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My five favourite happiness lessons this year, and a tablet computer giveaway!

When I started this project a year ago, I was excited….I get enthusiastic about sinking my teeth into any big topic, learning and writing as I go. But happiness? What could I write about that three times a week? And what do I know about happiness?

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When I started this project a year ago, I was excited….I get enthusiastic about sinking my teeth into any big topic, learning and writing as I go. But happiness? What could I write about that three times a week? And what do I know about happiness? These are some of the questions friends and readers ask me, along with: how do you know what to write about? Is there actually that much to write about happiness? I figured there had to be. If there is a whole field of study dedicated to positive psychology, then my blog is just starting to dig into this surprisingly deep topic. It’s been a year of learning. While I write once in a while about things in my life that make me happy, from ice cream to running, I’ve also come to know more about what helps boost your happiness (friends, family, experiences, even food) and what we think brings us happiness, but doesn’t­ — namely money. Over the year, I’ve also written about my attempts to fix self-perceived flaws — whether it’s learning to stop yelling to get my children’s attention or to stop judging other moms. I know I’m not alone in getting the good feelings that come when you work on a quality you don’t like about yourself. And that’s how the blog developed — as a mixture of self-help advice, sharing of experiences, highlighting news that can help you improve your happiness, and more. Sometimes you loved what I had to say. Sometimes you railed against it. I appreciate all the input, positive or negative because it means you’re reading and care enough about the subject to comment and discuss. I hope it’s made you think and wonder about your own happiness as it has done for me this year.

What about you? Have you learned anything along the course of reading this blog, however frequently you did? Any head-smacking "Of course!" insights to share? To help you remember, I thought I’d share my top posts that you enjoyed over the course of the year.

1. What we can learn from the regrets of the dying — this is my favourite post as well. It resonated with me and I occasionally wonder: if my life suddenly ended, would I be happy with the way I lived it?

2. Six months in and what I’ve learned so far — nice to see how far we’d come already at six months.

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3. How this mom is learning to stop yelling — still working on that…

4. How to have a happier relationship — I still find the importance of touch in building a happier relationship fascinating. When I became a mom, I read plenty about the bonding benefits of skin-to-skin contact between mom and babe. But until I read this, I’d never connected touch with the thought of improving my romantic relationship.

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5. Why you should be happy you’re getting older — much like the regrets of the dying, it’s made me appreciate the chance to grow older because not everyone does. Finally, thanks to all our readers and for helping us make it to a year. If there’s anything you’d like to see in an upcoming post or something to share, drop me a line on Twitter at @AstridVanDenB.

My five favourite happiness lessons this year, and a tablet computer giveaway!  

The giveaway is now closed, thanks a ton to all who commented!

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