I can’t even remember who’s idea it was to start it – nor was I sure what I got myself into – but I was pretty sure I was anal enough to get it done.  There is this Facebook weirdness that was simply called “100 Happy Days”.  The concept was simple, every day you post something that makes you happy, preferably with a picture.  While I wasn’t always good with a picture, wasn’t always good with anything substantial, I was will good with the process.

Today is the 100th Day.

So you may be thinking that I am just some ball of happiness now, spreading frickin’ rainbows and flowers around everywhere I go.  Actually it’s quite the contrary.  Without bumming y’all out, of all the things I would do to describe these last 100 days – happy is not one of them.  In all honesty, these past 100 days have been the most emotionally difficult in my adult life.  Leaving Alaska hit me harder than I thought it would, and fight to not spend my days missing the last frontier.  During this time I also fought some physical issues, between bad knees, two bad colds, and the usual problems of an overweight overeater.  Slap on the stress of buying one home, selling another, moving half way across the planet, relegated to a shoebox apartment for two months, and still finding time to get scammed by a wire fraud con there has been a lot to be unhappy about.  As each day passes since I left Alaska, I find myself missing those people I left behind, including some of the closest friendships I formed in years.  This is just the things that I feel free to share with you – and believe me, there are other major issues that slammed back.  I wander around mostly feeling defeated, planning for how to get out of the next hole I expect to find myself in.

So why mention all that downside?  Well … simply put that’s the point of this “100 happy days”.

You see, this was all started by a Eastern European student, who was facing a load of troubles on his own.  So one day, he decided that he was going to look for something that made him happy every day – and capture that one thing.  The guy’s name was Dmitry Golubnichy and he said: “I will try to appreciate the life that I have and I will find at least one little thing each and every day that will make me feel happy and grateful.”  His point was that when you are in a spot where there seems to be a trap of sadness around you – you could be ignoring those things that truly make you happy.

So that’s where I began from.  The little things.  Looking back at the pictures and posts there were themes — Alaskan Mountains & skies, cartoons & football, nachos … but that’s football too probably.  And of course the pup played a large part in it.  Some of the things that made me happy were things I did to make myself happy — some were things that just happened – some were just things I noticed.  But not a day went by that I  missed .. not a day went by when I didn’t genuinely find something that made me happy.

And that my friends was the point!

I was able to do it with my “cuz-in-law” Missy Tietel, and a few others that tagged along here and there.  I proud of Missy for making it through it too as we celebrate our 100th day together – and in person on Day 97 & 98.

In all honesty, though, I am proud of myself.  This dumb little adventure on Facebook had a meaning, and had an intent.  While I been through some stuff over the last 100 days, I am proud that there was something I could appreciate every day that made me happy.