Sure, we all have had those moments where we’re just down on ourselves. Things don’t seem to be going our way. Our sadness outweighs the happiness. I get it because I’ve been there.

What I also know is that we have the ability to find our ‘happy place’ – a feeling of being at ease. One of joy.

For me, I’m pretty sure that I found that place for the first time this past Thursday when my article was published on Mind Body Green. If you haven’t read it yet, please do: MINDBODYGREEN.

Right after it was published I had this overwhelming feeling of utter fear come over me. Literally, I got the email that it was published, viewed it online and proceeded to cry. Initially, it was not out of happiness.

I had done it, put myself out there for the whole world to see. How would it be received? Maybe I shouldn’t have done it? What would my friends think? What would my family think? Before my crying fit turned into a full fledged panic attack I stopped the tears and thought for a second. This is what I want. My plan to SOAR… to open-up. Well shit, Kristen, what better way for you to open up to the world?! So I wiped my eyes and got ready for a road trip to sunny South Florida – a part of my heart resides there, after all.

Before I had even gotten into my car, the feedback I received was unbelievable. It all began to feel ‘right.’ With my music blasting and the sun shining, I set off southward.

Driving. It’s one of my favorite things to do for so many different reasons.

Here I was, doing one of my favorite things; windows down, sun shining, music up. Seriously? How did I get here? Oh, wait. I got myself here. By envisioning my dream and acting on it. Just realizing this, I got a GINORMOUS smile on my face. So big that, while sitting at a stoplight, I turned to my left to see a kid in the passenger seat of his mom’s minivan with his eyebrows raised and an expression like, “Why the hell are you so happy?” Leave it be kid, don’t frown on my happiness!

Seriously. My attitude of gratitude kicked in and I just started going over, in my head, everything that I was grateful for. My family, friends, confidants, kitty, job, yoga practice, independence, strength, love, determination… you get the picture. And then, yes, I started to cry. I’m emotional, ok?! If only the kid in his mom’s minivan could see me now!

My point, when you feel overwhelmed or sad or angry… step back and take a look at what YOU are grateful for. It tends to put things into perspective. Like whoa.

My 8 hour drive went by very quickly and I got to spend the evening catching up with family. It felt good to be disconnected from my phone and social media for the day. Then I did what I have tried to stop doing: perusing social media and using my phone before bed.

Text messages. Voicemails. Shares. Comments. Website posts. H O L Y S H I T B A L L S. All from my one article. I never imagined the response that I had gotten. Over 1,000 people shared my article on the mindbodygreen website. I wish there was a stronger word than grateful. Needless to say, I didn’t really sleep that night with such a high-strung vibrational energy coursing through my bloodstream.

“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” -Brian Tracy

Love.