A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs

I recently took up jogging, which is pretty random for me.  I never really enjoyed running and only did as a means to an end, and never just for fun.  However, I got it in my head that I should be able to run for the Colon Cancer Walk/Run this year.  I trained and trained and trained, and was finally able to run 10km (you could do the 5 or 10km).  Today was the day that I got to put my training into practice, and although I wasn't able to run the 10km (was going to try, but the heat and humidity was absolutely unbearable and my cushy gym didn't allow for factoring that into my training), I was able to do the 5km.

So, suffice to say, my heart smiled when I past the finished line.  This time last year I wouldn't have even imagined that I'd be writing this right now and I certainly wasn't thinking of taking up jogging.  It's always a great feeling when you manage to accomplish something that you never thought you'd be able to accomplish.

And I already have plans to run 10km next year, regardless of the heat and humidity.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think.

Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.  - A.A. Milne

Today, after a year of wanting to but not doing it, I went back to where I graduated from university last year.  The distance to the school kept me away, but a recent inconvenience that I had to get settled at the university made me go, and I'm glad that it did.  I decided to make a trip out of it.  So, after getting the university administration stuff out of the way, I visited the child care centre that I worked at for four years.  It was great seeing the amazing ladies I worked with.  Catching up, and some really good conversations put a huge smile on my face!  I  miss that place so much!  I only wish I lived closer so that I could visit more often.  After stopping there, I had lunch with a friend I haven't seen since she lived in England for a year.  It was awesome catching up with her and hearing her fantastic stories.  

Overall, my heart was smiling all day.  Who can complain when they get to enjoy amazing weather, great company, and get to see the place that they where lived and loved for five years.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. - Mark Twain,Following the Equator

I have two smiling heart moments today.

To begin with, there was a bag that we sell at my work.  From the moment we got it, I loved it, but I'm frugal and wouldn't allow myself to buy it.  Then, a couple weeks ago, the store manager mentioned that we need coins, and if there's anything that I have plenty of, it's coins.  So we agreed that I could buy the bag with my coins before my next shift (two days later).  I showed up for my next shift with more than enough coins to buy this bag and found out that it had been sold.  I was heart broken.  I figured it was no big deal, she bought my coins from me, I put the money I received aside and decided I'd either wait to buy it or when I'm near another store I'd pick it up.  Today I was going to be by another one of the stores after my shift ended.  I checked to see if the store had my bag in stock, and they didn't.  I was beginning to think that maybe this was a sign and it just wasn't meant to be.  But then while checking what new stock we'd be receiving, my bag was listed!  At that exact moment, my heart was smiling.  As soon as we unpacked it, we put the bag aside and after my shift, I bought it!  It wasn't so much the buying the bag that made my heart smile, it was the fact that as soon as I was starting to give up hope on it, it came through.

The second moment has more lasting reasons for making my heart smile.  Nine years ago I was diagnosed as being deadly allergic to hazelnuts and walnuts.  My favourite chocolates could kill me.  It was brutal.  I eventually got used to it, but it still wasn't a lot of fun and makes traveling to Europe a little difficult. Then after a month of eating tons of avocados, I had a reaction to one that was all too similar to my experience with eating those two nuts.  A week ago I went to get a blood test done to check if I'm allergic to those three foods, and since this blog is about positive things, the results obviously came back negative.  My heart was smiling when I found out that I no longer have to check the ingredients for chocolates anymore!

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet. - James Openheim

I'm not a gardener.  In fact, the full extent of my gardening experience is planting seeds in a Styrofoam cup in kindergarten.  So, for whatever reason, I got this idea in my head to grow a vegetable garden this year.  Of course, I can't just take a garden that is already being used, so my vegetables will be growing at the side of the house in the patch of earth that was being used as a tossing ground for old planters.  Which means that I had to prep my garden.  Which I thought meant getting on my hands and knees and doing a whole lot of pulling stuff up and getting sweaty and who knows what else.

So, my smiling heart moment was when I asked my sister to help me (expecting the huge task of using my hands to pull lord knows what up and out and all other crazy images I had), and she showed me how simple prepping my garden would really be!  We just pulled out the stuff that needs to go to the landfill, and used a rake to pull out the old leaves and twigs and move the soil around.  Hopefully I'll get some top soil to put down this weekend, and will be planting my veggies in no time!

The world is full of people looking for spectacular happiness while they snub contentment. - Doug Larson

My smiling heart moment today was pretty simple, but really just made it a good day.  My sister and I decided we want to see Hunger Games today.  Since neither of us drive, we are reliant on public transit.  Normally this isn't a huge deal, but the bus schedule on Sunday is very wonky, and not many of the buses line up.  So, essentially, our second bus leaves the station two minutes before our first bus gets there, meaning we'd be sitting at the bus station for an hour.  Because the first bus is technically a bus from another town, we're normally told that they can't ask the other buses to wait.  But today, our bus driver immediately asked us if we needed a bus put on hold for us, and, on top of that, the second bus driver waited!  My heart smiled knowing that these two ladies were helping us out and we wouldn't have to wait an hour!  

It's amazing how people can do very little things that can make a difference in another person's day.

If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don't, you have achieved half your failure. - David Ambrose

Today isn't even half over, but I already know what my smiling heart moment is for the day!  I've set some goals for myself, one is to be able to run a certain distance, the other to get to a certain weight by July.  Well, for someone who isn't a runner and who has been working on losing weight for a while now with no success, I was a little unsure as to whether or not I'd be able to do it.  But, I refused to give up and wanted to at the very least be able to say I gave it my all and hopefully see some results, if not exactly what I was hoping for.  However, today I did it!  I haven't yet reached my weight goal, but not only did I reach my running goal, but I exceeded it! I ran an extra 1.3km than I planned on!  My heart smiled when I got off the treadmill, my legs shaking like jelly and knowing that I accomplished a goal!

Happiness is your dentist telling you it won't hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill. - Johnny Carson

Back in the summer I discovered the amazing television show Game of Thrones.  In the fall, I bought the first book in the series that the show is based on by George R. R. Martin.  I quickly burned through all five books in the series, and haven't gotten several other people hooked on the series.  A couple months ago I pre-ordered the television series, which happened to arrive today!  My heart smiled when I opened it up and watched the first episode, and I'm sure it'll continue to smile after every episode!