Okay, this is getting ridiculous.

My friend Brandon, who works in the music industry, blasted this song for me over a year ago. I have now Shazam-ed it three times on my iPhone in my car. Three times. The third time was today, at which point I turned it up super loud, opened the windows, smiled, and danced in my front seat all the way home. So if you don’t already know this song “Young Blood” by The Naked and the Famous, it’s time you did.

Are you ready? Plug in your headphones. Turn up the volume. Press play. Then let the happy flow. The lyrics? No idea. And I’m too happy singing, “Yeah yeah yeah yeah…” to take a break long enough to look them up.

Here’s to music putting us on the fast-track to feeling good!

P.S. If you don’t know Shazam, holy cow! It’s an app that you can hold up to any song, and it will tell you the name of it in about ten seconds. Run, don’t walk, to the app store!

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No More Drama!

Big love,

I was walking along the Venice canals with my family recently. At one point, I leaned down to smell some flowers, and I thought, “Now this is what life is all about. Really stopping to smell the roses.” And that’s when it hit me that I was actually smelling…roses! A whole hedge full of them!

I got such a burst of happy in that moment that I wanted to recommend it to you.

Stop. Smell. Resume walking. (Image: Venice canal roses by Amy Spencer)

Of course, it doesn’t need to be roses. But stopping to sniff, study or touch a flower, a plant or a tree on a walk reminds us of what a vibrant, bursting, interesting planet we live on. Yes, we’ve got problems—on the personal, national and universal levels. But in any given minute on any afternoon, there’s a world full of alive out there that goes beyond us. Give that world a second of your time. Those boring old bushes at your company’s front door? Look at them. Those flowers on your neighbors fence? Sniff ’em. That thick old tree that you can’t image not being on your block? Study it.

Stop for a few seconds to smell the roses and it will feel like you’re adding ten times that to your day. And if you can find a rose, for goodness’ sake, friend, stop and smell it!

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Big love,

Okay, now that you’ve seen the book trailer, check out the brand new website for my upcoming book BRIGHT SIDE UP: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now. May I introduce to you…BrightSideUp.com!

Poke around, read some free excerpts straight from the book before the book is on shelves. And if you’re not signed up to get the happiest email you’ll get all week, my Vitamin Optimism, git yerself on the list!

I can’t wait to tell you more about Bright Side Up, and I can’t wait for you to be able to actually read it. You can pre-order the book now on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. And then, come February 7, you just might find yourself living a superbly happier life without having to make a major change to your life at all.

Thanks for your awesome love and support. Here’s to a big, bright week!

Big love,

“Our lives are just so full of, well, life. We can’t plan ahead for next week, let alone slot the ‘someday.’ Or we think it’ll be too complicated with the kids or the dogs or the planning. Or we’re so sure we want to do that “someday” thing with someone special, we put it off until that day comes. But here’s the thing: If you never schedule it, someday may never happen. And while, ‘someday, somewhere, somehow’ sounds wistful when Barbara Streisand sings it, in our lives, it’s just a shame. You deserve to live your dreams. Not someday, now.”

—from the upcoming Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now (out Feb. 7, 2012!)

Be inspired. Get happy.

And if you like this, please share it!

Big love,