Today I turn 33 years old, and I'm grateful for my life! I feel grateful for my family, my childhood, my friends, my job, my house, my health, and my car. This list can
go on and on. I'm truly blessed and feel even happier that it is my choice to be happy and follow my bliss.

In my relatively short lifetime, I've experienced tremendous joy, love, hurt and pain. I've continued to learn and grow every step of the way. I'll share some things I've learned as I reflect on my life.

1. Love yourself and your friends. Choose to love yourself first so you can be there for others. Be there for your friends. Go out of your way for them. That doesn't mean you should sacrifice yourself. Just choose to love them. I've had experiences in life where friends came to my side in love and support and I will never forget them. I've also had friends go by the wayside when I was going through a hard time. I will never forget them either. I want to be remembered in the first group.

2. Separate yourself from negativity. Sometimes negative things, people, and situations start to consume your life. After a while they consume your mind too and only fuel the fire. You have the power to decide to turn away from negativity, focus on the positive things in your life and change the momentum of negativity to a force of positivity and love. It's all possible with the power of love and your mind.

3. Learn to control your mind and emotions. If your emotions control you and rule your mind, you lose all capability to make wise, calm and effective decisions. You can bring a lot more unnecessary drama into your life if you choose to let emotions rule your life. The best way to learn to control your emotions is to learn to control your mind. The best way to learn to control your mind is to develop a meditation practice. I'm still very new to it all, but I've learned and experienced that I have a greater capacity to choose love and a positive reaction rather than panic and fear. I'm excited to see what time and practice will develop in this area of life.

4. Be grateful for your life and everything in it because there is always someone out there with less than you, less health, less money, less anything. When I see someone who exhibits that, like a homeless person, I say to myself how grateful I am for my education, my job and my home. Having an attitude of gratitude will carry you throughout your day and manifests itself in many other positive ways. Sometimes you don't appreciate your life until you almost lose it; so choose to be grateful for it now.

5. Choose happiness, love, and joy. Following your bliss and choosing to be happy no matter what, has the most powerful effect on our life. It's the simplest concept with the most powerful impact in every area of your life and the lives of others.

Celebrate your life in every way possible. I'm happy to reach my 33rd year. Please celebrate with me because you can!