HAPPINESS ...as a Second Language

Where we're all learning to be fluent in Happiness...

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Privilege Explained Through Baseball - and It's So Easy to Understand...

It is amazing how much conversation is generated by the concept of privilege – both from those who want to know more about it (thank you!) and those who vehemently deny that they have ever had a modicum of it in their lives.  My favorite example of the latter was the 26-year-old CFO of a $240 million company who demanded that I acknowledge that he worked for everything he has and has never been…

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The U.S. National Parks Welcome You! Unless You're a Girl...

I was in Zion National Park this past weekend, and noticed something so heartbreaking and infuriating, and such a slap in the face of inclusion, that I cannot believe our national parks would allow it. My friend and I were staying in the Zion Lodge, the only hotel inside the park, which is run by a private corporation and has a gift shop onsite. In the store was a spinning rack with wood-paneled…

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THIS is what Happiness & Inclusion looks like!

THIS is what Happiness & Inclusion looks like!

I watched this amazing gymnastics video on full screen, with the sound all the way up, and I can’t stop weeping! THIS is what inclusion looks like! THIS is what it means to not have to code-switch to achieve excellence in your field. THIS is bringing your true, authentic self… And if your workplace isn’t open to seeing diversity as a Culture Add, and you’re still demanding the outdated “Culture…

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Be Happy for the Winner – Even When it’s Not You...

Be Happy for the Winner – Even When it’s Not You…

I did something enormously difficult today. I hit the “Like” button on a Facebook post. Not just any Facebook post – the post of a person who is getting something I truly want. As a screenwriter, I have a whole lot of friends who are also screenwriters, ranging from “wrote the #1 movie of the weekend” to “just had to get a day job to pay the rent.” 

My own struggle and benchmark used to be…

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The Care and Feeding of the Introverts We Love

The Care and Feeding of the Introverts We Love

Yesterday, I had a fantastic speaking engagement for a Fortune 100 company. It was leadership training on Unconscious Bias for their senior leadership team and the session went even better than any of us imagined. This had been months in the making, with multiple layers of approval required and several customization calls with the client. I had so many contacts with the HR director spearheading…

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Keeping the Thanks in Thanksgiving!

Keeping the Thanks in Thanksgiving!

This is a year with challenges unlike any other, which makes a day celebrating gratitude right now just about the most perfect thing we could ask for. I’m not joking. It’s easy to be grateful (and happy, and generous, and all sorts of other positive emotions) when everything is simply awesome. But what a strong, powerful spirit you have when you can have a terrible, awful, very bad year and…

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What Are You Saving it For? Be Happy Now!

What Are You Saving it For? Be Happy Now!

by Valerie Alexander

We aren’t able to get together with friends and family this holiday season, but I recently remembered back to a time when we were regularly stopping in on people we love around this time of year. On one such visit, I got a fantastic belly laugh, and an even better life lesson.

We went to see friends in their new home, and when we arrived, the husband, a very high-powered…

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Time to Stop Worshipping "Productivity"

Time to Stop Worshipping “Productivity”

by Valerie Alexander

A friend who happens to be a very talented writer posted this on Facebook:

Dear Universe: More hours in the day. More days in the week. The need for less sleep. More productivity. Thank you,

I guess I know what he means, but this sentiment makes me a little sad, because he was essentially asking for more time to work. And I get it – many days feel rushed and jammed with…

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Successful, Accomplished, Happy...or All Three?

Successful, Accomplished, Happy…or All Three?

One day, a few years ago, as it was approaching 6:00 p.m., I looked at my to-do list for the day (I’m a big list maker) and there was not one thing I could cross off.  It was a combination of distractions, email, changing priorities, and a dose of just plain laziness, but basically, nothing was getting done.

And what does a girl do when she is mad at herself for not getting anything done? …

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You Can't Predict the Future. That Should Make You Very Happy!

You Can’t Predict the Future. That Should Make You Very Happy!

The future is uncertain, so be happy now, regardless of your bad day, week or year.

Next time you can’t find a parking spot, or miss a plane, or have your plans hindered, before you get mad, remember that this could be the best thing that ever happens to you.

Can you look back on something terrible in your life that in hindsight turned out to be the best thing that ever happened? Was there a…

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Turn Your Frustration Into Fuel!

Turn Your Frustration Into Fuel!

by Valerie Alexander

Today’s post was inspired by a friend who was having a tough time at work with a very difficult boss. She called me on the way home from work one day after having to walk out early to keep herself from taking a swing at the woman, and I talked her off the ledge. 

My friend works in the division responsible for processing all of the money coming in. Billions of dollars over…

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Welcome to "Phone It In Friday!"

Welcome to “Phone It In Friday!”

by Valerie Alexander

This week has caught up with me and collecting my thoughts on happiness into a coherent blog post may be a bit of a challenge.  Strike that – there will be no coherent thoughts on happiness today, just random associations.  Please join in. 

Your comments are always appreciated, but never more so than when my week included more than 20 hours on Zoom and being told in an…

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The Beating After the Meeting -- and Why it Must Stop!!

The Beating After the Meeting — and Why it Must Stop!!

by Valerie Alexander

Hollywood is like Washington – you can’t get anywhere without getting in the room with the right people and getting them on your side.  A meeting is something and a great meeting is everything. Back when we all used to meet in person, I had one of the best meetings of my life with a high-ranking television executive.

Then, on the drive home after my great meeting…

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Make Your Day Happier with these Happy Quotes!

Make Your Day Happier with these Happy Quotes!

In the early days of this blog, I used to post a new quote about Happiness every Saturday and Sunday. It became an incredible collection, so every few weeks, I will share five of my favorites. Hope you love them, too!

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.  — Abraham Lincoln

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be…

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Admit it, Own it, Enjoy it -- You Just Won!

Admit it, Own it, Enjoy it — You Just Won!

I saw this car parked on my street and had to snap the pic.

There is something awesome about that sentiment.  

“I Just Won.”

Okay, maybe in the most pedantic, on-the-nose, sense, the owner actually won this car, but I’d like to think that’s not what it means.  

I like to think that whoever bought this plate sees this car as proof that he or she has won — in life, and that makes them happy. Heck,…

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Choose to be Happy. Rain or Shine!

by Valerie Alexander

Years ago, when I first started a Happiness blog, I didn’t know anything about publicity photos or “mastering your brand” or image management. In fact, this was the profile picture I used:

Friends were giving me great feedback on the blog, both publicly and privately, but my favorite comment came from a friend who simply asked:

“Why are you wearing a hazmat suit in your…

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Happiness, Circumstance and Choosing How You Will Be in the World

Happiness, Circumstance and Choosing How You Will Be in the World

Now and then, I get flack over sharing and teaching happiness from those who see me as having a “perfect life.” A few people believe that suggesting I can help other people learn how to be happy is tone-deaf, since I could not begin to understand how hard their lives are. How inaccessible happiness is to them.

Before I address this, I want to reiterate the basis of my entire belief about…

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