Happiness is a choice.

I was reading an article on Oprah's website. It was talking about things that happy people do. The one that REALLY caught my eye was "They allow themselves to be happy."  How true is that? People don't think happiness is a choice all the time. "My job weighs me down and makes me unhappy." "My friends never want to hang out, therefore, I'm unhappy." "I don't have as much money as I'd like, I'm unhappy." People finds all sorts of ways to be unhappy. I'd say especially women. Their weight, height, hair, eyes. Their jobs, educations. Their children or lack thereof. Men, though they worry about some of the same, have a lot more of a relaxed attitude about a lot of things. Women are worry warts. Women over-think.

And this paragraph from the article really was poignant, that people don't think they have the option in life to MAKE their own happiness.

It may seem obvious, but "people don't devote enough time to thinking seriously about how they spend their life and how much of it they actually enjoy," says David Schkade, PhD, a psychologist and professor of management at the University of California San Diego. In a recent study, Schkade and colleagues asked more than 900 working women to write down everything they'd done the day before. Afterward, they reviewed their diaries and evaluated how they felt at each point. When the women saw how much time they spent on activities they didn't like, "some people had tears in their eyes," Schkade says. "They didn't realize their happiness was something they could design and have control over."

You choose to be happy. The best advice ever given to me in a depressed time in my life was this: "Shut up, and make your life happen. Don't say "I wish." Do it."  It sounds harsh. Maybe. Maybe it is. But, when a person gets stuck in a rut, something needs to jar them back into reality.  Sometimes, things suck.  Who doesn't want to be happy though?  Live each day for yourself. Make yourself happy. Make your life.  And, the smallest things do that. Taking pictures. Roadtrips. Cofee with friends. Even enjoying work with good co-workers. The world sucks. But, you can make the choice to be happy about your life.

Don't just wish to be happy. Do it.

Knowledge IS power.

So, just finished reading a story at CNN, about teen pregnancy. I'm glad to announce that not only is teen pregnancy at it's lowest in two decades, but number of teens even having sex has decreased. Jeez, it's about time. Someone is out there telling these kids that it's okay to keep their virginity. And it is. It's okay for them to just be friends, or just make out even. It's great. These kids are learning, from somewhere.

Where from? Are schools finally teaching something other than abstinence only? Or, maybe Moms and Dads are sitting down, and explaining the birds and the bees and how life works? All I can say is FINALLY.

Are shows like Teen Mom and 16 & Pregnant helping? I'm not so sure. Those girls are idolized. They're on the cover on every major magazine. US Weekly.  Life & Style.  OK!  In Touch.  People.  You get the picture. The one thing that these shows do highlight is the difficulties of having a child, while still being a child themselves.

Kids, take it from me, someone who kept her virginity until after high school. Someone who doesn't have a kid and still can't imagine having one now, even at age 24... while these girls are on tv, and these girls have magazine covers, there's something that they still have at the end of the day, when the cameras are off.

And that's an infant.

There's no turning off an infant. When school gets tough, you get to take a break. You get to watch some tv, or play on Facebook. When you get tired of your cell phone, you don't answer. Right now, if you wanna go out, and you want to go to a movie, or to the mall, you go. That ceases with a child. The baby isn't going to go where you want to go all the time. The baby will get sick and puke on your Prada bag. The baby will have diarrhea when you want to go to the mall.

I'm not anti-child. I'm very pro family. But, kids shouldn't have the burden of raising one themselves. I don't wanna go on a rant about those shows. That's a completely different blog for a different time.

Kudos to the teenagers of today. You'll be thankful that you don't have kids, when you're trying to finish college, get a career, or get married without the added stress of a baby in tow.