Recently, my boyfriend and I were having one of our occasional heart-to-hearts, and he asked me a question that struck wonder with me on my drive home.

"Why are you never angry? You are always so happy with me and everyone you come in contact with."

At first I thought, "Really, dude? I get angry over lots of things, plenty of things." But my response to him was, "I have no reason to be angry. I'm easily frustrated, but my frustrations have no reason to turn into pure anger."

Thinking about it, though, and he was right. After over a year of dating, we have never been prominently upset with each other over something we said or did. Sure, sometimes I get annoyed when I want to watch a rom-com on our Friday nights together, but he wants something that resembles a "Call of Duty" game. I get frustrated when he takes five hours to respond to my texts (who wouldn't?), but why stay angry over something like that with him? I know he's going to respond whenever he charges his phone or isn't busy, so there's no point in fuming.

Then I realized, I do try to be happy at all times. When I wake up in the morning- even though I am not a morning person- I'm happy to see my roommates and wish them luck on their exams and motivate them to stay awake in their three-hour lectures. I may dread some of my classes, but what college kid doesn't? I go there, and I am eager to learn. I am happy to be there. I am happy to receive a college education and study my interests and passions.

My past two jobs have been working with the public: formerly a waitress, and currently a front desk associate at a hotel. With those jobs came a lot of smiling. When I was a waitress, I typically was happy to see the people I saw. From regulars to the out-of-towners just passing through, each had a story that they seemed to want to share. Getting to know people made me happy. To know that there was more to life than medium-well burgers and AP English Literature (this was junior and senior year of high school, folks) made me all that more excited about life in general, and I looked forward to what lied ahead. As for the hotel, though the majority of what I hear are complaints, I still have to smile, acknowledge their feelings, and offer suggestions to help their matters. Though some walked away without wanting any consolation, the ones I do manage to create a change of heart for about the place made me smile. Sometimes, I get a "bless your heart" or a "you're a lifesaver" and guess what? It makes me happy.

Sure, I could brush the compliments off, act like they just come with the job. But my main source of happiness is to make others feel happy, to be there for them, and watch them smile and continue to feel better about whatever type of day they were having. With my boyfriend, I love surprising him with a bag of Skittles after I hear that he had a tough loss in one of his games, or that he didn't do as well as he wanted to on a test. I choose to be happy because others deserve it too.

It's the Domino Effect: if you can show a genuine smile to at least one person a day, who knows what you're doing to those people that see the person you smiled at?

Don't get me wrong, my past has been quite a ride. Undoubtedly, I have not been a happy person since birth. But the older I get, the more I see why this world needs some more smiles in it. What makes me happy are the people that I put an effort into feeling a little more lively about life. If you can make someone's day: old or young, a complete stranger or your own mother, pay attention to how it really feels.

For me, it's not for the reward, it's for the smile and knowing that I am a-OK with everything surrounding me.