taught me this by their example, by living in a state of happiness and gratitude no matter their current life circumstances. This book exists because of what they have taught me.