One of my favorite things to start the new year is the happiness jar. It is a great exercise for children to practice daily gratitude. Here is how it works:

• Everyone grabs a jar or a box and makes it their own.
• At the end of every day, you spend five minutes writing one good thing that happened that day or one thing you are grateful for.
• You place the piece of paper in your happiness jar.

You do this on great days and even on those days that feel terrible. On those trying, difficult days, you can reach into your happiness jar and read through all the things that have brought you joy. What you will find is an increased awareness of those small moments that would have been forgotten had you not taken the time to notice them.

What we know for sure is that life is fragile and uncertain. But happiness can be found in those small fleeting everyday moments. We can find peace in uncertainty. We can consciously turn up the volume on the beauty in our lives.

(Image via Yastremska/bigstock.com)