On Friday, June 12th, I woke up at six o'clock and no wonder; it was my birthday.

I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too.

At such moments I don't think about all the misery, but about the beauty that still remains. This is where Mother and I differ greatly. Her advice in the face of melancholy is: Think about all the suffering in the world and be thankful you're not part of it. My advice is: Go outside, to the country, enjoy the sun and all nature has to offer. Go outside and try to recapture the happiness within yourself; think of all the beauty in yourself and in everything around you and be happy.

Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, Well, that's pretty much what I thought I'd see, you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.

There really is only today, although luckily that is also the eternal now.

I really try to enjoy life and have joy with what I do.

We can no more enjoy life by hoping for a future result than we can enjoy music by waiting for the final note.

Many people say "my life stinks". Well, your life will stink if you spend today thinking about tomorrow.

If you can't learn to enjoy your life when you have problems, you may never enjoy it because we'll always have problems.

Perhaps we could enjoy ordinary, everyday life more if we learned to celebrate the ordinary.

I choose to open my arms to all the good that life has in store for me.

Today is a new day. Today is a day for you to begin creating a joyous, fulfilling life.