Your Happiest You. Judy Woodburn

like these, you

      know just what happy is:

      It’s exclamation points!!!

      It’s sunny and fizzy and

      fabulous. It’s the kind of

      feeling you wish could last

      forever.

      Me, with my prize-

      winning chocolate-berry-

      almond pancakes!

      Our book bowl team got

      (nearly) every answer right!

      Mykel isn’t moving six states away after all!

      Now that you’re getting older, though, you also know

      that every day brings something different. Sure, there

      are days you want in your scrapbook—amazing days

      when everything goes right. There are easy days when

      you feel relaxed and comfy in your own skin. But there

      are also lots of days you’d love to crumple up and forget.

      As you’re growing up, you may be discovering that

      feeling great just isn’t possible all the time.

      Here’s

      the good

      news . . .

      Getting older means you

      can start to think about

      happy

      in a new and

      deeper way.

      Learning New Steps

      For a while now, experts have been studying what makes people

      happy, deep down. One thing they know for sure is that being

      happy isn’t only about having a lot of good things happen to you.

      Happy has a lot to do with how you respond to what happens,

      no matter what comes your way.

      Happy is bouncing back when you’ve gotten knocked

      down. It’s knowing that problems will happen and

      feeling confident you’ll be able to deal with them.

      Happy is feeling connected to the people

      in your life—to friends and family, and even

      to people you might not know very well.

      Happy is accepting that

      it’s normal not to feel

      happy all the time, and

      knowing it’ll pass.

      In fact, happy’s not just something you feel.

      It’s also something you do. It’s a bit like a

      dance. And just like dancing, happiness has

      steps you can learn.

      Your Helpful Habits

      How do you get ready for bed at night? Do you put on

      your pajamas first or brush your teeth? Do you read for

      a bit or turn out the light right away? Chances are, you

      don’t pay much attention to these things. You just do

      them. They are habits.

      If you’ve ever struggled to stop nibbling your nails or

      cracking your knuckles, you might tend to think of hab-

      its as “bad.” Not always! Habits are all the things you do

      each day without really thinking about them. Habits are

      your brain’s way of taking shortcuts. Without them, you’d

      have to think through every little thing you did. Your

      brain would be worn out by breakfast!

      Because your brain relies on habits

      to guide you through your day,

      habits influence everything from

      how you eat to how you speak

      and move. Habits even affect

      what you think and how you

      respond to what happens to you.

      So, for something you don’t think

      about much, habits can have a

      surprisingly big say in how you feel.

      That’s why it’s important to begin

      building the kind of habits that

      will help you feel good.

      Ready to learn how?

      Read on!

      Sometimes I get these really crazy

      mood swings, and I feel like I hate

      everyone or need to cry for no reason.

      It’s not helping that I have a bunch

      of tests and projects right now. Ugh!

      —Alesya

      HAPPINESS

      HABIT 1

      LETTING IT

      SETTLE

      All Shook Up

      Your mind and a snow

      globe: They don’t seem

      to have much in common.

      But lots of people say they

      do. If you watch a snow

      globe for a minute or two,

      it’s easy to see why.

      What happens when you give a snow globe a good shake? Flakes fly every-

      where, of course. When the snow’s really stirred up, it can be hard even to see

      who or what’s at the center. Our minds can get like that, too—thoughts and

      feelings swirling this way and that. Sometimes they’re so stirred up that we

      can’t see our own situation very clearly, either.

      You know how it feels when your mind’s stirred up. When you get invited to

      two parties on the same day. When Aris gets the drum solo after you prac-

      ticed harder. When parents are arguing. When Elise, who you thought was a

      friend, forms a homework club that doesn’t include you. It’s awfully hard to

      make decisions or handle problems when there’s a storm swirling inside you.

      If you could somehow keep from