100 days of happy

I MADE IT.
YOU MADE IT.

If you follow me on Instagram, you were exposed to 100 days filled with happiness.
You deserve a round of applause and a big hug (for just being you, and also for sticking with me on this 100 day journey).

So why did I, a self-proclaimed happiness enthusiast, do this?

2016 was not the easiest year. Maybe I was sucked into the “2016 is just the worst” mindset and fell down that slippery slope of negativity. Even if that was the case, 2016 did not make it easy on me. It was a year filled with friendship struggles, fatigue, rejections, anxiety, saying “I’m fine” when I wasn’t, uncertainty, fear of the future… you get the idea. The turmoil our society was facing seemed to reflect itself into my personal life. Ugh.

I tried my best to stay positive because some really incredible things happened in 2016 (we had the first female presidential candidate, I finally saw Hamilton, and some amazing people walked into my life), but when I started this Instagram challenge, I was in need of a reminder to choose happiness. I love Instagram (surprise! surprise!) and I had seen someone I greatly admire do this challenge a few months before, so it seemed like the right call.

And now, here we are, 100 days + 100 pictures later.

Am I a significantly different person than when I started? No, not really. It’s a new year, so I am feeling refreshed and filled with motivation to make this year better, but the past 100 days didn’t change who I was fundamentally. It helped me get through a period of my life where things didn’t seem to be going my way. It reminded me to focus on the little moments of joy. And that’s what choosing happy is all about.

Thank you to everyone who followed along, here’s to many more days of little moments that bring smiles… sans all the hashtags.